Memorial Plaque for Pastor Otto Schuster at the Old Cemetery Vorderberg/Blače in the Gailtal

Otto Schuster was born in 1897 in Klagenfurt. After completing his theology studies at the University of Graz in 1938, he was appointed pastor of the community Vorderberg/Blače. On September 9, 1939, Otto Schuster was arrested and interned in the prison facility Garsten, the exact reasons for which are unknown. After his release in 1942, he was deported to the concentration camp Dachau, from where he was sent to the Euthanasieanstalt Schloss Hartheim in Upper Austria, where he was murdered on August 25, 1942. The artist Cornelius Kolig, who lives in Vorderberg/Blače himself, created a copper relief for the memorial of Otto Schuster at the local cemetery. Above this is a glass plate with a photo and inscription, which quotes a statement of the murdered man: „Before I say Heil Hitler, I would rather die!“