Shanghai ghetto
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The Shanghai Ghetto, formally known as the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, was an area of approximately one square mile in the Hongkew district of
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
-occupied
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
(the ghetto was located in the southern
Hongkou , formerly spelled Hongkew, is a district of Shanghai, forming part of the northern urban core. It has a land area of and a population of 852,476 as of 2010. It is the location of the Astor House Hotel, Broadway Mansions, Lu Xun Park, and H ...
and southwestern Yangpu districts which formed part of the
Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdictio ...
). The area included the community around the
Ohel Moshe Synagogue The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is a museum commemorating the Jewish refugees who lived in Shanghai during World War II after fleeing Europe to escape the The Holocaust, Holocaust. It is located at the former Ohel Moshe or Moishe Synagogue, i ...
. Shanghai was notable for a long period as the only place in the world that unconditionally offered refuge for Jews escaping from the Nazis. After the
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese occupied all of Shanghai in 1941, the Japanese army forced about 23,000 of the city's
Jewish refugees This article lists expulsions, refugee crises and other forms of displacement that have affected Jews. Timeline The following is a list of Jewish expulsions and events that prompted significant streams of Jewish refugees. Assyrian captivity ; ...
to be restricted or relocated to the Shanghai Ghetto from 1941 to 1945Shanghai Jewish History
(Shanghai Jewish Center)
by the ''Proclamation Concerning Restriction of Residence and Business of Stateless Refugees''. It was one of the poorest and most crowded areas of the city. Local Jewish families and American Jewish charities aided them with shelter, food, and clothing. The Japanese authorities increasingly stepped up restrictions, surrounded the ghetto with barbed wire, and the local Chinese residents, whose living conditions were often as bad, did not leave.
By Kimberly Chun (AsianWeek)

, Murray Frost.
By 21 August 1941, the Japanese government closed Shanghai to Jewish immigration.


Background


Jews in 1930s Germany

At the end of the 1920s, most German Jews were loyal to Germany, assimilated and relatively prosperous. They served in the German army and contributed to every field of German science, business and culture. After the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
were elected to power in 1933, state-sponsored anti-Semitic persecution such as the
Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of ...
(1935) and the
Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...
(1938) drove masses of German Jews to seek asylum abroad, with over 304,500 German Jews choosing to emigrate from 1933–1939.
Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israe ...
wrote in 1936, "The world seemed to be divided into two parts—those places where the Jews could not live and those where they could not enter." During the 1930s, there was a growing military conflict between Japan and China. However in the
Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdictio ...
there existed demilitarized areas which provided safe havens where tens of thousands of European Jewish refugees could escape to from the growing horrors of the holocaust, and also a place where a half million Chinese civilians could find safety. The
Evian Conference Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...
demonstrated that by the end of the 1930s it was almost impossible to find a destination open for Jewish immigration. According to Dana Janklowicz-Mann:
''Jewish men were being picked up and put into
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
s. They were told you have ''X'' amount of time to leave—two weeks, a month—if you can find a country that will take you. Outside, their wives and friends were struggling to get a passport, a visa, anything to help them get out. But embassies were closing their doors all over, and countries, including the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, were closing their borders. ... It started as a rumor in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
... ‘There's a place you can go where you don't need a visa. They have free entry.’ It just spread like fire and whoever could, went for it.''


Shanghai after 1937

The International Settlement of Shanghai was established by the
Treaty of Nanking The Treaty of Nanjing was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the Unequal Treaties. In the ...
. Police, jurisdiction and passport control were implemented by the foreign autonomous board. Under the
Unequal Treaties Unequal treaty is the name given by the Chinese to a series of treaties signed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, between China (mostly referring to the Qing dynasty) and various Western powers (specifically the British Empire, France, the ...
between China and European countries, visas were only required to book tickets departing from Europe. Following the
Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan The also ...
in 1937, the city was
occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...
by the army of
Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
, except for the
Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdictio ...
, which was not occupied by the Japanese until 1941 in the aftermath of the attack on
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
. Before 1941, with Japanese permission, the
Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdictio ...
allowed entry without visa or passport. By the time when most German Jews arrived, two other Jewish communities had already settled in the city: the wealthy
Baghdadi Jews The former communities of Jewish migrants and their descendants from Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East are traditionally called Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews. They settled primarily in the ports and along the trade routes around the Indian ...
, including the
Kadoorie Kaddouri ( ar, خضوري, derived from "green", ''akhdar'' in Arabic; he, כדורי (transliterated; does not mean ''green'', which would be ירוק, yarok)) and many other transliterations, is an Arabic surname. People with the surname inclu ...
and Sassoon families, and the
Russian Jews The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
. The latter fled the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
because of anti-Semitic
pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
s pushed by the tsarist regime and counter-revolutionary armies as well as the class struggle manifested by the Bolsheviks. They formed the Russian community in Harbin, then the Russian community in Shanghai.


