Career
During World World War II, he was a partisan fighter the Freedom Battalions in Yugoslavia. He then became the central secretary of the Sozialistische Partei Österreichs (Socialist Party of Austria). He was also involved in the Revolutionary Socialists.
In the beginning of the post-war era he objected to the pact between Sozialistische Partei Österreichs (Socialist Party of Austria) and Österreichisches Volkspartei (Austrian People's Party), and favoured an alliance with the KPÖ.
He was eventually expelled from the Sozialistische Partei Österreichs (Socialist Party of Austria), and joined the KPÖ where he would become a politburo member.