Hartmann, Otto |
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BORN 22 Jan 1904, Wien - DIED 14 Mar 1994, Wien GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Hernalser Friedhof, 17., Leopold-Kunschak-Platz 7 (Gruppe 40A, Nummer 61) |
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Otto Hartmann took acting lessons against the wishes of his parents. He appeared on the stage in Germany and Czechia before he returned to Vienna in 1933. there he was engaged at the Burgtheater. He was decorated for his part in crushing the riots of February 1934. As a police informer he gave information about actors with social democratic of national socialist sympathies. After the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938 he sided with the nazis, who initially didn't trust him. He said to his collegues that his pro nazi behaviour was a cover and he joined the resistance movement OeFB. He also recruited the composer Friedrich Wildgans for this movement. But he informed the Gestapo of all that happened and in 1940 the leaders of the OeFB were arrested and late in 1940 Wildgans was arrested as well. Hartmann received a reward of 30,000 Reichsmark for his actions. During the Second World War he also betrayed resistance leader Josef Kallisch. In 1945 he joined the new Austrian police force, but in september 1945 he was imprisoned by the French. He escaped in 1947 but he was captured and on 22/11/1947 he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1957 he was pardoned by president Schärf and after that he worked as a salesman for several companies in Vienna. |
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 The grave of Otto Hartmann at the Hernalser Friedhof, Vienna. Picture by Androom (16 Aug 2019) |
