Jonny Moser was the son of a Jewish mother. Josef and Katharina Moser owned a general store in Burgenland at Parndorf which was the eastern end of Austria as remapped in 1919. Early in 1938 Austria was merged with Germany as part of Hitler's strategy for again redrawing the map of central Europe. Government policy for Burgenland now involved deporting the region's Jewish residents to Hungary. For the Moser family this meant, initially, some months spent under house arrest while their property was "aryanized" (expropriated by the state). They were then deported to Vienna where Jonny's father, Josef Moser, was again taken into custody by the Gestapo. In 1939 Josef was deported to the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Hungary was politically allied with Germany throughout this period, and Josef Moser was again interned. The next year, in October 1940, Katharina Moser and their son, Jonny were also able to transfer to Budapest and the family spent the next few years in a succession of Hungarian internment camps. In the summer of 1944 the family found themselves unexpectedly released, and presented in the Swedish legation of the diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. The Mosers were among those for whom Wallenberg organized "protective passports" after which they were accommodated in "protected houses". Johnny Moser was now employed in the "Relief Team" of Raoul Wallenberg.