Austrian resistance

The Austrian resistance (German: Österreichischer Widerstand) was launched in response to the rise of fascism across Europe and, more specifically, to the Anschluss in 1938 and resulting annexation of the Austrian Republic by Nazi Germany.

An estimated 100,000 people were reported to have participated in this resistance with thousands subsequently imprisoned or executed for their anti-Nazi activities.

One cipher of the Austrian resistance used from 1944 onward was O5, indicating "OE," another way of writing the letter Ö which begins the German name of the country; '5' indicated the fifth letter of the alphabet (E). This sign may be seen at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna. From 1939, the Nazi regime did not use the term Österreich; when Austria was referred to, it was as Ostmark ('Eastern march'), with the implication that Austria was merely an outer region of Greater Germany and not a country in its own right.

The Moscow Declarations of 1943 laid a framework for the establishment of a free Austria after the victory over Nazi Germany. It stated that "Austria is reminded, however that she has a responsibility, which she cannot evade, for participation in the war on the side of Hitlerite Germany, and that in the final settlement account will inevitably be taken of her own contribution to her liberation."