Carl Szokoll (15 October 1915 – 25 August 2004) was an Austrian resistance fighter involved in the 20 July Plot, major in the Wehrmacht, and, after the war, author and film producer.
Szokoll was born in Vienna, the son of a low-ranking soldier in the Austrian army who had fought in the First World War and had been a long-term Russianprisoner of war. He grew up under poor circumstances in Vienna, but because he received excellent grades in primary and secondary school he was later admitted as an officer candidate in the Austrian army in 1934. In his years as a cadet, he met his wife Christl Kukula, the daughter of a Jewish Vienniese industrialist. After the Anschluss in 1938, he had to end his relationship with Kukula because of the Nuremberg laws that forbade romantic involvement with Jews. Despite this, he secretly stayed in contact with her during the next years and married her, after the war, in 1946. Together they had one son.
Because of his relationship to a half-Jewish woman (Halbjüdin as the Nuremberg laws put it), he was transferred from an élite panzer unit to the ordinary infantry regiment and fought in the first phases of World War II in Nazi Germany's assaults on Poland and France. Because he was wounded in battle, he was sent back to Vienna for work in the administration of the district of Vienna.
Colonel Kodre and captain Szokoll, unlike their co-conspirators in Berlin, succeeded in rounding up nearly all Nazi officials in Vienna. When the plot leaders realized that Hitler had survived, Stauffenberg called Szokoll on a secure line in order to tell him that the attempt had failed. Although Szokoll was one of the last conspirators who had telephone contact with Stauffenberg, he was able to convince the Gestapo that he was only following orders and thus he escaped punishment as one of only a handful of conspirators who did.
Szokoll "Saviour of Vienna"edit
Being promoted major later in 1944, he tried to take all measures within his power to save Vienna from following the fate of so many other European cities before that had been destroyed in heavy fighting. In the first months of 1945, he got involved with the Austrian resistance movement and started to create a network of officers in order to contact the nearing Soviet Army and declare Vienna an open city. The plan was working well until early April 1945. Although Hitler had ordered the Wehrmacht to fight until the last man in the defence of Vienna, Szokoll's co-conspirators had implemented a plan that would order all troops to retreat from Vienna when the Soviets were close to the city. However, the conspiracy was discovered and Nazi officials immediately hanged the leading conspirators and searched for Szokoll. Once again, he managed to escape and, in the following days, took part in Operation Radetzky, the plan of the Austrian resistance to take over Vienna and prevent fighting as far as possible. Ultimately, the city only saw moderate fighting and the inner districts saw practically no fighting. Szokoll had acted as the provisory administrator of Vienna from the time the Wehrmacht had retreated, but was once again nearly taken prisoner by the Soviets when being accused of working for US intelligence.
Post-war careeredit
Honoured by the reinstated Austrian government for his merits on freeing Austria from the Nazis, he started a career as author and film producer. Among his work is the script for the film Der Bockerer, the production of Die letzte Brücke (the film that made Maria Schell famous), and his own autobiography that became a bestseller. He died in Vienna in 2004.
