Balthasar WÖSS, born on November 28, 1892 in Salzburg, was Catholic, single and a journeyman carpenter, specializing in antiques, in the workshop of his father, a master carpenter, in the house Thumegger Bezirk 5.
According to old Austrian law, the WÖSS family was entitled to reside in the city of Salzburg.
His mother died in 1923 and his older sister Maria, a cook by profession, managed the household.
Balthasar junior, who was unable to take over his father’s business due to a physical disability, engaged in astrology and fortune-telling on the side, which became his undoing under the Nazi regime.
Although he escaped conviction by the Nazi judiciary, he was incapacitated and committed to the Salzburg-Lehen state sanatorium on April 24, 1940.
The 48-year-old Balthasar WÖSS was among the 85 inmates who were deported to Hartheim on May 21, 1941 and gassed there.
As with all victims of the National Socialist secret action »T4«1, his death is not recorded in the police registration file of the city of Salzburg.
His father died at the age of 83 in January 1942 and his sister Maria died at the age of 80 in September 1968 in Salzburg.
1 It was called the »T4« program because its Berlin headquarters were located at Tiergartenstraße 4.
Primarily responsible for the murderous program in Salzburg were: Dr. Friedrich Rainer as Governor, Dr. Oskar Hausner as leader of the regional health office, Dr. Leo Wolfer as director of the State Asylum (now called the Christian-Doppler-Clinic), and Dr. Heinrich Wolfer as head of the hereditary disease section of the State Asylum.
Quellen
- Salzburg City Archives
- Schloss Hartheim Learning and Memorial Center
Translation: DeepL
Stumbling Stone
Laid 22.03.2012 at Salzburg, Thumegger Straße 32
Photo: Gert Kerschbaumer