Austria and Karl Hirzer

Karl Hirzer: Karl Hirzer lived a life of diligence and determination, with abundantly more gratitude than expectation, according to Globe and Mail. Submit a Lives Lived column Soldier, prisoner of war, craftsman, family man. Born on Oct. 9, 1921, in Styria, Austria; died on Dec. 21, 2013, in Kitchener, Ont., of heart failure, aged 92. His quiet strength was forged from adversity. He and his four siblings were raised in foster homes in Austria after their father emigrated to Canada in search of work during the Great Depression and their mother died of cancer. In 1938, when Karl was 16, German troops moved into Austria in the run-up to the Second World War. Two of his three brothers were killed in that conflict. Karl, after training in Tyrol to become a gebirgsjaeger mountain soldier , spent most of his military service on the brutal Eastern Front, where he lost two fingers from a hand-grenade blast. More Related to this Story (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.