The Shanghai ghetto was an area of approximately one square mile in the Hongkou District of Japanese-occupied Shanghai, where about 20,000 Jewish refugees^[1] lived during World War II, having fled from Nazi Germany, Austria, Poland and Lithuania. A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (≈1,609 m) in length. ... Hongkou (Chinese:虹口; pinyin:hóngkÇ’u) is a northern district of Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. ... Anthem: Kimi ga Yo Imperial Reign Slogan: Fukoku Kyohei Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Military (a. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In the course of history, Jewish populations have been expelled or ostracised by various local authorities and have sought asylum from Anti-Semitism numerous times. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

The refugees were settled in the poorest and most crowded area of the city. Local Jewish families and American Jewish charities aided them with shelter, food and clothing.^[1] The Japanese authorities increasingly stepped up restrictions, but the ghetto was not walled and the local Chinese residents, whose living conditions were often as bad, did not leave.^[2][3]

Map of the Shanghai Ghetto (Officially "Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees"). The area is shown by black line.

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 550 pixel Image in higher resolution (1200 × 825 pixel, file size: 669 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Map of Shanghai ghetto (Restricted Sector for Jewish Refugees). The area is shown by black line. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 550 pixel Image in higher resolution (1200 × 825 pixel, file size: 669 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Map of Shanghai ghetto (Restricted Sector for Jewish Refugees). The area is shown by black line. ...

Background

Jews in Germany of 1930s

Main article: History of the Jews in Germany

By 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 were elected to power in 1933, the state-sponsored anti-Semitic persecution such as the Nuremberg Laws (1935) and the Kristallnacht (1938) drove masses of German Jews to seek asylum abroad, but as Chaim Weizmann 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." ^[4] The Evian Conference demonstrated that by the end of the 1930s it was almost impossible to find a destination open for Jewish immigration. German Jews have lived in Germany for over 1700 years, through both periods of tolerance and spasms of anti-Semitic violence, culminating in the Holocaust and the near-destruction of the Jewish community in Germany and much of Europe. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were denaturalization laws passed by the government of Nazi Germany. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom[1] against Jews throughout Germany and parts of Austria on November 9–10, 1938. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Chaim Weizmann and Harry S. Truman, May 25, 1948 Chaim Azriel Weizmann (Hebrew: חיים ויצמן) (also: Chaijim W., Haim W.) (November 27, 1874 – November 9, 1952) chemist, statesman, President of the World Zionist Organization, first President of Israel (elected May 16, 1948, served 1949 - 1952) and founder of a research institute in... The Evian Conference was convened at the initiative of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in July, 1938 to discuss the problem of Jewish refugees. ...

According to Dana Janklowicz-Mann,

“Jewish men were being picked up and put into concentration camps. 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, were closing their borders. … It started as a rumor in Vienna… ‘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.” ^[5] It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ...

Shanghai after 1937

Main articles: Reformed Government of the Republic of China and History of the Jews in China

The International Settlement of Shanghai was established by the Treaty of Nanking. Police, jurisdiction and passport control was implemented by the foreign autonomous board. As a result of the Battle of Shanghai in 1937, the city occupied by Imperial Japan and the Japanese army and Chinese Reformed Government did not establish passport regime. The port of Shanghai was the only place in the world that allowed entry with neither a visa nor a passport. Under the Unequal Treaties between China and European countries, visas were only required to book tickets departing from Europe. This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, etc. ... Jews and Judaism in China have had a long and often enigmatic history. ... This article or section needs to be wikified. ... The Treaty of Nanjing (Chinese: 南京條約, Nánjīng Tiáoyuē) is the agreement which marked the end of the First Opium War between the United Kingdom and China. ... Combatants Republic of China Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, Chu Shao-liang, Chang Fa-kuei Heisuke Yanagawa, Iwane Matsui Strength 600,000 troops in 75 divisions and 9 brigades, 250 airplanes 300,000 troops in 8 divisions and 6 brigades, 3000 airplanes, 300 tanks, 130 warships... Belligerent military occupation occurs when one nations military occupies all or part of the territory of another nation or recognized belligerent. ... Anthem: Kimi ga Yo Imperial Reign Slogan: Fukoku Kyohei Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Military (a. ... The Unequal Treaties is the name in the English language used by modern China for a series of treaties signed by several Asian states, including the Qing Empire in China, late Tokugawa Japan, and late Joseon Korea, and foreign powers (列強, 열강) during the 19th and early 20th centuries. ...

