Franz Olah (13 March 1910 – 4 September 2009) was an
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...
who served as the country's
Interior Minister
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
from 1963 until 1964 as a member of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(SPÖ).
Olah was born on 13 March 1910 in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. He attended school in Budapest for three years. Olah returned to his native Vienna from Budapest where he learned to build
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
s. He also began developing ties with Austrian
trade unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
and the
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
during this period of his life.
[
Olah found himself in trouble with the police during the 1930s. In 1938, Austria lost its independence and was annexed by ]Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
during the Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...
, which brought the rule of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
and the Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
. Olah was arrested by the Nazis following the Anschluss and deported on the very first train of Austrian prisoners to the Dachau concentration camp
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
in 1938. He was transferred as a prisoner to several German concentration camps throughout World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Olah was finally freed shortly before the end of World War II.[
Olah was elected as a member of the ]Austrian Parliament
The Austrian Parliament (german: Österreichisches Parlament) is the bicameral federal legislature of the Austrian Republic. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene ...
in 1948. He served as second president (''Zweite Präsident'') of its lower house, the National Council, from 1959 until 1961. He next served as the Austrian Interior Minister from 1963 until 1964.[
Olah opposed the 1950 Austrian general strikes by means of force.
Olah resigned from the ]Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(SPÖ) in 1964.[ He was also caught in a financial scandal during this time period.
He founded the now defunct ]Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majorit ...
(Demokratische Fortschrittliche Partei) in 1965. The party garnered more than 3% of the vote in the 1966 Austrian legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 6 March 1966. The result was a victory for the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), which won 85 of the 165 seats. Voter turnout was 94%.
During the campaign, ÖVP Chancellor Josef Klaus (who had succe ...
, but failed to win any seats in Parliament. In 1969, the Democratic Progressive Party won three seats on the Vienna city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...
.[
Franz Olah died on 4 September 2009 at the age of 99.
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olah, Franz
1910 births
2009 deaths
Austrian people of Hungarian descent
Interior ministers of Austria
Members of the National Council (Austria)
Politicians from Vienna
Austrian anti-communists
Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians
Austrian prisoners and detainees
Dachau concentration camp survivors
Austrian trade unionists
Politicians affected by a party expulsion process