Resumen de Max Zitter – ein eisenbahner - zum tode verurteilt und hingerichtet am 30. Juni 1942
Armin Maximilian Zitter recounts the story of his grandfather, Max Zitter, a family-man and conductor in Sankt Veit. He notes how his family’s situation changed once the preparations for war were under way. Although a social-democrat himself, he did not want to associate with the communists in denunciating the fascist regime. The methods used by the Gestapo to repress any form of opposition made him think twice. When they were asked to delay a train transporting Italian soldiers in Kärnten, together with some other colleagues, he sabotaged the braking system of the trains. From Gestapo Headquarters in Berlin a commission was set up to investigate the case, starting September 1941. Max Zitter was labeled leader of the communist resistance group. A military court mercilessly judged the case between 14 April and 25 April 1942. 15 were convicted of high treason, of which, on 30 June 1942 10 were guillotined (5.00 to 5:27 a.m.). This was the first round of executed political detainees of the 1,100 that were to follow until the end of 1945. Maximilian Zitter, Max Zitter’s first son, and the father of the author, worked in the Justice Ministry for 46 years and was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Republic of Austria. In his conclusion, Armin Maximilian Zitter appeals to the young generation of today to take a stance and make sure that such national radicalism will never rise to power again.
