World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseJacob Rosenfeld was born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (now Lviv, Ukraine). He received a medical degree from the Medical School of Vienna University in 1928, and later became a member of the Austrian Social Democratic Party. Liberal in belief, he participated in several protests, and was imprisoned on more than one occasion, but it was his Jewish ancestry that landed him in a concentration camp. He was eventually expelled from Austria by the Nazi German government.

ww2dbaseIn 1939, Rosenfeld made his way to China. He joined the Chinese Communist 4th Army in Apr 1939 as a medical personnel. While serving in Shandong Province, he was introduced to General Chen Yi, who was so impressed with Rosenfeld's devotion, sometimes without regard to his own safety, that he later bestowed him the position of Commander of the Medical Corps. It was the highest rank a foreigner had ever held in Communist forces.

ww2dbaseRosenfeld left China in 1949. He traveled to Israel in attempt to find lost relatives who might had survived the holocaust. He passed away in Israel in 1952. Communist China later established diplomatic relations with Israel, and was finally able to find the whereabouts of the Jewish doctor; every so often, Communist China would still dispatch representatives to Tel Aviv, Israel, where Rosenfeld now rests, to present wreaths.

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Jacob Rosenfeld Timeline

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