Ho Feng Shan, Chiune Sugihara, Jan Zwartendijk and Tadeusz Romer

In 1935, the Chinese diplomat
Ho Feng-Shan Ho Feng-Shan ( 10 September 1901 – 28 September 1997) was a Chinese diplomat and writer for the Republic of China. When he was consul-general in Vienna during World War II, he risked his life and career to save "perhaps tens of thousands" of J ...
started his diplomatic career within the
Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
. His first posting was in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. He was appointed First Secretary at the Chinese legation in Vienna in 1937. When Austria was annexed by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in 1938, and the legation was turned into a consulate, Ho was assigned the post of
Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
-General. After the ''
Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...
'' in 1938, the situation became rapidly more difficult for the almost 200,000 Austrian Jews. The only way for Jews to escape from Nazism was to leave Europe. In order to leave, they had to provide proof of emigration, usually a
visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...
from a foreign nation, or a valid boat ticket. This was difficult, however, because at the 1938
Évian Conference The Évian Conference was convened 6–15 July 1938 at Évian-les-Bains, France, to address the problem of German and Austrian Jewish refugees wishing to flee persecution by Nazi Germany. It was the initiative of United States President Franklin ...
31 countries (out of a total of 32, which included Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) refused to accept Jewish immigrants. Motivated by humanitarianism, Ho started to issue transit visas to
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, under Japanese occupation except for foreign concessions. Twelve hundred visas were issued by Ho in only the first three months of holding office as Consul-General. At the time it was not necessary to have a visa to enter Shanghai, but the visas allowed the Jews to leave Austria. Many Jewish families left for Shanghai, from where most of them would later leave for
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Ho continued to issue these visas until he was ordered to return to China in May 1940. The exact number of visas given by Ho to Jewish refugees is unknown. It is known that Ho issued the 200th visa in June 1938 and signed the 1906th visa on 27 October 1938. How many Jews were saved through his actions is unknown, but given that Ho issued nearly 2,000 visas only during his first half year at his post, the number may be in the thousands. Ho died in 1997 and his actions were recognized posthumously when in 2000 the
Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...
organization
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
decided to award him the title "
Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...
". Many in the Polish-Lithuanian Jewish community were additionally saved by
Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through ...
, the Japanese consul in Kaunas,
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, and
Jan Zwartendijk Jan Zwartendijk (29 July 1896 – 14 September 1976) was a Dutch businessman and diplomat. As director of the Philips factories in Lithuania and part-time acting consul of the Dutch government-in-exile, he supervised the writing of 2,345 visas f ...
, director of the
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
manufacturing plants in
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
and part-time acting
consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
of the
Dutch government-in-exile The Dutch government-in-exile ( nl, Nederlandse regering in ballingschap), also known as the London Cabinet ( nl, Londens kabinet), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the Germ ...
. The refugees fled across the vast territory of Russia by train to
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...
and then by boat to
Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
in Japan. The refugees, totaling 2,185, arrived in Japan from August 1940 to June 1941.
Tadeusz Romer Tadeusz Ludwik Romer (December 6, 1894 in Antonosz near Rokiškis – March 23, 1978 in Montreal) was a Polish diplomat and politician. He was a personal secretary to Roman Dmowski in 1919. Later he joined the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affai ...
, the Polish ambassador in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, had managed to get transit visas in Japan, asylum visas to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Burma, immigration certificates to Palestine, and immigrant visas to the United States and some Latin American countries. Tadeusz Romer moved to
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
on November 1, 1941, where he continued to act for Jewish refugees. Among those saved in the Shanghai Ghetto were leaders and students of Mir yeshiva and
Tomchei Tmimim Tomchei Tmimim ( he, תומכי תמימים, "supporters of the complete-wholesome ones") is the central Yeshiva (Talmudical academy) of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Founded in 1897 in the town of Lubavitch by Rabbi Sholom Do ...
.


