Balthasar WÖSS was born in Salzburg on November 28, 1892. He was an unmarried Catholic journeyman cabinetmaker who specialized on repairing antiques in the number 5 Thumegger Bezirk workshop of his father, who was a master cabinetmaker. The WÖSS family had local citizenship rights in the city of Salzburg in accordance with the old Austrian Heimatrecht laws.
His mother died in 1923 and his older sister Maria, who was a cook, maintained the household.
Balthasar junior was unable to take over his father’s shop because he suffered from a physical handicap. He occupied himself with astrology and attempts to predict the future that got him into trouble with the Nazis. He escaped conviction by the Nazi courts, but was incapacitated by the struggle and was sent to the Salzburg-Lehen State Asylum on April 24, 1940.
On May 21, 1941 the 48 year old Balthasar WÖSS was transferred to the Hartheim Castle killing center where he was gassed.
In January of the next year his 83 year old father died in Salzburg. His sister Maria continued to live in Salzburg until her death in September 1968.
Translation: Stan Nadel
Stumbling Stone
Laid 22.03.2012 at Salzburg, Thumegger Straße 32
Photo: Gert Kerschbaumer