By the time when most German Jews arrived, two other Jewish communities had already settled in the city: the wealthy Baghdadi Jews, including the Kadoorie and Sassoon families, and the Russian Jews who fled their country following the 1917 October Revolution. The Baghdadi Jews are one of the main Jewish communities of India. ... The Kadoorie family were originally Iraqi Jews from Baghdad who in the mid-eigtheenth century migrated to Bombay (Mumbai), India and later to Hong Kong and Shanghai, China. ... Sassoon (from Śāśōn, joy in Hebrew) is the family name of several people, including: Family tree of the Indian Jewish Sassoon family Sir Albert Abdullah David Sassoon (1818 - 1896) David Sassoon (David Ben Sassoon) (1792 Baghdad - 1864 Mumbai) Sir Edward Sassoon (1856 - 1912) Sir Edward Elias Sassoon (1853 - 1924) George... The vast territories of the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest Jewish population in the world. ... Red October redirects here. ...

Chiune Sugihara and Ho Feng Shan

Many in the Russian Jewish community were saved by Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul in Kovno, Lithuania. Among those saved in the Shanghai ghetto were leaders and students of Mir yeshiva, the only European yeshiva to survive the Holocaust. They managed to flee across the vast territory of Russia by train. Chiune Sugihara (Japanese: 杉原千畝, Sugihara Chiune; January 1, 1900 – July 31, 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during World War II while serving as the consul of the Empire of Japan to Lithuania. ... City Flag Kaunas (Polish: Kowno, often anglicized as Kovno; Russian Каунас, formerly Ковно), is the second largest city in Lithuania with 400,000 inhabitants. ... Mir yeshiva (or Mirrer yeshiva) (Hebrew: ), commonly known as the Mir, is the name of two major Haredi yeshivas, one in Jerusalem, Israel, and the other, in Brooklyn, New York. ... This article is about the Jewish educational system. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

Similarly, thousands of Austrian Jews were saved by the Chinese consul-general in Vienna Ho Feng Shan, who issued visas during 1938-1940 against the orders of his superior the Chinese ambassador in Berlin, Chen Jie. Ho Feng Shan (Traditional Chinese: 何鳳山; Simplified Chinese: 何凤山; Pinyin: Hé Fèngshān), born in Yiyang, Hunan September 10, 1901 (some sources give 1904), died in San Francisco, September 28, 1997, was a Chinese diplomat who saved hundreds, probably thousands of Jews during the early years of WWII. Known as “China...

Arrival of German Jews

The refugees who managed to purchase tickets for luxurious Japanese cruise steamships departing from Genoa 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, hoping to smuggle themselves into the British Mandate of Palestine. Genoa (Genova in Italian - Zena in Genoese) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... Map of the territory under the British Mandate of Palestine. ...

On August 15, 1938, first Jewish refugees from Anschluss Austria arrived by Italian ship. By June 1939, 8,200 Jewish refugees had arrived. German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938. ...

Much needed aid was provided by International Committee for European Immigrants (IC), established by Victor Sassoon and Paul Komor and Committee for the Assistance of European Jewish Refugees (CFA), founded by Horace Kadoorie. These organizations prepared the housing in Hongkou, a relatively cheap district compared with the International settlement or the French settlement. They were accommodated in shabby apartments and six camps in a former school. The Japanese occupiers of Shanghai regarded German Jews as "stateless persons". Victor Sassoon (1881 - 1961) was a famous hotelier and businessman. ... The Kadoorie family were originally Iraqi Jews from Baghdad who in the mid-eigtheenth century migrated to Bombay (Mumbai), India and later to Hong Kong and Shanghai, China. ... A stateless person is someone with no citizenship or nationality. ...

Most of the refugees arrived after 1937. Further immigration restrictions were imposed in 1939; however, a numbers of Jews continued to arrive until the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan in December 1941. Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Husband Kimmel (USN), Walter Short (USA) Chuichi Nagumo (IJN), Mitsuo Fuchida (IJNAS), Shigekazu Shimazaki (IJNAS) Strength 8 battleships, 8 cruisers, 29 destroyers, 9 submarines, ~50 other ships, ~390 planes 6 aircraft carriers, 9 destroyers, 2 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 8...

Life in the ghetto

Jewish refugees in Shanghai during World War II

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. Image File history File linksMetadata Jewish_Refugees_in_Shanghai. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Jewish_Refugees_in_Shanghai. ...

The Baghdadis and later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) provided some assistance with the housing and food problems. Faced with language barriers, extreme poverty, rampant disease and isolation, the refugees were able to make the 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.^[6] American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is a United States Jewish Jews, but also gentiles in more than 85 countries worldwide. ...

After the Pearl Harbor attack (1941–1943)

After Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor, the wealthy Baghdadi Jews (many of whom were British subjects) were interned, and American charitable funds ceased. As communication with the US was broken, unemployment and inflation intensified and times got harder for the refugees. Satellite image of Pearl Harbor. ... The Baghdadi Jews are one of the main Jewish communities of India. ... An 1837 political cartoon about unemployment in the United States. ...

