Friedrich Mandl

Friedrich ('Fritz') Mandl (9 February 1900 – 8 September 1977) was chairman of Hirtenberger Patronen-Fabrik, a leading Austrian armaments firm founded by his father, Alexander Mandl.

The Wöllersdorfer cartridge factory, from October 1933, the site of the holding camp Wöllersdorf

A prominent fascist, Mandl was attached to the Austrofascism and Italian varieties and an opponent of Nazism. In the 1930s he became close to Prince Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg, the commander of the Austrian nationalist militia ("Heimwehr"), which he furnished with weapons and ammunition.^[1]

Until 1940, Mandl tried to establish contact with Hermann Göring's office in order to supply Germany with iron^[2]

Marriages

Mandl was married several times. His wives included the following:

Helene Hella Mandl, Née Strauss, 1899, Vienna^[3] to whom he was married for six weeks^[2]

Hedy Lamarr, Née Kiesler, 1914, Vienna (see below)^[4]

Herta Mandl, Née Wrany, 1911, Steiermark^[5] (The LaVoz article suggests she was also known as Schneider, and was with him in Buenos Aires in 1938)^[2]

Gloria de Quaranta, Née Vinelli, 1922, Buenos Aires^[6]

Mandl's last marriage was to his secretary Monika Brücklmeier,^[2] daughter of Eduard Brücklmeier, an accessory executed for his involvement in the July 20 plot to assassinate Hitler.^[7]

Marriage to Hedy Lamarr

From 1933 to 1937, Mandl was married to Austrian actress Hedwig "Hedy" Kiesler, who would later become known as Hedy Lamarr in Hollywood. Both Hedy Lamarr's parents were born Jewish, but her mother converted to Roman Catholicism and was a practicing Catholic. Hedy was brought up Catholic. It is understandable, considering the times that she lived in, that she kept her ethnicity a secret. The couple were rumored to have very intimate contacts with the very highest levels of the people controlling Germany. In her autobiography she indicates that she attended a convent school for girls. When she went to Hollywood her connections with very wealthy people were obviously helpful to her career. Her first "serious" film was Algiers for which she was highly acclaimed at the time. Mandl is rumoured to have attempted to bring a halt to her acting career in Germany and to purchase all copies of her infamous film Ecstasy (1933), in which she appeared nude.

Following incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany with the Anschluss of 1938, Mandl's remaining property which had not yet been transferred to Swiss ownership was seized, since he had supported the separatist Austrofascism and his father was Jewish. Despite Mandl's part Jewish heritage, his then-wife Lamarr wrote in her autobiography Ecstasy and Me, that both Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and German dictator Adolf Hitler attended Mandl's parties. Lamarr described Mandl as extremely controlling, and wrote that she escaped only by disguising herself as a maid and fleeing to Paris, where she obtained a divorce.

Later years

Mandl later moved to Brazil and then to Argentina, where he became a citizen and remarried. In Argentina he served as an advisor to Juan Perón and attempted a new role as film producer. He also founded a new airplane manufacturing firm, Industria Metalúrgica y Plástica Argentina. Mandl became a leading member of Argentina's social circles. He acquired homes in Mar del Plata, a castle in Córdoba and a small hotel in Buenos Aires.^[2] He worked closely with French designer Jean-Michel Frank, who was then artistic director of Comte S.A.,^[8] who produced most of Mandl's furnishings. In 1955 he returned to Austria, where he resumed running the factory at Hirtenberg.^[1]

Sources

• Bill, Ramón. Waffenfabrik Solothurn. Schweizerische Präzision im Dienste der deutschen Rüstungsindustrie. In: Schriftenreihe des Kantonalen Museums Altes Zeughaus Solothurn, Heft 14. Solothurn, 2002
• Hug, Peter. Schweizer Rüstungsindustrie und Kriegsmaterialhandel zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Unternehmensstrategien – Marktentwicklung – politische Überwachung. Zurique: Chronos Verlag, Band 11 der Publikationen der Unabhängigen Expertenkommission, 2002.
• Kerekes, Lajos. Abenddämmerung einer Demokratie. Mussolini, Gömbös und die Heimwehr. Wien-Frankfurt-Zürich: Europa Verlag, 1966.
• Louçã, António. Conspiradores e traficantes. Portugal no tráfico de armas e de divisas nos anos do nazismo. 1933-1945. Lisbon: Oficina do Livro, 2005.
• Hanauska, Fritz. Heimatbuch der Marktgemeinde Hirtenberg. Marktgemeinde Hirtenberg, Hirtenberg 1980

References