Arrival of Ashkenazi Jews

The refugees who managed to purchase tickets for luxurious Italian and Japanese cruise steamships departing from
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
later described their three-week journey with plenty of food and entertainment—between persecution in Germany and squalid ghetto in Shanghai—as surreal. Some passengers attempted to make unscheduled departures in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, hoping to smuggle themselves into the
British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...
. The first German Jewish refugees—twenty-six families, among them five well-known physicians—had already arrived in Shanghai by November 1933. By the spring of 1934, there were reportedly eighty refugee physicians, surgeons, and dentists in China. On August 15, 1938, the first Jewish refugees from
Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
Austria arrived by Italian ship. Most of the refugees arrived after
Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...
. During the refugee flight to Shanghai between November 1938 and June 1941, the total number of arrivals by sea and land has been estimated at 1,374 in 1938; 12,089 in 1939; 1,988 in 1940; and 4,000 in 1941. In 1939–1940,
Lloyd Triestino Lloyd Triestino was a major shipping company, created in 1919 when the city of Trieste became part of Italy in the settlement after the First World War. It ran passenger services on ocean liners around the world. Seriously harmed by Second World W ...
ran a sort of "ferry service" between Italy and Shanghai, bringing in thousands of refugees a month - Germans, Austrians, and a few Czechs. Added to this mix were approximately 1,000 Polish Jews in 1941. Among these were the entire faculty of the Mir Yeshiva, some 400 in number, who with the outbreak of World War II in 1939, fled from
Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
to
Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...
and then to Keidan, Lithuania. In late 1940, they obtained visas from
Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through ...
, the Japanese consul in Kaunas, to travel from Keidan, then
Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...
, via
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...
to
Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
, Japan. By November 1941 the Japanese moved this group and most of the others to the Shanghai Ghetto in order to consolidate the Jews under their control. Finally, a wave of more than 18,000
Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
from
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, and
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
immigrated to Shanghai; that ended with the
Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
by Japan in December 1941. The Ohel Moshe Synagogue had served as a religious center for the Russian Jewish community since 1907; it is currently the
Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is a museum commemorating the Jewish refugees who lived in Shanghai during World War II after fleeing Europe to escape the Holocaust. It is located at the former Ohel Moshe or Moishe Synagogue, in the Tilanqiao ...
. In April 1941, a modern Ashkenazic Jewish synagogue was built (called the New Synagogue). Much-needed aid was provided by International Committee for European Immigrants (IC), established by
Victor Sassoon Sir Ellice Victor Sassoon, 3rd Baronet, (20 December 1881 – 13 August 1961) was a businessman and hotelier from the wealthy Baghdadi Jewish Sassoon merchant and banking family. Biography Sir Ellice Victor Elias Sassoon was born 30 Decembe ...
and Paul Komor, a Hungarian businessman, and the Committee for the Assistance of European Jewish Refugees (CFA), founded by
Horace Kadoorie Sir Horace Kadoorie, CBE (28 September 1902 – 22 April 1995) was an industrialist, hotelier, and philanthropist. Early life and education In 1913–14, he spent a year at Clifton College and was a member of Polacks House; a boarding house so ...
, under the direction of Michael Speelman. These organizations prepared the housing in Hongkou, a relatively cheap suburb compared with the
Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdictio ...
or the
Shanghai French Concession The Shanghai French Concession; ; Shanghainese pronunciation: ''Zånhae Fah Tsuka'', group=lower-alpha was a foreign concession in Shanghai, China from 1849 until 1943, which progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. T ...
. Refugees were accommodated in shabby apartments and six camps in a former school. The Japanese occupiers of Shanghai regarded German Jews as "
stateless person Stateless may refer to: Society * Anarchism, a political philosophy opposed to the institution of the state * Stateless communism, which Karl Marx predicted would be the final phase of communism * Stateless nation, a group of people without ...
s" because Nazi Germany treated them so.


Life in the restricted sector

The authorities were unprepared for massive immigration and the arriving refugees faced harsh conditions in the impoverished Hongkou District: 10 per room, near-starvation, disastrous sanitation, and scant employment. The Baghdadis and later the
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...
(JDC) provided some assistance with the housing and food problems. Faced with language barriers, extreme poverty, rampant disease, and isolation, the refugees still were able to transition from being supported by welfare agencies to establishing a functioning community. Jewish cultural life flourished: schools were established, newspapers were published, theaters produced plays, sports teams participated in training and competitions, and even cabarets thrived. There is evidence that some Jewish men married Chinese women in Shanghai. Although not numerous, “the fact that interracial marriages were able to take place among the relatively conservative Jewish communities demonstrated the considerable degree of cultural interaction between the Jews and the Chinese” in Shanghai.


