Sepp Kerschbaumer
Encyclopedia
South Tyrolean Liberation Committee
The South Tyrolean Liberation Committee was an organisation founded by Sepp Kerschbaumer in the mid-1950s to fight for South Tyrolean independence from Italy. The organisation were regarded as terrorists by the Italian government but many South Tyroleans regarded them as freedom fighters....
(Befreiungsausschuss Südtirol (BAS)), which campaigned for the break-away of South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In 1961, the BAS staged the so-called Feuernacht
Feuernacht
The Night of fire happened on the night of 12 June 1961 when numerous electricity pylons were blown up in South Tyrol. It formed a turning point in the history of the province.-Background:...
(Night of Fire), the destruction of several dozen electricity pylons, which escalated the South Tyrol conflict. The Italian state viewed the BAS as a terrorist and separatist organization, while large parts of the South Tyroleans regarded them as freedom fighters.
Early life
Sepp Kerschbaumer was the son of the merchant Josef Kerschbaumer and his wife Luise of AldeinAldein
Aldein is a Gemeinde in South Tyrol in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 40 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 15 km south of the city of Bolzano.-Geography:...
, and born in the village of Frangart, which today is a frazione
Frazione
A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
of Eppan
Eppan an der Weinstraße
Eppan an der Weinstraße is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 45 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 8 km southwest of the city of Bolzano.-Geography:...
. Kerschbaumer's father was killed on the Dolomite
Dolomites
The Dolomites are a mountain range located in north-eastern Italy. It is a part of Southern Limestone Alps and extends from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east. The northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley...
Front
Front (military)
A military front or battlefront is a contested armed frontier between opposing forces. This can be a local or tactical front, or it can range to a theater...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
when he was four, followed by the death of his mother when he was nine.
After his education in Bolzano and Neustift Monastery, he completed the commercial preparatory school in Brixen
Brixen
Brixen is the name of two cities in the Alps:*Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy*Brixen im Thale, Tyrol, AustriaBrixen may also refer to:*Bishopric of Brixen, the former north-Italian state....
in 1927. In 1933 he was conscripted into military service. In late 1934 Kerschbaumer was banished for two years because of participation in a forbidden political meeting. After Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
pardoned him in late 1935, he returned to South Tyrol. At this point, he was put in charge of his parents' grocery business by his guardian.
Politics
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
had begun a process of Italianization of South Tyrol
Italianization of South Tyrol
In 1919, at the time of its annexation, the southern part of Tyrol was inhabited by almost 90% German speakers. Under the 1939 South Tyrol Option Agreement, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini determined the status of the German people living in the province...
, a predominantly German-speaking area gained by Italy after World War I. Under the South Tyrol Option Agreement
South Tyrol Option Agreement
The South Tyrol Option Agreement refers to the period between 1939 and 1943, when the native German and Ladin speaking people in South Tyrol and three communes in the province of Belluno were given the "option" of either emigrating to neighboring Nazi Germany or remaining in Fascist Italy and...
(1939), Kerschbaumer chose to migrate to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. But he later realized that no assistance could be expected from Germany. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he joined the South Tyrolean People's Party
South Tyrolean People's Party
The South Tyrolean People's Party is a regionalist Christian democratic political party active in the Italian province of South Tyrol.Founded in 1945, the SVP represents the German-speaking population of the province, as well as Ladin speakers. Since the first election of the Provincial Council in...
and dedicated himself to local politics. He became local chairman of the party and local council head of Frangart.
At the start of the 1950s, he became frustrated at what he felt was the too conciliatory attitude of the SVP. At a large demonstration on 17 November 1957, Kerschbaumer distributed an anonymous leaflet demanding "a free South Tyrol". From then on he began to found and build the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee (BAS), which was at first limited to distributing leaflets and symbolic actions, such as the display of the then forbidden flag of South Tyrol. On 12 June 1961, the BAS organized the destruction by explosives of 37 electricity pylons supplying power to the industrial zone of Bolzano, later known as the Night of Fire (Feuernacht).
Incarceration and death
In the aftermath of the Feuernacht, Sepp Kerschbaumer was arrested and allegedly tortured by police. The rumored mistreatment of Kerschbaumer may have contributed to further escalation of events. Being the leading member of BAS, Sepp Kerschbaumer was sentenced to fifteen years and eleven months on July 16, 1964 for organizing the bombing. On 7 December 1964 he died in prison in VeronaVerona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
of a heart attack. More than 15,000 inhabitants attended the funeral on 9 December 1964, about 5% of the whole population then.