In April 2026, Marc Fischl and his family made a special trip to Shanghai. Their destination was the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, where Marc came to fulfill a wish his father, Frank Otto Fischl, had made more than a decade earlier.

Marc handed his father's original birth certificate, issued by the Shanghai municipal government in 1948, to Chen Jian, the museum's director.

Marc said he had come to the museum to fulfill his father's wish and, more importantly, to trace his family's history.

Frank Otto Fischl was born in Shanghai in 1948. Frank's mother fled Europe with her family and took refuge in Shanghai in 1939, where she later met his father, Heinz Fischl.

Frank's paternal grandparents were killed in the Holocaust, and his middle name, "Otto", was also his grandfather's name. In 1948, the family left Shanghai for Sydney with Frank, who was then a baby.

More than a decade ago, Frank returned to his birthplace and visited the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, an experience that left an indelible impression on him. Before leaving, he made a wish: to donate his birth certificate to the museum. That wish was fulfilled by his son during his recent visit to Shanghai.

At the museum's Wall of Names, Marc and his family carefully scanned the engraved names. To their surprise, they found the names of more than 10 other family members on the wall, in addition to Marc's father and grandparents.

"Shanghai is the reason my family survived — without this city, we wouldn't be here," said Marc.

At the end of the tour, Marc's 10-year-old son, Tom Fischl, asked where his grandfather's birth certificate would be displayed in the museum and said he hoped to bring his own children back to see it someday.

The director said memories and family histories passed down from generation to generation form the basis of most of the museum's exhibits and stories.

Source: Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum​