Josef Gerl

alt="Comrade Josef Gerl" a picture of Josef Gerl and Three Arrows in the backlground.

Josef Julius Gerl (13 February 1912 – 24 July 1934) was an Austrian socialist and member of the Socialist Workers Youth (SAJ).

Life and political career

Life until 1934 Gerl's family originated from Bohemia and moved to Vienna during the Habsburg monarchy. Josef Gerl trained as a goldsmith; however, after completing his apprenticeship and the legally required retention period, he was dismissed. The economic crisis deprived him of any means of livelihood.

Gerl had been a member of the Socialist Workers Youth (SAJ) since 1929.

In 1932, Gerl was sentenced to a month in prison for assaulting a Nazi.

Afterward, Gerl and Anzböck attempted to flee to Czechoslovakia but missed the last train by a few minutes. They spent the night of July 21, 1934, in a café near the East Station, and after it closed, they stayed outside. Around 4 a.m., police sergeant Ferdinand Forstner noticed the two in a park at Keplerplatz in Vienna-Favoriten and checked their identification papers. When Forstner attempted a body search, Gerl drew a pistol and fired twice at the officer, gravely injuring him. The 33-year-old Forstner succumbed to his injuries three weeks later. alt=Gerl before the court-martial: "My ideals always stood higher than my life". From Gerls last letter: "Fight with all your might for socialism. Gerl and Anzböck were captured after a dramatic chase. During the subsequent police interrogation, they confessed to the bombing, which would have been difficult to prove otherwise. Anzböck had his sentence commuted to life in prison by the President and was released from prison in February 1938, after which he moved to the United States. Upon making his decision, Dollfuss remarked, "We can thank God that it was a Red and not a Nazi against whom we had to apply the law," as having to execute Nazis would've drawn immense pressure from Germany for clemency. The following day, Dollfuss was assassinated by Otto Planetta during a failed coup by Austrian Nazis.

In the Spanish Civil War, a company of the International Brigades composed of Austrians was named "Josef Gerl" in his honor.