After Pearl Harbor (1941–1943)

After Japanese forces attacked
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
, the wealthy
Baghdadi Jews The former communities of Jewish migrants and their descendants from Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East are traditionally called Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews. They settled primarily in the ports and along the trade routes around the Indian ...
(many of whom were British subjects) were interned, and American charitable funds ceased. As communication with the US was banned and broken,
unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
and
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...
intensified, and times got harder for the refugees. JDC liaison
Laura Margolis Laura Margolis (born July 16, 1973) is an American actress. She has performed in guest roles on television for such series as ''The Drew Carey Show'', ''Friends'', ''Line of Fire (2003 TV series), Line of Fire'', ''Monk (TV series), Monk'', and ' ...
, who came to Shanghai, attempted to stabilize the situation by getting permission from the Japanese authorities to continue her fundraising effort, turning to the Russian Jews who arrived before 1937 and were exempt from the new restrictions for assistance.


German requests, 1942–1944

During a trial in Germany relating to the Shanghai Ghetto,
Fritz Wiedemann Fritz Wiedemann (16 August 1891 in Augsburg – 17 January 1970 in Postmünster) was a German soldier and Nazi Party activist. He was for a time the personal adjutant to Adolf Hitler, having served with him in World War I. The two men subsequently ...
reported that
Josef Meisinger Josef Albert Meisinger (14 September 1899 – 7 March 1947), also known as the "Butcher of Warsaw", was an SS functionary in Nazi Germany. He held a position in the Gestapo and was a member of the Nazi Party. During the early phases of World War ...
had told him that he got the order from Himmler to persuade the Japanese to take measures against the Jews. According to Wiedemann, Meisinger certainly could not have done this in the form of a command to the Japanese. Since most Japanese were not anti-Semitic, Meisinger used their fear of espionage to achieve his goal. In fall 1942, he conferred with the head of the foreign section of the Japanese
Home Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...
. Meisinger explained that he had orders from Berlin to give the Japanese authorities all the names of "anti-Nazis" among the German community. He explained that "anti-Nazis" were primarily German Jews, of whom 20,000 had emigrated to Shanghai. These "anti-Nazis" were always "anti-Japanese" too. Later, a subordinate, the interpreter of Meisinger, Karl Hamel, reported to U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) agents that the Japanese, after some consideration, believed in this thesis. According to Hamel, this led to a veritable chase of "anti-Nazis" and to the internment of many people. In response, the Japanese demanded from Meisinger to compile a list of all "anti-Nazis." As his personal secretary later confirmed, this list had already been prepared by Meisinger in 1941. After consulting with General Heinrich Müller in Berlin, it was handed over by Meisinger to the Japanese Home Ministry and to the
Kenpeitai The , also known as Kempeitai, was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945 that also served as a secret police force. In addition, in Japanese-occupied territories, the Kenpeitai arrested or killed those suspecte ...
at the end of 1942. The list contained the names of all Jews with a German passport in Japan. For the Japanese, this official document made clear that, in particular, the large number of refugees who had fled to Shanghai from 1937 onwards represented the highest "risk potential". So the proclamation of a ghetto was just a logical consequence of Meisinger's intervention. This way, Meisinger succeeded, despite the barely existing anti-Semitism of the Japanese, in achieving his goal: The internment of a large part of the Jews in the Japanese sphere of influence. Apparently for this "success", he was promoted Colonel of the police on February 6, 1943, despite the
Richard Sorge Richard Sorge (russian: Рихард Густавович Зорге, Rikhard Gustavovich Zorge; 4 October 1895 – 7 November 1944) was a German-Azerbaijani journalist and Soviet military intelligence officer who was active before and during Wo ...
affair. This information was kept secret by US authorities and was not used in civil proceedings of ghetto inmates to gain redress. That is why, for example, in the case of a woman who was interned in the ghetto, a German court came to the conclusion that even though there was a probability that Meisinger tried to encourage the Japanese to take action against Jews, the establishment of the ghetto in Shanghai was "solely based on Japanese initiative". On November 15, 1942, the idea of a restricted ghetto was approved after a visit of Shanghai by Meisinger. As World War II intensified, the Nazis stepped up pressure on Japan to hand over the Shanghai Jews. While the Nazis regarded their Japanese allies as "
Honorary Aryans Honorary Aryan (german: Ehrenarier) was an expression used in Nazi Germany to describe the formal or unofficial status of persons, including some Mischlinge, who were not recognized as belonging to the Aryan race, according to Nazi standards, b ...
", they were determined that the
Final Solution to the Jewish Question The Final Solution (german: die Endlösung, ) or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (german: Endlösung der Judenfrage, ) was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to th ...
would also be applied to the Jews in Shanghai.
Warren Kozak Warren Kozak (born 1951) is an American journalist and author. His writing appears frequently on the OpEd pages of ''The Wall Street Journal'', the ''New York Sun'' and other newspapers and magazines. He was an on-air reporter at National Public ...
describes the episode when the Japanese military governor of the city sent for the Jewish community leaders. The delegation included Amshinover
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
Shimon Sholom Kalish Shimon Sholom Kalish (1882–1954) was the Hasidic Rebbe of Amshinov– Otvotsk. Biography He was the son of Menachem Kalish (1860-1918), the second Rebbe of Amshinov (Hasidic dynasty) in Mszczonów (Yiddish: אמשינאוו Amshinov), Poland, ...
. The Japanese governor was curious and asked, "Why do the Germans hate you so much?"
Without hesitation and knowing the fate of his community hung on his answer, Reb Kalish told the translator (in
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
): "''Zugim weil wir senen orientalim''—Tell him
he Germans hate us He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
because we are
Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...
s." The governor, whose face had been stern throughout the confrontation, broke into a slight smile. In spite of the military alliance, he did not accede to the German demand and the Shanghai Jews were never handed over.
According to another rabbi who was present there, Reb Kalish's answer was "They hate us because we are short and dark-haired." ''Orientalim'' was not likely to have been said because the word is an Israeli academic term in modern Hebrew, not a word in classical Yiddish or Hebrew.


