Josefine Maria Huber (geb. Brill)

Josefine Maria Brill is born in Vienna as the illegitimate daughter of the magazine editor Franz Huber and Maria Brill. Seven months after her birth, her parents married and Josefine took the name Huber. Maria Brill converted from the Jewish to the Catholic faith, her parents Moses Brill and Sabina, née Züssel, were Jewish; Josefine Huber was brought up as a Roman Catholic.

After her school education, the musical Josefine Huber trained as a pianist, joined the musicians' union in 1936 and took up her first engagement at Österreichische Radio-Verkehrs AG (RAVAG) that year. She also plays on the pleasure steamer 'Hebe' of the Ersten Donau-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft (DDSG).

On March 12, 1938, Josefine Huber witnesses the downfall of free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. With the occupation of Austria, German legislation was adopted and with it the 'Nuremberg Race Laws', according to which she was classified as a 'Mischling I.

On June 1, 1938, the Reich Chamber of Culture denied her admission for "racist reasons", which meant she was no longer allowed to work as a musician. On December 19, 1938, Josefine Huber finds employment as a saleswoman at the Ludwig Kauba company in Vienna. She also works as a seamstress. She worked at Ludwig Kauba until immediately after the liberation of Austria.

In Vienna, Josefine Huber witnessed the liberation of Austria and the re-establishment of the Republic in April and May 1945. She joined the newly founded Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) and the ÖVP-Kameradschaft der politisch Verfolgten und Bekenner für Österreich. After working briefly for various companies and the Vienna Artists' Theatre, she returned to work as a pianist at Österreichische Radio-Verkehrs AG (RAVAG) in 1948 and between 1950 and 1952 at the well-known Viennese dance school Elmayer.