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Narrowly escaping Vienna. While he was alive, Joseph Haas never spoke of his young life growing up in Vienna or his journey from there to the United States. His son learned some of the details only by searching through the Austrian archives.
Born on March 10, 1922, Joseph lived with his parents in Vienna’s 17th district and attended gymnasium there. His parents ran a small corner market there and managed a dairy cooperative. All of that changed on March 12, 1938, two days after Joseph’s 16th birthday, when the 8th Army of the German Wehrmacht crossed the border into Austria at the start of the Anschluss.
The campaign against the Jews began immediately after that. Jews were driven through the streets of Vienna; their homes and shops were plundered. The Nazis dissolved Jewish organizations and institutions, hoping to force Jews to emigrate.
Their plans succeeded—by the end of 1941, 130,000 Jews had left Vienna, 30,000 of whom went to the United States, including Joseph, who left Vienna alone for America via Rotterdam on November 15, 1939. His father had earlier passed from illness, and mother was lost later during the Holocaust.
Among the handful of possessions Joseph took with him was this violin.
Speaking only German when he arrived, Joseph stayed with his aunt in Brooklyn, New York, and got started with his new life, including practicing his violin, until 1943, during World War II, when he was drafted by the U.S. Army at the age of 21. By this time fluent in English and speaking without any discernable accent, Joseph traveled back to Europe with the Army, where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Later, because of his fluent German, he participated in the interrogations of very high level captured German officers, including field marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. Also, while serving in the U.S. Army, Joseph was granted a Certificate of Naturalization and became a U.S. citizen.
After the war, Joseph married, had a son, supported his family and continued his violin playing. He joined several amateur orchestras, and eventually, through his work with a pharmaceutical company, was invited to join the Doctors Orchestral Society of New York. As part of this organization, Joseph had the rare opportunity to play his violin in Carnegie Hall during a benefit performance of the orchestra.
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