Creation of the Shanghai Ghetto

On February 18, 1943, the occupying Japanese authorities declared a "Designated Area for Stateless Refugees" and ordered those who arrived after 1937 to move their residences and businesses within it by May 18, three months later. The stateless refugees needed permission from the Japanese to dispose of their property; others needed permission to move into the ghetto. About 18,000 Jews were forced to relocate to a 3/4 square mile area of Shanghai's Hongkou district, where many lived in group homes called "Heime" or "Little Vienna". The English version of the order read: While this area was not walled or surrounded with barbed wire, it was patrolled and a
curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
enforced in its precincts. Food was rationed, and everyone needed passes to enter or leave the ghetto. According to Dr. David Kranzler,
Thus, about half of the approximately 16,000 refugees, who had overcome great obstacles and had found a means of livelihood and residence outside the 'designated area' were forced to leave their homes and businesses for a second time and to relocate into a crowded, squalid area of less than one square mile with its own population of an estimated 100,000 Chinese and 8,000 refugees.
The US air raids on Shanghai began in 1944. There were no bomb shelters in Hongkou because the water table was close to the surface. The most devastating raid started on July 17, 1945, and was the first attack that hit Hongkou. Thirty-eight refugees and hundreds of Chinese were killed in the 17 July raid. The bombings by the US 7th Air Force continued daily until early August, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the Japanese government surrendered shortly thereafter. Refugees in the ghetto improvised their own shelters, with one family surviving the bombing under a bed with a second mattress on top, mounted on two desks. Some Jews of the Shanghai ghetto took part in the
resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
. They participated in an underground network to obtain and circulate information and were involved in some minor sabotage and in providing assistance to downed Allied aircrews.


After liberation

The ghetto was officially liberated on September 3, 1945. The
Government of Israel The Cabinet of Israel (officially: he, ממשלת ישראל ''Memshelet Yisrael'') exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the government ...
bestowed the honor of the
Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...
to
Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through ...
in 1985 and to
Ho Feng Shan Ho Feng-Shan ( 10 September 1901 – 28 September 1997) was a Chinese diplomat and writer for the Republic of China. When he was consul-general in Vienna during World War II, he risked his life and career to save "perhaps tens of thousands" of ...
in 2001. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and China in 1992, the connection between the Jewish people and
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
has been recognised in various ways. In 2007, the Israeli consulate-general in Shanghai donated 660,000 Yuan, provided by 26 Israeli companies, to community projects in
Hongkou District , formerly spelled Hongkew, is a district of Shanghai, forming part of the northern urban core. It has a land area of and a population of 852,476 as of 2010. It is the location of the Astor House Hotel, Broadway Mansions, Lu Xun Park, and H ...
in recognition of the safe harbour provided by the ghetto. The only Jewish monument in Shanghai is located at Huoshan Park (formerly Rabin Park) in Hongkou District.


