Josefine Brunner

Brunner was born on 26 February 1909 in Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria to a working class family. After leaving school, she worked as a domestic servant.{{Cite web |title=Josefine Brunner Biographie |url=https://www.gdw-berlin.de/en/recess/biographies/index_of_persons/biographie/view-bio/josefine-brunner/ |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=German Resistance Memorial Center}} She lived with socialist Alois Brunner [de] from 1935, before they were married in 1938.

In 1932, Brunner became a member of the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ). She was a member of Waldemar von Knoeringen's [de] resistance network against the Nazi Party, which was based in the town of Wörgl, before they annexed Austria.{{Cite book |last=Trebbin |first=Ulrich |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xvWiEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT3&dq=...+Josefine+Brunner+aus+W%C3%B6rgl+im+t%C3%A4tigen+Widerstand+engagiert+%E2%80%93+und+das+noch+bevor+die+Nazis+%C3%96sterreich+annektiert+hatten.+Vor+allem+Josefine+vernetzt+oppositionelle+Gruppen+in+S%C3%BCdbayern,+Salzburg+und+Wien+und+%C3%BCberbringt+Botschaften.+Doch+...&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjn4tvVu5mNAxW-WEEAHXEvGRMQ6AF6BAgFEAM |title=Die unsichtbare Guillotine: Das Fallbeil der Weißen Rose und seine Geschichte |date=2023-02-28 |publisher=Verlag Friedrich Pustet |isbn=978-3-7917-6231-9 |language=de}}{{Cite web |last=Stadtarchiv |first=Team |date=2023-02-23 |title=Roter Widerstand |url=https://innsbruck-erinnert.at/roter-widerstand/ |access-date=2025-05-10 |language=de}} She completed special training in use of espionage techniques, including couriering. During the Anschluss (the German occupation of Austria), she couriered communication between illegal revolutionary socialist groups in Augsburg, Munich, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vienna,{{Cite book |last=Maass |first=Walter B. |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zZghAAAAMAAJ&q=Josefine+Brunner&dq=Josefine+Brunner&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvjZC3qZmNAxVPVkEAHeIMOYoQ6AF6BAgHEAM |title=Country Without a Name: Austria Under Nazi Rule, 1938-1945 |date=1979 |publisher=F. Ungar Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-8044-1553-8 |pages=38 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Kerschbaumer |first=Marie Thérèse |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pV9cAAAAMAAJ&q=Josefine+Brunner&dq=Josefine+Brunner&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvjZC3qZmNAxVPVkEAHeIMOYoQ6AF6BAgEEAM |title=Woman's Face of Resistance: Seven Reports |date=1996 |publisher=Ariadne Press |isbn=978-1-57241-027-5 |pages=67 |language=en}} operating under the code name Erika.{{Cite web |title=Brunner Josefine |url=http://biografia.sabiado.at/brunner-josefine/ |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=biografiA |language=de}}

Brunner and her husband were arrested in 1942 and were sentenced to death on 28 May 1943. She submitted a petition for clemency to Roland Freisler, President of the People's Court, after the verdict, but this was denied. On 9 September 1943, both Brunner and her husband were executed by decapitation at Stadelheim Prison in Munich, Nazi Germany,{{Cite book |last=Commire |first=Anne |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3EMOAQAAMAAJ&q=Josefine+Brunner&dq=Josefine+Brunner&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvjZC3qZmNAxVPVkEAHeIMOYoQ6AF6BAgFEAM |title=Women in World History: Brem-Cold |date=1999 |publisher=Yorkin Publications |isbn=978-0-7876-4062-0 |pages=144 |language=en}} without being allowed to see each other before their deaths.{{Cite web |title=Biographie: Alois und Josefine Brunner |url=https://www.eduard-wallnoefer-platz.at/biografie/Alois+und+Josefine+Brunner/14 |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=Der Eduard-Wallnöfer-Platz in Innsbruck |language=German}}

File:Woergl Denkmal Brunner.jpg

In 1988, a commemorative plaque was erected at the train station square in Wörgl in honour of Brunner and her husband.

In 2015, Brunner and her husband were included on a plaque in the Wörgl town cemetery commemorating victims of Nazism.{{Cite web |last=Stoff |first=Sebastian David |title=Gedenktafel für die Wörgler Opfer des Widerstandes, der religiösen und rassistischen Verfolgung am Kirchhof Wörgl: Alois und Josefine Brunner, Stefan Valentinotti, Josef Gangl, Rudolf und Elisabeth Gottlieb und Anna Gründler |url=https://gams.uni-graz.at/o:derla.tir144 |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=gams.uni-graz.at |language=de}}

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Category:1909 births

Category:1943 deaths

Category:Austrian socialists

Category:Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany

Category:Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps

Category:Austrian resistance members