Victims for the freedom of Austria - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1977 - 2.50 Shilling

The red-white-red flag, which has been the symbol of this independent state since the founding of the Republic of Austria, has claimed many victims. When, between April 1933 and February 1934, the Communist Party was banned, then the Social Democratic Party was dissolved, the Free Trade Unions were dissolved, and the First Republic was politically shattered, this coincided with a period when Europe was beset by a flood of fascist movements. In the run-up to Hitler's seizure of power in Austria, the resistance against the National Socialists was intensified. Countless Austrians were already in prisons in "protective custody" when Hitler arrived in Vienna, because they had become active against the Hitler regime. Not infrequently her next path led to one of the concentration camps of the Third Reich. All the victims of the struggle for freedom and democracy are dedicated to this special stamp. 2700 Austrians were sentenced to death as active fighters against the National Socialist regime, 16,400 Austrian resistance fighters were murdered in concentration camps, 16,100 Austrians were killed in Gestapo prisons and prisons in the occupied countries of Europe. In 1946, the Austrian government published for the first time a documentary "The Red-White-Red-Book" about the Austrians' contribution to the liberation of their homeland. Through the additions of countless documents, we now know that there were far more victims of resistance than had been adopted shortly after the war.