DI Johann Mad

Johann Mad was born in Raab (Györ), the son of a master baker and winemaker. He attended elementary school there and then grammar school. After graduating in 1918, he took part in the First World War for a few months. After working on his parents' farm for two years, he attended the Agricultural Academy in Hungarian Altenburg in 1921, from which he graduated in 1924. He first runs his own farm and then works as an employee in a sugar factory. He also enrolled at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. In 1930, he took a degree and began working for the Burgenland Chamber of Agriculture.

As a staunch opponent of National Socialism, Johann Mad became involved in the Fatherland Front. After the occupation of Austria by the Third Reich, he was immediately dismissed. He was later assigned to the Neunkirchen district farmers' association as an economic advisor. There he witnessed the liberation of Austria in April 1945.