Die Rettung Wiens 1945. Mein Leben, mein Anteil an der Verschwörung gegen Hitler und an der Befreiung Österreichs. Amalthea-Verlag, Wien 2001 ISBN3-85002-472-5
Ludwig Jedlicka: Der zwanzigste Juli in Wien, Herold, Wien 1964
carl, szokoll, october, 1915, august, 2004, austrian, resistance, fighter, involved, july, plot, major, wehrmacht, after, author, film, producer, born, 1915, october, 1915vienna, austria, hungarydied25, august, 2004, 2004, aged, vienna, austriaallegiancenazi, . Carl Szokoll 15 October 1915 25 August 2004 was an Austrian resistance fighter involved in the 20 July Plot major in the Wehrmacht and after the war author and film producer Carl SzokollBorn 1915 10 15 15 October 1915Vienna Austria HungaryDied25 August 2004 2004 08 25 aged 88 Vienna AustriaAllegianceNazi GermanyGerman resistanceAustrian resistanceService wbr branchWehrmachtRankMajorBattles warsWorld War II Polish September Campaign Battle of FranceOther workAuthor film producer Contents 1 Early life 2 Involvement in the 20 July plot 3 Szokoll Saviour of Vienna 4 Post war career 5 Selected filmography 6 Work 7 See also 8 External linksEarly life editSzokoll was born in Vienna the son of a low ranking soldier in the Austrian army who had fought in the First World War and had been a long term Russian prisoner of war He grew up under poor circumstances in Vienna but because he received excellent grades in primary and secondary school he was later admitted as an officer candidate in the Austrian army in 1934 In his years as a cadet he met his wife Christl Kukula the daughter of a Jewish Vienniese industrialist After the Anschluss in 1938 he had to end his relationship with Kukula because of the Nuremberg laws that forbade romantic involvement with Jews Despite this he secretly stayed in contact with her during the next years and married her after the war in 1946 Together they had one son Because of his relationship to a half Jewish woman Halbjudin as the Nuremberg laws put it he was transferred from an elite panzer unit to the ordinary infantry regiment and fought in the first phases of World War II in Nazi Germany s assaults on Poland and France Because he was wounded in battle he was sent back to Vienna for work in the administration of the district of Vienna Involvement in the 20 July plot editIn 1943 then captain Szokoll was introduced in Berlin to colonel Claus von Stauffenberg one of the heads of the resistance movement in the Third Reich by the Austrian lieutenant colonel Robert Bernardis and got involved with them by monthly visits of Robert Bernardis in Vienna since February 1944 When the 20 July plot seemed to have succeeded after Stauffenberg placed a bomb in the Fuhrer Headquarters Wolfsschanze he was with Colonel Heinrich Kodre the Chief of Staff in Vienna one of the resistance s man of Stauffenberg who executed with Colonel Kodre the orders to seize all authorities and arrest the leading members of SS and the Nazi administration Colonel Kodre and captain Szokoll unlike their co conspirators in Berlin succeeded in rounding up nearly all Nazi officials in Vienna When the plot leaders realized that Hitler had survived Stauffenberg called Szokoll on a secure line in order to tell him that the attempt had failed Although Szokoll was one of the last conspirators who had telephone contact with Stauffenberg he was able to convince the Gestapo that he was only following orders and thus he escaped punishment as one of only a handful of conspirators who did Szokoll Saviour of Vienna editBeing promoted major later in 1944 he tried to take all measures within his power to save Vienna from following the fate of so many other European cities before that had been destroyed in heavy fighting In the first months of 1945 he got involved with the Austrian resistance movement and started to create a network of officers in order to contact the nearing Soviet Army and declare Vienna an open city The plan was working well until early April 1945 Although Hitler had ordered the Wehrmacht to fight until the last man in the defence of Vienna Szokoll s co conspirators had implemented a plan that would order all troops to retreat from Vienna when the Soviets were close to the city However the conspiracy was discovered and Nazi officials immediately hanged the leading conspirators and searched for Szokoll Once again he managed to escape and in the following days took part in Operation Radetzky the plan of the Austrian resistance to take over Vienna and prevent fighting as far as possible Ultimately the city only saw moderate fighting and the inner districts saw practically no fighting Szokoll had acted as the provisory administrator of Vienna from the time the Wehrmacht had retreated but was once again nearly taken prisoner by the Soviets when being accused of working for US intelligence Post war career editHonoured by the reinstated Austrian government for his merits on freeing Austria from the Nazis he started a career as author and film producer Among his work is the script for the film Der Bockerer the production of Die letzte Brucke the film that made Maria Schell famous and his own autobiography that became a bestseller He died in Vienna in 2004 Selected filmography editAs the Sea Rages 1959 Final Accord 1960 Call of the Forest 1965 House of Pleasure 1969 My Father the Ape and I 1971 Work editDer Bockerer II Osterreich ist frei Verlag der Apfel Wien 1997 ISBN 3 85450 128 5 Der gebrochene Eid Europa Verlag Wien 1985 ISBN 3 203 50929 6 Die Rettung Wiens 1945 Mein Leben mein Anteil an der Verschworung gegen Hitler und an der Befreiung Osterreichs Amalthea Verlag Wien 2001 ISBN 3 85002 472 5 Ludwig Jedlicka Der zwanzigste Juli in Wien Herold Wien 1964See also editList of Austrians List of members of the 20 July plotExternal links editArticle in the Guardian 2004 IMDB Carl Szokoll Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Carl Szokoll amp oldid 1182471592, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
