“I was born Austrian and I want to die Austrian”. This is the great desire of Hermine Orian. The South Tyrolean recently turned 103 and has been applying for an Austrian passport in Vienna for some time. The first application was rejected, but the centenary did not give up and filed an appeal.
Its story is one of the many stories written in twentieth-century Europe. Hermine Aloisia Mair was born on April 23, 1919 in Cortaccia. South Tyrol at the time was still Austrian, albeit already occupied by the Italian army, and only a few months later, with the signing of the Saint Germain agreement, it would officially pass to Italy. There are now very few South Tyroleans in his situation. As a young woman, Hermine experienced the drama of the Second World War. She was just 13 when she started teaching in one of the underground schools, the Katakombenschulen, to teach – despite the fascist regime’s ban – German to South Tyrolean children. With the marriage she became Mrs. Orian and then the mother of two children.
Today he lives with one of them in Scena, above Merano, and despite his old age he is still in splendid shape.
For about ten years, the great-grandmother has been pursuing the dream of receiving Austrian citizenship. Now, at 103, at least in Austria, you have rekindled the debate on dual citizenship for South Tyroleans. The tabloid Kronen Zeitung and her weekly News have dedicated articles to her. The Andreas-Hofer-Bund, a Tyrolean patriotic movement that claims the self-determination of South Tyrol, takes care of her cause.
Source: Ansa
I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years now and I have worked for some of the biggest news websites in the world. My focus has always been on entertainment news, but I also cover a range of other topics. I am currently an author at Global happenings and I love writing about all things pop-culture related.
