Embedded Files
Alfred Brosan's Birth Certificate
Alfred Brosan was born on July 20, 1923 to Rudolf and Anna (née Spielmann) Brosan while they were vacationing in Rodaun, a small town near Vienna, Austria. He had a sister named Gertrude, and their father worked in the leather goods business. During Alfred’s childhood, the Brosan family moved from Vienna’s 7th District to Hainbach, a western suburb of the city where they stayed for the next ten years. In a letter written for his grandchildren, Alfred described his early childhood:
“The most vivid of my [memories] of this time was that we had a wonderful mountain across the street from us (or was it more of a hill?) where we kids roamed through the woods in the summer and where we skied in the winter. I also started school in this little village and I had to trudge about three miles every day, back and forth from school, rain, shine or snow. Since religious instructions were mandatory in Austria at this time, and no Jewish instructions were given at my little school, I had to take a train every Thursday to travel about 30 miles to attend Hebrew School at a central location where all Jewish pupils from the area came together. All in all, I had good friends in this little village and all my recollections are positive.”[1]
[1] Alfred Brosan, “A Letter to My Grandchildren,” 1.
In 1933—the year Hitler came to power across the border in Germany—the family moved into an apartment in the 13th District for about two and a half years. Then they moved closer to Rudolf’s leather goods business in the 7th District on Halbstrasse.[2]
[2] Alfred Brosan Interview by Marian Salkin, December 5, 1991. The interview is also available through the United State Holocaust Memorial Museum at https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn565809
This "Heimatschein," dated May 16, 1922, officially acknowledges Rudolf Brosan's right of local citizenship in Vienna.
In a 1991 interview conducted by Marian Salkin, Alfred recounted that while living in Vienna,
“my father groomed me to take over the business—the leather goods business. So, I was like an apprentice in the leather goods for one year—in Vienna with fourteen years, you can quit school—then you become an apprentice in whatever trade you want—but, you still go to school but specifically for that particular trade…. He wanted me to take over his business and run the business; I wanted to become a mechanical engineer! He wanted me to become a leather goods worker. I became something completely different!”[3]
[3] Alfred Brosan Interview, December 5, 1991.
In March 1938, the Germans annexed Austria (an event known as the “Anschluss”). Life changed dramatically for the Brosans. Rudolf was still able to function and even traveled for the business. Nevertheless, an “Aryan” foreman was set up in the business. This man had worked for Rudolf for many years. Rudolf saw the writing on the wall and decided that the family should leave as soon as possible. The problem was there were few options. Great Britain and Canada only allowed a small number of refugees, and, while the United States raised their German quota, it was not enough.[4] Getting into the United States was fairly difficult for Jewish families because one needed to have a sponsor, proper documentation, as well as sufficient funds to travel. There were also very restrictive quotas and State Department officials who actively thwarted immigration by setting up endless bureaucratic obstacles. Jews and non-Jews alike were trying to flee as Germany annexed countries in Europe. Alfred recounted,
Listen to Alfred Brosan's daughter, Debra discuss Kristallnacht and the effect on the family's business.
brosan_interview_kristallnacht.mp3“Of course, my father made all of these plans to go to Shanghai secretly. No one in the business knew that this was going to come. He went to the business every day. And then we were supposed to leave for Berlin and then on to Warsaw. I think it was a Saturday evening, and my father took me and went into the business. Just to see how everything was. There wasn’t anyone working. And, on the way out, he had a key in his hand, he walked over to a sewer, took the key and threw it into the sewer and said ‘that’s the end of this.’”[5]
The Brosans, like approximately 16,000-18,000 other Jewish refugees, fled to Shanghai, China, because it was one of the only places that would take them.
[4] Gertjan Broek, “The (im)possibilities of escaping. Jewish emigration 1933 – 1942,” Anne Frank House, https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/impossibilities-escaping-1933-1942/.
[5] Alfred Brosan Interview, December 5, 1991.
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