A pair of ruby slippers - Digital Stories

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In 1939, Irene and Edgar Böhm escaped persecution in Germany, entering Shanghai, one of the only ports in the world that did not require a visa. They were interned in the Hongkew Ghetto. Edgar worked as a waiter.

In 1940, Irene and Edgar’s daughter Dorrit was born.

Image (left): Irene Rothholz (later Boehm) with her family in Germany; her father’s parents are on the right. SJM Collection.

Image (above): Dorrit age 6, on the steps of the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. Behind her, stand two young page boys who worked at the hotel. The photo was taken by Dorrit’s father, Edgar.

In 1939, Irene and Edgar Böhm escaped persecution in Germany, entering Shanghai, one of the only ports in the world that did not require a visa. They were interned in the Hongkew Ghetto. Edgar worked as a waiter.

In 1940, Irene and Edgar’s daughter Dorrit was born.

Image (left): Irene Rothholz (later Boehm) with her family in Germany; her father’s parents are on the right. SJM Collection.

Image (above): Dorrit age 6, on the steps of the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. Behind her, stand two young page boys who worked at the hotel. The photo was taken by Dorrit’s father, Edgar.

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These little red shoes are a memento of Dorrit Böhm’s early childhood in Shanghai.

These little red shoes are a memento of Dorrit Böhm’s early childhood in Shanghai.

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Image: Photo of the men’s dormitory in the Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong. Taken in 1946 by Edgar Boehm. SJM Collection.

Image: Photo of the men’s dormitory in the Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong. Taken in 1946 by Edgar Boehm. SJM Collection.

Life for refugees in Japanese-occupied Shanghai was grueling. Despite the poor sanitation, food shortages and an incessant longing for distant shores, the Böhm family managed to eke out a living.

At the end of the war, they travelled to Hong Kong.

By October 1946, they could finally call Australia home, sponsored by Edgar’s sister, Alice.

Life for refugees in Japanese-occupied Shanghai was grueling. Despite the poor sanitation, food shortages and an incessant longing for distant shores, the Böhm family managed to eke out a living.

At the end of the war, they travelled to Hong Kong.

By October 1946, they could finally call Australia home, sponsored by Edgar’s sister, Alice.

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Almost 40 years later, Edgar Böhm presented Dorrit’s new husband – his new son-in-law – with an unusual yet meaningful wedding gift: this worn pair of red shoes.

Almost 40 years later, Edgar Böhm presented Dorrit’s new husband – his new son-in-law – with an unusual yet meaningful wedding gift: this worn pair of red shoes.

In 1939, a different pair of ruby slippers was brought into the public’s consciousness in the film “The Wizard of Oz”. They became an iconic symbol of the lure of home, the value of personal resilience and the triumph of good over evil.

For the Böhm family, it would seem that humble footwear was similarly elevated into a symbol of something entirely more profound and magical: survival of the Holocaust, the founding of a family and a new beginning.

In 1939, a different pair of ruby slippers was brought into the public’s consciousness in the film “The Wizard of Oz”. They became an iconic symbol of the lure of home, the value of personal resilience and the triumph of good over evil.

For the Böhm family, it would seem that humble footwear was similarly elevated into a symbol of something entirely more profound and magical: survival of the Holocaust, the founding of a family and a new beginning.

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