Józef Haller von Hallenburg was a lieutenant general of the Polish Army, a legionary in the Polish Legions, harcmistrz, the president of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, and a political and social activist. He was the cousin of Stanisław Haller.
Haller was born in Jurczyce. He studied at Vienna's Technical Military Academy and subsequently served with the Austrian Army, resigning after reaching the rank of captain. He supported the paramilitary pro-independence Polish organization Sokół. In 1916, during the First World War, he became commander of the Second Brigade of the Polish Legion, in particular the units which fought against Russia on the Eastern Front.
In 1918, in the aftermath of the "Charge at Rarańcza", as commander of the 2nd Polish Auxiliary Corps with the Austrian Army, Haller broke through the Austro-Russian front line to Ukraine, where he united his troops with Polish detachments which had left the Tsarist army. He protested the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and continued to fight the Russians with his II Brigade of the Polish Legions.