Born to Holocaust survivor parents. His mother, from the Carpathian region of Slovakia, had endured Riga and Auschwitz Camps. His father, from Vienna, escaped with his parents to Shanghai. They each arrived in Sydney in 1947 where they met and married and where Ben was born.

Tragically, Ben’s father died during Ben’s HSC year, compelling him to get a job to help support his family. He joined the Commonwealth Bank and stayed there until retirement some 40 years later. He rose through the ranks to the very senior position of Executive Manager for Security Documents.

From the age of 8 Ben has been active in volunteering, starting as a Cub Scout, involving him in a range of community services. He eventually rose to the post of District Commissioner for the Eastern Suburbs, supervising 8 Scouts groups, including the Judean Scouts. This became almost a full-time activity, alongside his very responsible full-time position as a Bank Executive. He is very proud that his father had been in the Scout movement in Vienna as a youngster and then a leader in the British Scouts in Shanghai. Ben has gained great satisfaction in seeing how the movement teaches young people to give back to the community and how they develop into honourable adults. In 2013 he was recognised by Australia’s Scouting Movement with its highest honour, the Silver Kangaroo.

From 1981 to 1990, Ben continued his volunteering activities, fundraising for the Ma-Nayim chapter of B’nai Brith, alongside Shirley Breiner, a young woman who was later to become his wife. Ben became Honorary Treasurer in 1985.

Ben and Shirley Politzer OAM have two sons, Steven and David, both of whom were also in the Scout movement.  David, his younger son, is currently employed by COA. With some 55 years of volunteering, Ben has passed this on to his children. Shirley Politzer has for some time used her exceptional talent as a pianist to perform at various functions at COA, and other Jewish communal groups.

In 2012 Ben became a member of COA. He retired from his bank position in 2015. His Volunteering with the Scout movement was continuing but, without his professional job, he now had much more free time so he became a volunteer with COA, initially involved in helping organise the Dinner Club. In his words, he “needed a reason to get up in the morning”.

Since 2016 he has been an escort on COA’s regular bus outings, greeting and assisting bus passengers. Since 2017 he has been a member of COA’s Committee of Management, currently serving as the Chair of its Assets Management committee.

Ben and his wife Shirley have also helped at COA Remembrance Day functions by organising their scout troop - the North Rose Bay Judean Scouts - to perform the colour guiard.

In 2011 Ben was awarded a Scroll of Honour from Waverley Municipal Council for services rendered to the local community.