The Montan primary school officially received the name of the Katakombenschule teacher “Mathilde ‘Jordan Tilla’ Amplatz” during a ceremony – as a sign of appreciation and gratitude from the population, 100 years after the closure of the German school by the so-called “Lex Gentile”, as Lukas Varesco, representative of the Education Commission, initially underlined. On the initiative of the Educational Commission of Montan, under the presidency of Heidi Seppi Lindner, the idea of giving a name to the local elementary school arose some time ago. This also happened in view of last year’s commemoration of the centenary of the Lex Gentile of 1923, which at the time prohibited teaching in the German language in Südtirol. The education committee chose Mathilde ‘Jordan Tilla’ Amplatz, representing all the women who were secretly and surreptitiously giving German lessons to children at the time.
As part of the event, the parish priest Michael Ennemoser blessed a bronze plaque in the school which bears the names of the six teachers of the Montan katakombenschule: Mathilde Amplatz (Jordan Tilla), Maria Mazagg, Hella Rizzolli, Adele Nussbaumer, Gusti Rizzolli and Luise Tiefenthaler. The costs of the table were covered by the Montana municipal government. Mayor Monika Delvai Hilber thanked the initiative to name the elementary school and called it a historic moment. She recalled the courageous efforts of teachers who continued to teach the German language in secret classes. Judith Bacher, director of the Auer school district, also thanked for the initiative and underlined that the school is very keen on promoting the German language. In this sense it is important to remember those teachers who made German lessons possible even in difficult times
We talked about the life story of “Mathilde Amplatz” who already in October 1923, at the request of several parents, began sporadically teaching the German language to children. In August 1925 she was among the first to participate in the secret training course for teachers of emergency schools at the Toggenburg Palace in Bozen. The fascist authorities soon discovered her activities, the carabinieri threatened her with imprisonment, which is why the location of the lessons had to be constantly changed. She skillfully used all legal possibilities to ensure education for the German children of Montan. She taught 70-80 children and adults every year until 1940.
After the naming, the traveling exhibition of the Südtiroler Schützenbundes on the theme of the Katakombenschule was presented to the inhabitants of Montan, in nearby Gajahof. In addition to the classic display boards, the exhibition also contains images, objects and ancient objects as contemporary local testimonies made available by fellow citizens. In this context, the Schützenkompanie under the leadership of Captain Lukas Wegscheider expressed special thanks to Elmar Thaler, who tirelessly researched and was able to obtain a lot of information about this painful period, which can now be made available to the inhabitants of Montan.
