Josefa (Josefine) SÖLVA, born on August 11, 1908 in Kaltern (South Tyrol) and baptized Catholic, was the second of three children of the married couple Maria and Alois Sölva.
Their unmarried daughter Josefa was an optant from South Tyrol1 who lived under the Nazi regime first in Hall in Tyrol and since October 1940 in Salzburg. Her stay, however, was of short duration.
Josefa SÖLVA, who worked as a housemaid for a few weeks at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Mercy, had been a patient at the Salzburg State Sanatorium since November 4, 1940.
Josefa SÖLVA was one of the 85 patients who were deported to Hartheim and murdered on May 21, 1941.
As with all victims of the National Socialist secret action »T4«2 , the death of the 32-year-old woman is not recorded in the police registration file of the city of Salzburg.
Josefa SÖLVA’s violent death in Hartheim was also unknown in her community of Kaltern. Her two sisters Anna and Aloisia survived the terror years and died in South Tyrol (Trentino-Alto Adige).
1 Option: after the agreement between Hitler and Mussolini of October 21, 1939, the South Tyroleans had to choose between emigrating to the German Reich or remaining in Italy, renouncing their identity (language and culture).
2 It was called »T4« because its Berlin headquarters were located at Tiergartenstraße 4.
Those mainly responsible for the murders of the sick in Salzburg: Dr. Friedrich Rainer as Reichsstatthalter, Dr. Oskar Hausner as head of the Gaufürsorgeamt, Dr. Leo Wolfer as head of the Landesheilanstalt and Dr. Heinrich Wolfer as head of the hereditary biology department of the Landesheilanstalt (today’s Christian Doppler Clinic).
Sources
- Parish office Kaltern
- Salzburg city archives
- Schloss Hartheim Learning and Remembrance Center
Translation: DeepL
Stumbling Stone
Laid 06.07.2011 at Salzburg, Salzachgässchen 3
Photo: Gert Kerschbaumer