Partial list of notable refugees in the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees

*
Aaron Avshalomov Aaron Avshalomov (russian: Ааро́н Авшало́мов; 11 November 1894 – 16 April 1965) was a Russian-born Jewish composer. His work included several ballets, two operas, a violin concerto, four symphonies and a flute concerto. Ea ...
, Russian composer. *
Abba Berman Abba Mordechai Berman (1919–2005) was a Talmudist and rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Iyun HaTalmud. Early life Abba Berman was born on Tu BiShvat 5679 (1919) in Łódź, Poland to Shaul Yosef Berman, rosh yeshiva of Toras Chesed in Lodz and a stu ...
, Haredi rabbi,
Rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
. *
Charles K. Bliss Charles K. Bliss (September 5, 1897 – July 13, 1985) was a chemical engineer and semiotician, best known as the inventor of Blissymbols, an ideographic writing system. He was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire but immigrated to Austra ...
, whose Chinese experience inspired him to create Blissymbols. *
W. Michael Blumenthal Werner Michael Blumenthal (born January 3, 1926) is a German-American business leader, economist and political adviser who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1979. At age thirteen, Blumenth ...
, served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary. * Morris Cohen, known by his nickname Two-Gun Cohen, he served as bodyguard and aide-de-camp to
Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
, eventually becoming a Chinese general. *
Shaul Eisenberg Shaul Nehemia Eisenberg ( he, שאול אייזנברג; 22 September 1921 – 27 March 1997) was an Israeli businessman and billionaire tycoon. Biography Shaul Eisenberg was born in Munich to a religious Jewish family from Poland, being the fif ...
, who founded and ran the Eisenberg Group of Companies in Israel. *
Kurt Rudolf Fischer Kurt Rudolf Fischer (February 26, 1922 – March 22, 2014) was a Jewish-Austrian philosopher who emigrated to Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1938 and to Shanghai in 1940. He was born in Vienna. He became Chinese boxing champion and started studying philo ...
, professor at
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
. * Eduard Glass, Austrian chess master. * Leo Hanin, leader of Shanghai Betar. * Otto Joachim, German composer. *
Shimon Sholom Kalish Shimon Sholom Kalish (1882–1954) was the Hasidic Rebbe of Amshinov– Otvotsk. Biography He was the son of Menachem Kalish (1860-1918), the second Rebbe of Amshinov (Hasidic dynasty) in Mszczonów (Yiddish: אמשינאוו Amshinov), Poland, ...
, Hasidic rebbe of Amshinov–Otvotsk. *
Yisrael Mendel Kaplan Israel or Yisrael Mendel Kaplan (April 14, 1913 – April 4, 1985), known as "Reb Mendel" was an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi and author. He was best known as a teacher in the Hebrew Theological College of Chicago and the Talmudical Yeshiva o ...
, Haredi rabbi, served as Reb Mendel. *
Yechezkel Levenstein Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein (Rav Yechezkel HaLevi Levenstein), known as Reb Chatzkel, (1885 – 18 Adar 1974), was the mashgiach ruchani of the Mir yeshiva, in Mir, Belarus and during the yeshiva's flight to Lithuania and on to Shanghai due to the ...
, Haredi rabbi, served as
Mashgiach Ruchani A mashgiach ruchani ( he, משגיח רוחני; pl., ''mashgichim ruchani'im'') or mashgicha ruchani – sometimes mashgiach/mashgicha for short – is a spiritual supervisor or guide. He or she is usually a rabbi who has an official position wit ...
. *
Francis Mankiewicz Francis Mankiewicz (March 15, 1944 in Shanghai, China – August 14, 1993 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) was a Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. In 1945, his family moved to Montreal, where Francis spent all his childhood. Hi ...
, Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. *
Peter Max Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-American artist known for using bright colors in his work. Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art. ...
, American pop artist. * Michael Medavoy, a Hollywood executive at Columbia, Orion and TriStar Pictures. *
Rene Rivkin Rene Walter Rivkin (6 June 1944 – 1 May 2005) was a Chinese-born Australian entrepreneur, investor, investment adviser, and stockbroker. He was convicted of insider trading in 2003 and sentenced to nine months of periodic detention. Early li ...
, Australian financier. *
Jakob Rosenfeld Jakob Rosenfeld (January 11, 1903 – April 22, 1952), known in China as General Luo or Luo Shengte, was a Holocaust survivor and urologist who fled to Shanghai, China due to the repression he faced in Austria, which had been annexed by Naz ...
, more commonly known as ''General Luo'', who spent nine years overseeing health care and who served as the Minister of Health in the 1947 Provisional Communist Military Government of China under
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
. *
Hermann Schieberth Hermann Schieberth was an Austrian photographer born on 12 February 1876 at Vama, Suceava, Vama, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary (now in Romania) and died in Shanghai, China in 1948. He had moved to Vienna in 1909 after having spent a period working ...
, a Society photographer in Vienna * Otto Schnepp, professor at
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
*
Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz Chaim Leib Halevi Shmuelevitz, ( he, חיים לייב שמואלביץ ;1902–1979) — also spelled Shmulevitz — was a member of the faculty of the Mirrer Yeshiva for more than 40 years, in Poland, Shanghai and Jerusalem, serving as Ros ...
, Haredi rabbi, served as Rosh yeshiva of the Mirrer Yeshiva in Shanghai (1941–1947), and in Jerusalem (1965–1979). * John G. Stoessinger, Distinguished Professor of Global Diplomacy at the University of San Diego *
George Szekeres George Szekeres AM FAA (; 29 May 1911 – 28 August 2005) was a Hungarian–Australian mathematician. Early years Szekeres was born in Budapest, Hungary, as Szekeres György and received his degree in chemistry at the Technical University o ...
, professor of mathematics,
University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...
. * Sigmund Tobias, professor City University of New York, Fordham University, studied in Mir Yeshiva in Shanghai, President of Northeastern Educational Research Association 1975, President Division of Educational Psychology, American Psychological Association 1987, Distinguished Faculty Fellow US Navy R&D Center San Diego summers 1991-1997, published extensively in professional outlets. *
Laurence Tribe Laurence Henry Tribe (born October 10, 1941) is an American legal scholar who is a University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. He previously served as the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School. A constitutional law sc ...
, professor,
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
, Carl M. LoeDb University Professor * George Zames, a
control theorist Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlling ...
and professor at
McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
,
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
.


