Walter Kaufmann

Walter Kaufmann was a German-Australian writer. Kaufmann was born Jizchak Schmeidler in Berlin, the son of a Polish Jewish woman, Rachela Schmeidler. He was adopted by the wealthy German Jewish couple Dr. Sally and Johanna Kaufmann at the age of three. While his adoptive parents were eventually murdered in Auschwitz, Kaufmann fled to England during the outbreak of the War, and was later deported to Australia on the ship HMT Dunera in 1940. He joined the Australian army as a volunteer.