Herzog Leopold-Straße 28 (laid in 2010)
Paul Johannes Schlesinger
Death of a Member of the National Council
Paul Johannes Schlesinger was born on July 9, 1874, in Vienna. He was married.
In September 1944, Schlesinger was arrested and, on September 19, 1944, deported to Auschwitz concentration camp and then to Gross-Rosen concentration camp, where he died on February 10, 1945.
Born in 1874 in Vienna, Schlesinger learned the trade of precision mechanic. After years spent wandering in search of work, he returned to Vienna in 1905. Early in his life, he experienced firsthand the degrading working conditions of industrial laborers at the time. Drawn to the ideals of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party, he soon became a spokesperson for the then young trade unions.
By 1911, he was appointed secretary of the Metalworkers‘ Union in Wiener Neustadt, a city to which he remained connected throughout his life. Schlesinger was frequently persecuted by the authorities of the monarchy due to his political activities. In 1907, he became chairman of the Baden regional sickness insurance fund. In 1911/1912, he was the union representative for the districts of Mödling, Baden, and Wiener Neustadt.
An injury exempted him from military service in 1916. Immediately afterward, he resumed his work in Wiener Neustadt and actively participated in the historic January Strike of 1918. His political engagement led to his election to the Lower Austrian Landtag in 1921. In March 1926, Schlesinger moved to the National Council (the Austrian parliament), serving there until February 1934. His fight for the working population was tireless and fearless; even arrests in 1934 and 1938 by dictatorial regimes could not break his will for freedom. In 1934, he spent several months in the Wöllersdorf detention camp. Upon his release in July 1934, he was banned from residing in Wiener Neustadt.
The new authorities also feared him. On October 25, 1938, Schlesinger was arrested by the Gestapo on suspicion of anti-state activity and released on May 26, 1939. During the mass arrests following the assassination attempt on Hitler, Schlesinger was arrested again on September 1, 1944. Even at the age of seventy, the Nazi regime still considered him a threat. On September 19, 1944, he was transferred to Auschwitz concentration camp.
As Soviet troops approached near the end of the war, the camp was evacuated and the prisoners were sent to Gross-Rosen, which the Nazis still considered secure. According to eyewitness reports, Schlesinger did not survive the rigors of the transport and is said to have died in March or April 1945. Other sources state that he died in Gross-Rosen concentration camp.
On June 13, 1969, the municipal housing complex Kammangasse / Dietrichgasse, where Schlesinger had lived for many years, was named the „Paul-Johannes-Schlesinger-Hof,“ and mayor Barwitzius unveiled a marble plaque there dedicated to Schlesinger’s memory.
Paul Johannes Schlesinger is commemorated on a plaque at the Austrian Parliament along with eleven other members of the National Council who became victims of the Nazi regime.
Anton Blaha