Memorial Plaque for Andreas Rohracher in the Crypt of the Salzburg Cathedral

The memorial plaque in the crypt of the Salzburg Cathedral is dedicated to the former Archbishop Andreas Rohracher. Immediately next to his grave, a glass plaque remembers the 1892 born capital vicar and bishop. However, Rohracher took an ambivalent role during and after the NS period. So, in 1940, he unsuccessfully tried to prevent the "euthanasia program" as well as the resettlement of the Carinthian Slovenes via letters to the Carinthian Governor. Rohracher also maintained contacts with the Kreisauer Circle as well as the Antifascist Freedom Movement of Austria (AFÖ) – two resistance cells which the Gestapo dissolved in 1942; seven members were killed. In his sermons, he also repeatedly criticized the NS regime, which led to a reprimand from the SS. At the same time, however, Rohracher praised the "Christian spirit of sacrifice" of Catholic Wehrmacht members, especially when it was directed against communism. He also indirectly referred to Judaism as the "enemy of Christianity". After the end of World War II, Rohracher helped numerous former NSDAP and SS members flee abroad through his international contacts, especially with the aid of the organization "Intermarium", which transported tens of thousands of SS members and their families out of the country. Andreas Rohracher, who was made an honorary citizen of the city of Salzburg in 1959 and an honorary doctor of the University of Salzburg in 1962, died in 1976.