Jewish Refugees and Shanghai

The Exhibition “Jewish Refugees and Shanghai” runs through August 25. The exhibition will introduce the Israeli public to the lives of Jewish refugees in Shanghai during World War II and the unique relationship the refugees had with their Chinese neighbors.

The special exhibit includes a collection of chosen personal items and photographs from the collection of the “Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum”, located in Hongkou Distrit. Those thousands of Jews were rescued from the Nazis thanks to the generosity of the Chinese people, who had opened their gate and their hearts to the persecuted Jews in a time when all other doors were closed.

Since 2007, the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum has made every effort to collect the documentaries from the former Jewish Refugees. After collecting and sharing the stories of the former Jewish Refugees, in 2010 the museum organized a special exhibition named as “Jewish Refugees and Shanghai” which is mainly about the historical context of Jewish Refugees in WWII together with the selected 20 people’s life stories.

In 2011, this exhibition began its tour in Hamburg, Berlin and Hanover in Germany. Now, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary to the relations between China and Israel, it’s coming to Jerusalem.

More about Jewish refugees in Shanghai during World War II: 

The city of Shanghai is famous for its lively nature, a dynamic city full of energy, colors and tastes, great for shopping, business and tourism. But there is not a great deal of public awareness about the city’s special legacy regarding its humanitarian story of saving Jews in WWII.

From 1933 to 1941, Shanghai became a modern-day Noah’s Ark accepting around 30,000 Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust in Europe. In the “Designated Area for Stateless Refugees” in the Tilanqiao area of Shanghai, about 20,000 Jewish refugees lived harmoniously with local citizens, overcoming numerous difficulties together. By the time the Second World War ended in 1945, most of the Jewish refugees had survived. Dr. David Kranzler, a noted Holocaust historian, called it the “Miracle of Shanghai” and commented that within the Jewry’s greatest tragedy, i.e. the Holocaust, there shone a few bright lights. Among the brightest of these is the Shanghai haven. In the Tilanqiao Historic Area, the original features of the Jewish settlement are still well preserved. They are the only typical historic traces of Jewish refugee life inside China during the Second World War.