Fasching Maria ; Son: Fritz ; Daughter: Mitzi

Fasching, Maria Fasching, Fritz Fasching, Mitzi On March 23, 1945, a group of scouts from the Soviet army parachuted into Austrian territory. Their assignment: to collect information about the German army. Among them was the Jewish communications officer Maria Sabeschinsky, born in Riga in 1923. Sabeschinsky broke her leg during the landing. The scouts began wandering in the Alps on foot, one step head of the Germans, who had intercepted the group’s radio transmissions and were already looking for them. Advancing with difficulty because of Sabeschinsky’s condition, and never lighting fires so they would not be discovered, the group reached the village of Lahnsattel on April 17. The group was in desperate straits. Because she spoke German, Sabeschinsky was chosen to approach a house on the outskirts of the village to ask for help. Luckily, the house belonged to Maria Fasching, who immediately took pity on the group. She hid the Russians in her attic, gave them food and allowed them some time for much-needed rest while she and her children, Fritz and Mitzi, dried their clothing. In the morning a neighbor warned that a group of SS (apparently Waffen SS) would soon be arriving in the village to look for Russian spies. Because Sabeschinsky was sick, in addition to her broken leg, the leader of the Russian group ordered her to stay behind, while the rest of the group left. Fasching knew that Sabeschinsky was a Jew, and in spite of this, agreed to shelter her in her house. She took care of Sabeschinsky’s leg, gave her warm clothes and shared her own food rations and those of her children. The SS force that arrived in the village didn’t bother to search the house, but remained in the village, setting up watch posts, including one at Fasching’s own house. They never found out that one of the people they were searching for was lying in the attic just above them. Maria Fasching and her children endangered themselves by hiding a Jewish officer of the Red Army who hadparachuted into Austria in order to sabotage the German war effort, a crime punishable by death. The Fasching family received no financial compensation for hiding Sabeschinsky, and even shared their food and clothing with her during a period of great economic hardship. Although they were the poorest family in the village, the Faschings also managed to obtain medicines and creams for the care of Sabeschinsky’s broken leg. On May 8, 1945, Sabeschinsky came out of hiding. The Russians were already in control of the area, and she returned to the Soviet Union. On December 2, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Fasching, her son Fritz and her daughter Mitzi as Righteous Among the Nations.