Franz Olah
Franz Olah ( born March 13, 1910 as Franz Ferdinand luck in Vienna, † 4 September 2009 in Baden ) was an Austrian politician. He also served as Minister of the Interior and President of the Austrian Trade Union Federation.
Life
Franz Olah grew up in Vienna, Ljubljana and Budapest, the son of a sergeant. He learned at Bösendorfer in Vienna Neustadt the profession of piano maker in 1926 and joined the Socialist Youth at. During the Great Depression he became unemployed and devoted himself to social work. He was national director of the actions youth in need and young people at work. In 1929, he became a political confidant of the SPÖ in Vienna Hernals.
Because dissemination of socialist writings he served in 1933, 1935 and 1937, political imprisonment. It was during these years as a member of the Revolutionary Socialists of Austria resistance group ( RSO ) and has also served in the underground of the free trade unions. So he negotiated with the government until the end of Kurt Schuschnigg to establish a common defense against the Nazis. In 1938 he was arrested after the "Anschluss " of Austria by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau concentration camp with the so-called celebrities transport. On 30 March 1944 he was transferred from there to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was liberated in 1945.
Beginnings in politics
From 1945 to 1948, from 1969 to 1970 he was a member of the Vienna legislature and the municipal council. 1949-1957 he was chairman of the Federation of Building and Wood Workers. In this position, he has spearheaded the resolution of the October strike communist workers in October and November 1950. The strikers had, inter alia, course of the Vienna tram filled with concrete to block the traffic, and roll commands sent to companies whose workers were on strike call did not join voluntarily.
The initially spontaneous, later often forced work stoppage was of ÖVP and SPÖ as a coup attempt by the Communist Party interpreted ( OGB on October 7, 1950: " The attack on the freedom of the Austrian workers and employees is blocked ..."). In fact, it stood at that time in eastern Austria and the Soviet sector of Vienna the question of whether the Red Army to intervene in favor of the strikers and would just like the Communist Party calling for a government reshuffle.
However, this did not happen. The ÖVP - SPÖ government towards loyal unionists prevailed: Olah upgraded activists from his construction workers' union with batons out, lent among entrepreneurs trucks and joined the communist -gangs in the Soviet sector of Vienna against powerful, while the police here as directed by the occupying power was not allowed to intervene. The Communists had now learned from Moscow that the Soviet Union in the Korean War no trouble spot in the middle of Austria wanted to have, and ultimately gave up.
Having learned from the events in October 1950 reinforced Olah then with the support of the CIA, which did not occur directly in appearance, and with knowledge less westalliierter and Austrian makers, founded in 1947, secret paramilitary organization "Austrian hiking, sports and socializing club " to be better prepared for any future Communist threats. It was - as unobtrusively as she had passed - disbanded in the early sixties.
In 1955, Olah was Vice- President of the Austrian Trade Union Federation from 1959 to 1963 he was its president.
Illegal media financing
Olah was 1959, the Kronen Zeitung with union funds secret start-up grant and initially advised the founders Dichand his friend, the great merchant Ferdinand Karpik, then the advertising expert Kurt Falk as a partner. During this time, so-called independent newspapers had the party leaves people sheet (ÖVP ), Arbeiter-Zeitung ( SPÖ) and People's Voice ( CPA ) already overtaken far in the distribution. Regardless meant at the time but often SPÖ critical. Olah tried to make his jump start an SPÖ - friendly ground sheet.
Similarly and for the same reasons he was going in the financing of the daily newspaper Express. In this causa, he was in 1969, after he had fallen out of favor with his party, was sentenced to one year in prison because of adverse dedication and arbitrary use of union funds.
Successes and failures
Olah laid in 1961 with the agreement signed on December 28 secret Raab - Olah Agreement, a partnership agreement between workers and employers, the foundation for the institutionalization of the Austrian social partnership. In the 1960s, the power-conscious pragmatist Franz Olah was mainly intra-party opponents of the more ideologically oriented Christian Broda. It described the two leaders soon as archenemies. The characterized by Norbert reader as "Men hero " in the sense of Hans Bliiher Olah was unpopular even with the women's organization of the SPÖ. In 1963, Olah was Home Secretary. However, a position he held for only one year.
Fall
In 1964, Olah under strong criticism within the party. This was due to a cash injection to the tune of one million shillings to the FPÖ. Also this money came from union coffers. It is believed that Olah so wanted to pave the way towards a small coalition between the SPÖ and the FPÖ. However, the majority of the Social Democratic Party did not wear with this line. It seemed Olah too focused on personal power. Among other things, said Christian Broda, Olah wanted to make the SPO to a " leader of the party ". Man suspected the Minister of the Interior also to operate with secret files on political opponents.
In all actual and suspected covert actions Olah's the SPÖ reacted with the exclusion, although Olah had many followers, who appreciated him as a " strong man " and before the party headquarters were demonstrating for him. As a formal reason for the expulsion from the party " participation in non-socialist press articles" was called - Olah had the daily Die Presse gave an interview in which he found harsh words for inner-party opponents. A few days earlier had become known that Olah's adversaries had commissioned the Viennese psychiatrist Hans Hoff in the power struggle, to issue an opinion on Olah, the doctor came to the conclusion that the Home Secretary was schizophrenic and therefore unsound. In an interview with the "press" he accused his opponents because of this procedure of Stalinism.
Olah as party founder
After the expulsion from the SPÖ Olah founded in 1965, the Democratic Progressive Party ( DFP). These right-wing populist party won the national election in 1966 slightly more than 3 percent of the vote but won no mandate to enter parliament. The Fall in the party was thus decisive for the absolute majority mandate of the ÖVP in a popular vote share of only 48.35 percent. The Olah votes are likely to be largely come from previous SPÖ voters and thus amplified the defeat of the Social Democrats.
In 1969, the DFP, who lived exclusively by Olah's reputation, win three seats in the Vienna City Council election. Olah himself, accused but not yet convicted, was because he refused to voluntarily go beyond worn on behalf of Mayor Bruno Marek of City Hall guards from a council meeting. The provisions of the Vienna City Council saw namely the suspension of a mandate from the initiation of criminal proceedings against the mandatary already. Olah called to the Constitutional Court, which declared the action and the provisions of their underlying unconstitutional later.
In the next election period, the DFP was no longer represented in the Vienna City Council.
Retreat
Following his conviction, Franz Olah withdrew from political life. Later he was asked as a witness for the development of Austria since the First Republic. The SPÖ ultimately concluded peace with him; Olah was invited to various anniversaries Republic as a guest of honor.
Olah died on September 4, 2009 in Baden, and was buried on 25 September at the local town parish cemetery.
Honors and Awards
2005 him the Socialist Federal President Heinz Fischer recorded on a proposal from the black - blue government under Chancellor on the occasion of his 95th birthday with the Great Golden Badge of Honour with Star for Services to the Republic of Austria, one of the highest honors of the state. In 2005 he also received the Grand Gold Medal for Service to the City of Vienna with the star and 2008, the Julius -Raab medal.