us-005578-irn519177-irn518125
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has or had holder: us-005578
record resource extent: overall: Height: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm) | Width: 1.130 inches (2.87 cm)
biographical history: Fritz Kauffman was born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1904. His parents were jewelers. He moved to Australia in 1927 to work as an independent sales representative for German manufacturers, selling aircraft, aircraft supplies, electrical appliances, surgical instruments, insulating materials and machinery. In 1931, he moved to Shanghai to work as a sales representative for Australian firms selling wheat, flour, beef tallow, hides, fresh fruit and wool products. Fritz then joined the German import-export firm Reuter, Broeckelmann & Co. managing the industrial raw materials, chemicals, and produce department. In 1940, due to German and Nazi politics, he left Reuter, Broeckelmann & Co. to start his own company, Merchants and Traders. Fritz married a non-Jewish British citizen, Adelaide Florence Kerslake, on January 23, 1941, in Shanghai. He was deprived of his German citizenship in the summer of 1941 because he was a German Jew living abroad. Fritz had lived in Shanghai for quite a few years before the refugees started arriving from Europe. Thus he was in a position to help organize a committee established to aid the refugees after their arrival. In July 1942, Fritz and other members of a joint committee of Jews learned that the Japanese, under the influence of the German Gestapo, planned to liquidate the Jews living in Shanghai. Fritz and his fellow committee members were arrested soon after they questioned this policy and tried to meet with highly placed military officials about the rumor. Fritz was held in custody for about a month. In early 1943, the Japanese declared that all Jewish refugees arriving after December 31, 1936 had to relocate to the newly established ghettos. Fritz was not subject to this proclamation, as he arrived in 1931, and he was able to continue to live in his home and run his business. Both of Fritz's parents were killed during the Holocaust. Throughout his time in Shanghai, Fritz participated in the sport of polo and was active in the Shanghai P…
has record set type: Item
scope and content: Decorative medal that belonged to Fritz Kauffmann, a German Jewish businessman, who lived in Shanghai, China, from 1931-1949. He was active in Jewish community aid efforts before and during World War II. In 1940, because of Nazi politics and the outbreak of war, he resigned from the German firm for which he worked and opened his own import/export business. He was deprived of his German citizenship in 1941 for being Jewish and living abroad. However, as a longtime resident and successful businessman in Shanghai, he was able to surmount wartime difficulties and assist the more recent Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai to escape persecution and the war in Europe.
is or was included in: us-005578-irn519177
title: Decorative medal with a Swiss town and alps owned by a German Jewish businessman in Shanghai
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
has or had some members with language: deu
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Gold colored metal rectangular medal with a protruding shield in the front lower right corner. There is a brown leather cord slip-knotted through a loop at the top center. The front has a multicolored image of mountains with a town in the corner. There is a separate section at the bottom with gold text on a black background. The shield is to the right with a gold background and a crowned red eagle. The back is plain metal with a multicolored center flower surrounded by 8 multicolored shields. lower left front, in gold letters: Ober-Gurgle / 1930m Tirol
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn519177-irn518125/acquisitions/1
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn519177-irn518125/alternateIDs/1
type: RecordSet
archival history: The medal was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2006 by Ronnie Leibowitz, executor, on behalf of the Estate of Adelaide Kauffmann.
date: approximately 1930
identifier: irn518125