See also

*
Abraham Kaufman Dr. Abraham Josevich Kaufman (Абрам Иосифович Кауфман, b. November 22, 1885 – d. March 25, 1971) was a Russian-born medical doctor, community organizer and Zionist who helped protect some tens of thousands of Jews seeking saf ...
, a prominent Zionist in China * '' An Investigation of Global Policy with the Yamato Race as Nucleus'' (1943) *
History of the Jews in China Jews and Judaism in China are predominantly composed of Sephardi Jews and their descendants. Other Jewish ethnic divisions are also represented, including Ashkenazi Jews, Mizrahi Jews and a number of converts. The Jewish Chinese community manif ...
&
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
*
Jewish settlement in the Japanese Empire Shortly prior to and during World War II, and coinciding with the Second Sino-Japanese War, tens of thousands of Jewish refugees were resettled in the Japanese Empire. The onset of the European war by Nazi Germany involved the lethal mass persecuti ...
and Fugu Plan, a Japanese plan to bring Jewish refugees to Manchukuo (1934, 1938) * MS ''St. Louis'' (1939) *
Japan and the Holocaust Although Japan was a member of the Axis powers, Axis, and therefore an ally of Nazi Germany, it did not actively participate in the Holocaust. Anti-semitic attitudes were not significant in Japan during World War II and there was little interest in ...
*
Nanking Safety Zone The Nanking Safety Zone (; '', Nankin Anzenku'', or , ''Nankin Anzenchitai'') was a demilitarized zone for Chinese civilians set up on the eve of the Japanese breakthrough in the Battle of Nanking (December 13, 1937). Following the example of Jesu ...


Films

* ''Empire of the Sun''. Directed by Steven Spielberg. 154 min. 1987. * ''
A Jewish Girl in Shanghai ''A Jewish Girl in Shanghai'' () is a 2010 Chinese animated family film written by Wu Lin and based on his graphic novel of the same name. It is directed by Wang Genfa and Zhang Zhenhui, and voiced by Cui Jie, Zhao Jing and Ma Shaohua. Set main ...
''. Directed by Wang Genfa and Zhang Zhenhui. 80 min. 2010. * ''The Port of Last Resort: Zuflucht in Shanghai''. Documentary directed by Joan Grossman and Paul Rosdy. 79 min. 1998. * ''Shanghai Ghetto''. Documentary by Dana Janklowicz-Mann and Amir Mann. 95 min. 2002.
Ye Shanghai
62 min. Film and live audio-visual performance by
Roberto Paci Dalò Roberto Paci Dalò is an Italian author, composer and musician, film maker and theatre director, sound and visual artist, radio-maker. He is the co-founder and director of the performing arts ensemblGiardini Pensiliand he has been the artistic d ...
created in Shanghai in 2012. Commissioned by Massimo Torrigiani for SH Contemporary - Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair and produced by Davide Quadrio and Francesca Girelli. * ''Harbor from the Holocaust''. Documentary by Violet Du Feng. 56 min. 2020.


