Agnes-Primocic-Hof

In memory of the resistance fighter Agnes Primocic, the city of Hallein named the newly built non-profit housing complex “Agnes-Primocic-Hof” in 2014. Primocic had already been appointed Honorary Citizen of Hallein in 1999.
Agnes Primocic, born Reinthaler, was born on 30th January 1905 in Hallein and worked from the age of sixteen in the Hallein cigar and tobacco factory. At the age of twenty-five, she began fighting for better working conditions in the factory as a trade unionist and works council member. Already during the Austrofascism, Primocic actively engaged in political resistance and joined the 1933 banned KPÖ. After she had tried to organize a strike in the factory, she was dismissed. Already before the so-called Anschluss of Austria, Primocic was repeatedly arrested and spent a total of one year in prison.
Also after 1938, Primocic was repeatedly interrogated, tortured by the Gestapo, and imprisoned a further three times until 1945. Primocic remained undeterred in her political resistance until 1945. She supported other resistance fighters, engaged for the Red Aid, supported the families of politically persecuted individuals, and helped the Upper Austrian resistance fighter Sepp Plieseis to escape from the concentration camp in the summer of 1943. In 1944, two further prisoners also managed to escape from the camp in Hallein with her help.
Also after the Second World War, Agnes Primocic remained politically active, among other things for the KPÖ Salzburg. As a city councillor, she advocated for the expansion of kindergartens and the social rights of the population. From 1984 onwards, Primocic publicly testified as a witness of her resistance activities. She died on 14th April 2007 in Hallein.