Gustav Linert

As Gauhauptmann, Gustav Linert held one of the highest-ranking positions within the Tyrolean Nazi system. His office was in the old Landhaus. The Gauhauptmann was the head of the self-administration of the Gau. As such Linert was responsible for the institutions and properties owned by the Gau. In the context of the confiscation of church property, his organisation functioned as a clearing house.

After a career as an army officer Linert found employment with a bank. He joined the NSDAP in December 1933. In March 1938, Gauleiter Edmund Christoph gave him the finance portfolio in the first Nazi government of Tyrol. Under Gauleiter Franz Hofer he was promoted to Gauhauptmann. The privations of war had little relevance for Linert: In 1940 he and four other Landhaus employees had a weekend cottage built in the upper Sellrain Valley. The furniture and furnishings were from looted church property.

Linert never gave cause for complaint in the administration of the crimes of the National Socialists. In only one instance is he known to have had a confrontation with Gauleiter Hofer: Linert attended the funeral of Colonel Oskar Teuber, whose wife was classified as Jewish under the Nuremberg Race Laws. In 1943 she faced imprisonment in the Reichenau internment camp. The couple responded by committing suicide.

Linert was imprisoned by the US forces of occupation from the end of May 1945 until February 1947. An Austrian People’s Court subsequently sentenced him to 30 months of hard time in prison and forfeiture of his assets. At the trial, he said he did not understand that selfless work and a decent life no longer counted for anything and showed no signs of remorse. In his old age Linert still believed that he had fought for the right cause. His retrospective assessment of his punishment: “That was the thanks I got for everything I did for the region, the municipalities and the people.”