Aribert Haas

Aribert Haas was born on 3 May 1921 in Berlin and lived at Melchiorstrasse 28, Berlin, until about 1930 when the family moved to Kirchestrasse 2, Tiergarten, Berlin. On 20 June 1939 he emigrated to England. After internment as an “enemy alien” in 1940, Aribert enlisted in the Pioneer Corps of the British Army, the task of which was to build defence infrastructure in Britain.

In 1943 he underwent secret training with the Special Operations Executive, although never saw active service. On 22 June 1943 he changed his name to Arthur John Hall under British Army Council Instruction No. 475 and he naturalised as a British citizen under that name on 14 March 1947. He married Joyce Acock on 15 September 1945 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK.

After leaving the army in 1948 he studied for a degree and became a teacher for about 10 years. After that he spent the rest of his working life in public service, including from 1976 to 1986 at the European Commission in Brussels, where he was involved in multi-lateral world trade negotiations for the textile industry. He died on 14 February 2004 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, UK.

Arthur John Hall (Aribert Haas) and Joyce Hall (nee Acock) had two children:
Susan Gisela Hall was born on 28 January 1948 in Leicester, Leicestershire, UK.  
Peter Alastair Hall was born on 12 June 1955 in Bournemouth, Hampshire, UK.