Major General
Dr. h. c. Eduard von Fischer, 1862 - 1935,
Knight of the Maria Theresa Order

Military Order of Maria Theresa

The Military Order of Maria Theresa was an Order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire founded on June 18, 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolin, by the Empress...

, was a Jewish colonel (Gendarmerie general) commanding the Austrian gendarmerie

Federal Gendarmerie

The Gendarmerie of Austria called the , Federal Gendarmerie, was an Austrian federal police force. It was responsible for approximately two thirds of the population on approximately 98% of Austrian national territory, alongside the Federal Safety Guard Corps and Kriminalbeamtenkorps...

 in Bukovina

Bukovina

Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...

.

With the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Bukovina then part of Austro-Hungary was immediately under siege by the Russian armies. The north of Bukovina and Czernowitz the capital fell within a month.

Meanwhile in the unoccupied part of southern Bukovina, an armed resistance group was formed under the command of Colonel Eduard Fischer. His army included many volunteers in addition to the gendarmerie forces. The key points of resistance were Gura humora

Gura Humorului

Gura Humorului is a town located in northern Romania, Suceava County in southern Bukovina. Until 1918 it was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and formed a shtetl...

 and Kimpulung. Fischer fended off the enemy forces, and retook the capital, but only for a short time. The Russians under General Selivanov occupied Czernowitz once again on November 20, 1914.
He is buried in Vienna, in the cemetery Hietzing, in a grave of honour, Group 49, Number 234