Jewish neighbors. Local hospitals admitted many Jewish patients. In 1945,
a U.S. bombing mistakenly hit Hongkou District, killing 31 Jews and injuring 250. Chinese residents in the vicinity also suffered heavy casualties, yet they still rushed to the rescue of many Jewish refugees.
However, darkness was not gone. On February 18, 1943, the Japanese occupying authority issued the Proclamation Concerning Restriction of Residence and Business of Stateless Refugees, forcibly relocating about 14,000 Jewish refugees into the Designated Area for Stateless Refugees in Hongkou, popularly known as the "Shanghai Ghetto", with severe restrictions on their freedom of movement. In the overcrowded segregated area where diseases spread, lives of Jewish refugees became even worse. Jerry Moses, a former refugee, recalled years later, "If the local people here were not so tolerant, our lives would have been miserable. In Europe, Jews in flight had to hide. But in Shanghai, we could dance, pray, even do business.... The Chinese people with whom I grew up are permanent heroes in my eyes." These heartfelt words embody the truest bonds forged in adversity.
On October 11, 2012, former refugee Peter Max held a special press conference seeking his "Shanghai Amah", or nanny. "She was only a couple of years older than me, so she was more like an elder sister of mine. She is my first art teacher." In 1948, ten-year-old Max left Shanghai with his parents, and eventually settled in the U.S. and became a renowned pop artist. Filled with gratitude toward China, this old man returned to Shanghai with a portrait from memory, hoping to find his "Shanghai Amah" through media and bring her to America. Though the reunion was not achieved, Shanghai left an indelible mark on him: "I've been to many countries. Wherever I go, I feel myself a Chinese. I think I'm eighty percent a Chinese." His story is an epitome of the deep affection many Jewish refugees felt for Shanghai.
III. Parting and Longing for "Homeland"
After World War II, the Jewish refugees gradually embarked on their journeys to reunite with their family or rebuild their homes. Between 1946 and 1951, roughly 22,000 to 24,000 European Jewish refugees and other Jews in Shanghai left the city. Despite the departure, they never forget their years of taking refuge in Shanghai and the profound friendships formed there. To this day, former refugees and their descendants continue to return to Hongkou to revisit their haunts in the past. For them, the city of Shanghai is the "Noah's Ark" that provided shelter to the Jews, and has become their eternal second homeland.
To commemorate this precious history, the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum was officially established in 2007, with the renovated former site of the Ohel Moshe Synagogue opened to the public as the core body of the Museum. Former Jewish refugees in Shanghai, now scattered around the world, established fraternal associations including the Association of Former Residents of China headquartered in Tel Aviv (70 percent of its members coming from Shanghai), the Shanghai Friendship Association in Los Angeles and the online organization Rickshaw Fellowship. Since China's reform and opening up, and especially following the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Israel, a growing number of former Jewish refugees in Shanghai have returned to their "homeland" Shanghai, for root-seeking visits, calling on friends, sightseeing and tourism.
On February 21, 2019, former Jewish refugee Kurt Wick returned to Shanghai with his family and visited the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. When seeing his and his family's names on the Museum's Wall of Names, he was visibly moved, and said, "Yes, that's me, that's my original surname." Accompanied by staff, Kurt visited the former site of Kadoorie School and the neighborhood around East Yuheng Road (now Dongyuhang Road) and Alcock Road (now Anguo Road) where he had lived. When he learned that the Museum planned to expand to build a library, Kurt generously offered to donate his lifelong collection of over 8,000 volumes of books on Jewish history and culture. When these books safely arrived in Shanghai after many twists and turns, Kurt, who was far away in London, choked up, "I'm glad these books could return to Shanghai. Unfortunately, my parents didn't live to see this. If they had known I donated them to Shanghai, they would have been very happy.... Thank you, Shanghai, thank you for saving us....”
IV. Learning from History and Cherishing Peace
This history embodying the great benevolence of the Chinese people has earned widespread acclaim from people around the world, especially gratitude from the Jewish. To date, the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum has received over 1.5 million visits by people from 135 countries and regions. The continuous stream of overseas visitors reflects not only a quest for historical memory but also a strong recognition of the values of peace, inclusiveness and mutual assistance the Museum promotes.
Former Israeli President Chaim Herzog, the first Israeli head of state to visit China after the two countries established diplomatic relations, said during his visit to the old site of the Ohel Moshe Synagogue, "The Chinese people helped us during the darkest period in Jewish history, and the people of Israel will not forget it." A leader from an American Jewish organization noted when he visited the site, "Schindler's List saved over a thousand people; Shanghai saved an entire Jewish community in tens of thousands."
The academic circle also shed light on the significance of this era. Chinese scholars observed that at a time when Western nations paid lip service to humanitarian ideals and failed to act on the issue of refugees, Shanghai extended a warm hand and helped Jewish refugees persevere until the war's victory. Shanghai's acceptance of Jewish refugees is a righteous act, which highlights the city's unique position in the global anti-fascist war and profoundly confirms the historical inevitability of building a community with a shared future for humanity.
Conclusion
The core mission of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is to remember this special history, fill the gap of "salvation stories in the East" in the narrative of World War II, and serves as a profound historical example for building a community with a shared future for humanity. This radiance of humanitarianism that transcends national borders and ethnic groups, like a torch in the long night, not only has illuminated the past, but also will guide humanity toward a future of peace, inclusiveness and shared prosperity.
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