The JDC liaison Laura Margolis, who came to Shanghai, attempted to stabilize the situation by getting permission from the Japanese authorities to continue her fundraising effort, turning for assistance to the Russian Jews who arrived before 1937 and were exempt from the new restrictions.^[7][8]

Further restrictions (1943–1945)

As World War II intensified, the Nazis stepped up pressure on Japan to hand over the Shanghai Jews. Warren Kozak describes the episode when the Japanese military governor of the city sent for the Jewish community leaders. The delegation included Amshinover rabbi Shimon Kalish. The Japanese governor was curious: "Why do the Germans hate you so much?" Rabbi, in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root word רַב, rav, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished (in knowledge). Sephardic and Yemenite Jews pronounce this word רִבִּי ribbī; the modern Israeli pronunciation רַבִּי rabbī is derived from a recent (18th...

"Without hesitation and knowing the fate of his community hung on his answer, Reb Kalish told the translator (in Yiddish): "Zugim weil mir senen orientalim — Tell him the Germans hate us because we are Oriental." 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." ^[9] Yiddish (Yid. ... The term the Orient - literally meaning sunrise, east - is traditionally used to refer to Near, Middle, and Far Eastern countries. ...

"Residences, Businesses of City's Stateless Refugess Limited to Restricted Sector". (Shanghai Herald newspaper, February 18, 1943)

On November 15, 1942, the idea of a restricted ghetto was approved. On February 18, 1943, the Japanese authorities declared a "Designated Area for Stateless Refugees", ordering those who arrived after 1937 to move their residences and businesses into the one-square-mile area within three months, by May 15. The stateless refugees needed permission from the Japanese to dispose of their property; others needed permission to move into the ghetto. While the ghetto had no barbed wire or walls, a curfew was enforced, the area was patrolled, food was rationed, and everyone needed passes to enter or leave the ghetto.^[2] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... A curfew can be one of the following: An order by the government or by the childs parents for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time. ...

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." ^[10]

Although temporary passes were issued to work outside the ghetto, these were granted arbitrarily and were severely curtailed after the first year. But the fact that the Chinese did not leave the Hongkou ghetto meant the Jews were not isolated. Nevertheless economic conditions worsened; psychological adjustment to ghettoization was difficult; the winter of 1943 was severe and hunger was widespread. ^[3]

The US air raids on Shanghai began in 1944. The most devastating raid took place in July 1945 when 31 refugees were killed, 500 wounded, and 700 left homeless by an attack on a Japanese radio transmitter in the Hongkou district. Some Jews of the Shanghai ghetto took part in the resistance movement. They participated in an underground network to obtain and circulate information and were involved in sabotage of Japanese installations and in aiding downed American pilots to escape into Chinese-held territory.^[3] A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country through either the use of physical force, or nonviolence. ... German supply train blown up by the Armia Krajowa during World War II Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy, oppressor or employer through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction. ...

After liberation

The ghetto was officially liberated on September 3, 1945, after some delay to allow Chiang Kai-shek's army to take political credit for the liberation of Shanghai. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the fall of Chiang Kai-shek in 1949, almost all the Shanghai ghetto Jews left. By 1957, only 100 remained, and today only a few may still live there.^[3] September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the 1925 death of Sun Yat-sen. ...

The Government of Israel bestowed the honor of the Righteous Among the Nations to Chiune Sugihara in 1985 and to Ho Feng Shan in 2001. Israels governmental system is based on several basic laws enacted by its unicameral parliament, the Knesset. ... Righteous Among the Nations (Hebrew: חסידי אומות העולם, Hasidei Umot HaOlam), in contemporary usage, is a term often used to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust in order to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. ... Chiune Sugihara (Japanese: 杉原千畝, Sugihara Chiune; January 1, 1900 – July 31, 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during World War II while serving as the consul of the Empire of Japan to Lithuania. ... Ho Feng Shan (Traditional Chinese: 何鳳山; Simplified Chinese: 何凤山; Pinyin: Hé Fèngshān), born in Yiyang, Hunan September 10, 1901 (some sources give 1904), died in San Francisco, September 28, 1997, was a Chinese diplomat who saved hundreds, probably thousands of Jews during the early years of WWII. Known as “China...

