On October 19, 2025, Benjamin Politzer, an Australian descendant of former Jewish refugees in Shanghai, visited the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum with his son Steven. This marked their first trip to Shanghai and their first visit to the museum that holds their family’s memories.

Benjamin photographing his family members’ names on the Wall

Benjamin’s connection with the museum was forged through a heartwarming relay. In August this year, the museum hosted Ms. Dianne Nassau, another descendant of former Jewish refugees in Shanghai. Deeply touched by her visit, she returned to Australia and shared her experience of the museum with several friends, including Benjamin. She then helped him establish email contact with the museum, which facilitated this meaningful trip to Shanghai.

Benjamin and Steven toured the museum with exceptional attentiveness. In the “Wedding in the Designated Area” section, a photo of a Jewish couple’s wedding in Shanghai caught Benjamin’s eye. The couple in the photo turned out to be his father’s close friends from his Scout days, and they even attended Benjamin’s wedding in Sydney. Memories spanning decades converged at that moment, adding an extra layer of pleasant surprise and heartfelt emotion to the visit.

Benjamin and his son at the museum

After the visit, Benjamin was deeply moved as he expressed that it gave him great joy to see everything his father had once told him represented in the museum, adding that this was proof that those accounts were not just made-up stories. As a third-generation descendant of Jewish refugees, his son Steven was equally touched. He noted that through these shared experiences, he could truly feel the profound bond between the Chinese and Jewish peoples, and he praised Shanghai for showcasing and honoring this remarkable chapter of history.

As agreed in the prior email correspondence, Benjamin generously donated a collection of his family’s historical materials to the museum. The donation included his grandfather Rudolf’s membership certificate, a set of old photographs and newspaper clippings documenting old Shanghai, as well as digital copies of various archives and official documents related to his family’s refuge in Shanghai. He walked the museum staff through these materials and shared detailed accounts of his family’s experience of seeking refuge in Shanghai.

Rudolf’s membership card

Gesturing toward a digital copy of a Chinese certificate of merit, Benjamin proudly recounted a memorable story about his father. “On August 11, 1943, Shanghai was struck by a typhoon. My father, George, and three other ‘Pao Chia’ (Editor’s note: Jews assisting in maintaining order in the Designated Area) risked their lives to save several Chinese citizens from a collapsed building.” The newspaper reporting this event and the original certificate have been carefully preserved by Benjamin to this day.

The Certificate of Merit awarded to George

Benjiamin also shared an amusing story. During his family’s time in Shanghai, his grandfather Rudolf co-founded a leather goods factory with a business partner. The entire family, including Benjamin’s father George, once worked there. After the war, the family planned to leave Shanghai and start a new life in Australia. However, at that time, immigration procedures required proof of employment. “So my grandfather came up with an idea,”Benjamin said with smile,“In his capacity as the factory owner, he penned a glowing letter of recommendation for his employee—George!” Together with those often-recounted “Shanghai stories”, this letter, written by one family member for another, has become a unique memento of his family’s history.

Proof of George’s employment from Rudolf’s leather goods factory

REFUGEE LIFE

George with his parents in Shanghai

Benjamin’s late father and eight other family members—all Jewish refugees from Vienna—came to Shanghai to seek refuge between 1939 and 1940. They left in December 1946 to immigrate to Australia. The family members listed on “The Wall of Names of Jewish Refugees in Shanghai” are as follows:

Benjamin’s father—George (Georg) Politzer;

Benjamin’s grandfather—Rudolf Politzer;

Benjamin’s grandmother—Hedwig Politzer;

Benjamin’s great grandfather—Isidor Politzer;

Benjamin’s great grandmother—Ernastine Politzer

Benjamin’s great grandmother (his grandmother’s mother)—Else Herzog;

Benjamin’s grandfather’s brother—Ernst Politzer

Ernst Politzer’s wife—Olga Politzer

Ernst Politzer’s adopted son—John Politzer(recorded as ‘Heizn Politzer’ on the Wall of Names)

Benjamin’s hand-drawn family diagram

During the time in Shanghai, most of the family worked at the leather goods factory co-founded by Rudolf and a business partner. George, Benjamin’s father, had already been a Scout in Vienna. Upon arriving in Shanghai, many Jewish refugees with scouting backgrounds established several Scout groups. George joined the 13th United Scout Group, whose members were primarily from Vienna and Germany. George was called “Rover”, which referred to a senior Scout typically between the ages of 18 and 26. Later, George became a Scout leader, responsible for managing members aged 11 to 18. After leaving Shanghai, he settled in Sydney, where he met and married Benjamin’s mother. He passed away in 1975.