References


Further reading

* Betta, Chiara. "From Orientals to Imagined Britons: Baghdadi Jews in Shanghai." ''Modern Asian Studies'' 37#4 (2003): 999–1023. * Falbaum, Berl, ed. ''Shanghai Remembered...Stories of Jews Who Escaped to Shanghai from Nazi Europe'' (Momentum Books, 2005) , * Headley, Hannelore Heinemann. "Blond China Doll: A Shanghai Interlude, 1939-1953." (Blond China Doll Enterprises), (2004) , * Heppner, Ernest G. ''Shanghai Refuge: A Memoir of the World War II Jewish Ghetto'' (Lincoln:coln University of Nebraska Press: 1993). , * * Kranzler, David. ''Japanese, Nazis & Jews: The Jewish Refugee Community of Shanghai, 1938-1945'' (Yeshiva University Press: 1976). * Malek, Roman. ''From Kaifeng--to Shanghai: Jews in China'' (Steyler Verlag, 2000). * Ristaino, Marcia Reynders. ''Port of Last Resort: The Diaspora Communities of Shanghai'' (Stanford University Press, 2001) * Ross, James R. ''Escape to Shanghai: A Jewish Community in China'' (The Free Press, 1994) * Strobin, Deborah and Ilie Wacs ''An Uncommon Journey: From Vienna to Shanghai to America—A Brother and Sister Escape to Freedom During World War II'' (Barricade Books, 2011) * Tobias, Sigmund. ''Strange Haven: A Jewish Childhood in Wartime Shanghai'' (University of Illinois Press, 1999) * '' Ten Green Bottles (book): The True Story of One Family's Journey from War-torn Austria to the Ghettos of Shanghai'' by Vivian Jeanette Kaplan (St. Martin's Press, 2004) * ''To Wear the Dust of War : From Bialystok to Shanghai to the Promised Land, an Oral History'' by Samuel Iwry, Leslie J.H. Kelley (Editor) (Palgrave Studies in Oral History. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) *Tokayer, Rabbi Marvin (1979). "The Fugu Plan." New York: Weatherhill, Inc. * Maruyama, Naoki (2005). "Pacific War and Jewish Refugees in Shanghai."(Japanese) Tokyo: Hosei Univ. Press. * ''Survival in Shanghai: The Journals of Fred Marcus 1939-49'' by Audrey Friedman Marcus and Rena Krasno (Pacific View Press, 2008) * ''Far from Where? Jewish Journeys from Shanghai to Australia'' by
Antonia Finnane Antonia Finnane (born 11 December 1952) is professor of Chinese History at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests have been in migration from China to Australia, particularly by Jewish refugees and in urban and cultural change in Ch ...
(Melbourne University Press, 1999) * ''Cafe Jause: A Story of Viennese Shanghai'' by Wena Poon (Sutajio Wena, 2015) * *Love and Luck: The story of Jewish Shanghai Ghetto resident, Eva Levi written by her daughter, Karen Levi. * Zhang, Ruoyu (Ed.): ''"Wir in Shanghai" : Pressetexte deutscher und österreichischer Journalisten im Exil (1939-1949)'', München : Iudicium, 021


External links


Shanghai Jews


American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives
''Jewish Voice of the Far East = Juedisches Nachrichtenblatt der Juedischen Gemeinde mitteleuropaeischer Juden in Shanghai''
is a digitized periodical at the
Leo Baeck Institute The Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955, is an international research institute with centres in New York City, London, and Jerusalem that are devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. Baeck was its first intern ...

''Medizinische Monatshefte Shanghai = Shanghai medical monthly''
is a digitized periodical at the
Leo Baeck Institute The Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955, is an international research institute with centres in New York City, London, and Jerusalem that are devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. Baeck was its first intern ...

''Mitteilungen der Vereinigung der Emigranten-Aerzte in Shanghai (China)''
is a digitized periodical at the
Leo Baeck Institute The Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955, is an international research institute with centres in New York City, London, and Jerusalem that are devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. Baeck was its first intern ...
{{coord, 31, 15, 54, N, 121, 30, 18, E, region:CN-31_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title History of Shanghai Jewish Chinese history Jewish emigration from Nazi Germany Jewish Japanese history International response to the Holocaust Jewish ghettos Antisemitism in Japan Jews and Judaism in Shanghai Hongkou District