Karl Duldig

Early years Duldig was born in Przemyśl, Galicia, Poland (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His parents were Marcus Duldig and Eidla (Eydl) Nebenzahl.

In 1923, he was Austrian national champion in table tennis.

In 1931, he married artist and inventor Slawa Horowitz, who had patented an improved compact folding umbrella in 1929. Their only child, Eva Duldig, was born in 1938.

Switzerland and Singapore; Fleeing Nazi Europe

As the Nazis entered Austria, the family left first for Switzerland. He first travelled to Switzerland without his wife and child, on a temporary visa to play in a tennis tournament, and later that year convinced an official to allow his family to "visit" him there in Zurich, thereby staying a step ahead of the Holocaust. The family was only allowed to stay in Switzerland for a short time.

The family then left for Singapore by boat in April 1939, where initially he and Slawa ran an art school and he restored paintings, and completed commissions for the Sultan of Johor and Aw Boon Haw. In Singapore, however, six months after their arrival the British arrested them, because they had German identity papers. Austria had been annexed by Germany in March 1938 in the Anschluss, and therefore the family and all other Austrians by law had become citizens of the German Reich. The British colonial government classified them as "citizens of an enemy country", and they were deported by boat from Singapore to Australia in September 1940.

Australia; enemy alien, sculptor They were deported by boat from Singapore to Australia in September 1940. The internment camp was located near Shepparton, in the northern part of the state of Victoria. Works of his are displayed in the City of Caulfield, Melbourne General Cemetery War Memorial, Council House, the Australian National Gallery, and the Australian War Memorial. His works are also shown at the National Gallery of Victoria, the McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, and the Newcastle Region Art Gallery. In 1956 Duldig won the Victorian Sculptor of the Year Award.

After his wife died in 1975, in 1983 he married Rosia Ida Dorin. Her memoir was made into a musical in 2022, entitled Driftwood – The Musical, directed by Wesley Enoch. Her daughter Tania wrote some of the lyrics. Australian Broadcasting Corporation wrote that the musical "is a remarkable story". The Australian Jewish News wrote: "there's no shortage of drama, heartache and lucky escape." Limelight wrote that the musical was "sincere to a fault." The Age wrote: "Director Gary Abrahams keeps the story's emotional core vivid and convincing and Anthony Barnhill's score suits the material well. The singing is excellent... this show has heart."

Karl's granddaughter, Tania de Jong, born in 1964, is an Australian soprano, social entrepreneur, and businesswoman. In 1965, after Tania's birth, the family returned to Melbourne, and after she gave birth to two more children Duldig found it challenging to maintain her tennis.

In 2022, Karl's great-granddaughters Andrea and Emma de Jong ran in the 2022 Maccabiah Games, and Emma won the 800 metres and 1,500-metre run as a junior.