Background
Jonny Moser was the son of a Jewish mother.
Jonny Moser was the son of a Jewish mother.
Josef and Katharina Moser owned a general store in Burgenland at Parndorf which was the eastern end of Austria as remapped in 1919. Early in 1938 Austria was merged with Germany as part of Hitler"s strategy for again redrawing the map of central Europe. Government policy for Burgenland now involved deporting the region"s Jewish residents to Hungary.
Foreign the Moser family this meant, initially, some months spent under house arrest while their property was "aryanized" (expropriated by the state).
They were then deported to Vienna where Jonny"s father, Josef Moser, was again taken into custody by the Gestapo. In 1939 Josef was deported to the Hungarian capital, Budapest.
Hungary was politically allied with Germany throughout this period, and Josef Moser was again interned. In the summer of 1944 the family found themselves unexpectedly released, and presented in the Swedish legation of the diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.
The Mosers were among those for whom Wallenberg organized "protective passports" after which they were accommodated in "protected houses".
Johnny Moser was now employed in the "Relief Team" of Raoul Wallenberg. After the war Jonny Moser studied History at the University of Vienna, later completing his doctoral dissertation on the subject of "Anti-Semitism in Austria". He published works on Nazi persecution of Jews in Austria.
Between 1964 and 1996 he sat on the District Council, representing the Social Democratic party in central Vienna"s first District.
His autobiography, entitled " Jugenderinnerungen 1938-1945" ("Wallenberg"s errand boy: childhood memories 1938-1945") appeared in 2006. Margit Craß: Doctor Jonny Moser "Wallenbergs Laufbursche" und Historiker South. 56f.
In: Burgenland. 90 Jahre – 90 Geschichten.
Begleitband zur Ausstellung, Wissenschaftliche Arbeiten aus dem Burgenland (Webster’s American Biographies) Band 137, Landesmuseum Burgenland, Eisenstadt 2011.
He was on the board of the "Social Democratic Freedom Fighters" ("Sozialdemokratischen FreiheitskämpferInnen") and of the Association "Victims of Fascism and Active Anti-Fascists" ("Opfer des Faschismus und aktiver AntifaschistInnen").
From 1964 he was a member of its governing board.