As a close associate of Kafka's protégé, Max Brod, Politzer coedited with Brod the first complete collection of Kafka's works in eight volumes, published initially by the Schocken publishing house of Berlin during the early years of the Nazi dictatorship and subsequently by the successor firm Schocken Books in New York.
He was involved with the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom in 1938–39, prior to relocating to the U.S. in 1947, where he matriculated at Bryn Mawr College.
His scholarly focus was on the writings and influence of Franz Kafka, German and Austrian literature, Fin-de-Siecle Vienna, and the psychoanalytical approach to literary interpretation.
He was survived by his second wife, Jane née Horner, with whom he had four sons, Michael, David, Stephen, and Eric, as well as his sister Kate.
In his homeland, he received the Austrian Cross (1966), the Grillparzer Ring (1972), and the Vienna Humanities Prize (1974) as well as an invitation to deliver the inaugural address at the 1976 Salzburg Music Festival.