Partial list of notable Shanghai ghetto survivors

• Dr. Jakob Rosenfeld, who spent nine years overseeing health care for the Communist army.
• Michael Medavoy, a Hollywood executive at Columbia, Orion and TriStar Pictures.
• Peter Max, American pop artist.
• W. Michael Blumenthal, served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary.
• Eric Halpern, a cofounder of the Far Eastern Economic Review and its first editor.
• Shaul Eisenberg, who founded and ran the Eisenberg Group of Companies in Israel.
• Charles K. Bliss, whose Chinese experience inspired him to create Blissymbols.
• Rene Rivkin, Australian financier.

Jacob Rosenfeld (1903-1952) is a Jew who was born in Austria Lambeck. ... Health care or healthcare is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions. ... Morris Mike Medavoy (born January 21, 1941, Shanghai ghetto, China) is an American film producer and executive, co-founder of Orion Pictures, former chairman of TriStar Pictures and current chairman and CEO of Phoenix Pictures. ... Peter Max (born October 19, 1937 as Peter Finkelstein) is an American Pop artist. ... Blumenthal, on the cover of Time magazine W. Michael Blumenthal Blumenthals signature, as used on American currency Werner Michael Blumenthal, Ph. ... The United States Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, concerned with finance and monetary matters, and, until 2003, some issues of national security and defense. ... Charles K. Bliss (1897-1985), inventor of Blissymbolics. ... Blissymbolics or Blissymbols were conceived of as an ideographic writing system consisting of several hundred basic symbols, each representing a concept, which can be composed together to generate new symbols that represent new concepts. ... Rene Rivkin (6 June 1944 – 1 May 2005) was an Australian entrepreneur, stockbroker, and investment adviser. ...

References

See also

• Fugu Plan
• Racial policy of Nazi Germany
• White Paper of 1939
• SS St. Louis
• International response to the Holocaust
• History of the Jews in China
• History of the Jews in Austria
• History of the Jews in Germany
• History of the Jews in Iraq
• History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union

This article or section cites its sources but does not provide page references. ... The Racial Policy of Nazi Germany refers to the policies and laws implemented by Nazi Germany, asserting the superiority of the Aryan race, and including measures aimed primarily against Jews. ... The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the British Mandate of Palestine was abandoned in favour... SS was a German ocean liner which sailed out of Hamburg into the Atlantic Ocean in the summer of 1939 carrying 963 Jewish refugees, mostly wealthy, seeking asylum from the Holocaust during World War II. The passengers were refused entry to Cuba, despite prior agreement to accept the passengers. ... There are many accusations towards the Allied Powers and international bodies that they were negligent in saving European Jews during the Holocaust. ... Jews and Judaism in China have had a long and often enigmatic history. ... Austria first became a center of Jewish learning during the 13th century. ... German Jews have lived in Germany for over 1700 years, through both periods of tolerance and spasms of anti-Semitic violence, culminating in the Holocaust and the near-destruction of the Jewish community in Germany and much of Europe. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The vast territories of the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest Jewish population in the world. ...

Films

• Shanghai Ghetto Documentary by Dana Janklowicz-Mann and Amir Mann. (Shanghai Ghetto (2002) at the Internet Movie Database)
• The Port of Last Resort: Zuflucht in Shanghai Documentary directed by Joan Grossman and Paul Rosdy. (The Port of Last Resort (1998) at the Internet Movie Database, Cinematography of the Holocaust at Fritz Bauer Institut, National Center For Jewish Film at Brandeis University, New York Times Review by Anita Gates)

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about motion pictures, actors, movie stars, TV shows, TV stars, production crew personnel, movie pictures, cast, crew as well as video games. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about motion pictures, actors, movie stars, TV shows, TV stars, production crew personnel, movie pictures, cast, crew as well as video games. ... Brandeis University is a private university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. ...

Further reading

External links

• References on Shanghai and the Jews of China
• Shanghai & the Jews of China exhibition. The Menorah of Fang Bang Lu (University of Technology, Sydney. Humanities and Social Sciences)
• Shanghai Jews
• Shanghai to Honor Its Jewish Legacy. City to Save Part of Refugees' Ghetto by Edward Cody (Washington Post Foreign Service. Page A23) September 5, 2004
• Restoring Jewish Legacy (China Internet Information Center) March 3, 2004
• The Jews of Shanghai - Stamps by Dr. Murray Frost. March 2002
• The Ghosts of Shanghai (includes a list of famous Shanghai Jews) by Ron Gluckman
• Colorful Jewish community contributed much to Shanghai by Robert Cairns (The Scribe - the Journal of Babylonian Jewry) Issue 76, Spring 2003
• (German) Maps of Shanghai ghetto
• (Russian) Cultural life of Russian Jewish community in Shanghai by L.P. Chernikova (Oleg Lundstrem Jazz Orchestra)
• Rickshaw.org Website for the survivors and families of The Shanghai Ghetto