Otto Planetta and Franz Holzweber

Anxious to bring Nazism to Austria, eight Austrian Nazis marched into the chancery building in Vienna on July 25th, 1934, and shot dead Engelbert Dollfuss, 41, the Austrian chancellor.

They were arrested and on Tuesday, July 31st, 1934, their two ringleaders, Otto Planetta, the man who actually shot the chancellor, and Franz Holzweber, were tried and hanged within a matter of hours. As the ropes were placed around their necks both men shouted, “Heil Hitler!”

Four years later the Nazis marched into Austria creating the Anschluss – the union, forced or otherwise, between Germany and Austria.