SHANGHAI JEWISH REFUGEES
MUSEUM
The museum was established in 2007 to commemorate the Jewish refugees of the 30s and 40s of the XX century. It is located in the Hongkou district, with the Moses Synagogue as its focal point. In 2017, a project to expand the museum began, which involved expropriating houses on the west and south sides of the former Moses Synagogue site. The building has been modernised while retaining its original appearance. The exhibition space has been given a new look and enlarged to around 4,000 square metres. In addition, the number of exhibits has increased from 150 to approximately 1,000. The museum building is the only surviving historical site in China that reflects the lives of Jewish refugees in China during World War II.
At its inception in 2007, the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum faced the challenge of assembling enough exhibits to tell the story of the approximately 20,000 Jewish refugees who sought refuge in Shanghai's Hongkou district during World War II. Since 2010, when the museum received a toy rickshaw donated by a former Jewish resident, additional gifted items have started arriving in Shanghai. The increased interest in the museum's activities and the number of visitors to the exhibitions (before 2017, the number of visitors was around 100,000 per year) contributed to the decision to expand the entire complex. Finally, on 8 December 2020, the renovated museum located on the site of the former Ohel Moshe synagogue erected in 1927 in the Hongkou district was reopened to the public.
According to the curator of the facility, Chen Jian, the museum's primary role is to preserve the unique memory of this place and the history of the people who lived there for future generations. Following the redevelopment, the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum has quadrupled its existing space. It features new multi-purpose rooms, educational facilities and nearly a thousand exhibits that refer to the history of the many Jews who found refuge in Shanghai as they fled persecution and Nazi massacres. The museum also houses recordings and testimonies from refugees about their memories, daily life, and relationship with the Chinese during those difficult times. In addition, the museum has utilised multimedia films that allow visitors to learn about history through modern technology.
Memorabilia donated by the refugees or their descendants and items donated by residents are an essential element of the exhibition. New exhibits include a knitted bag donated by Shanghai resident Jin Wenzhen, whose grandfather opened a rice shop on East Changzhi Road in the Hongkou district in the 1940s. According to her account, her grandfather received the bag in 1940, when a Jewish couple with a child suffering from fever unexpectedly turned up in the evening to borrow money. They pawned the bag and were to repurchase it when they could pay off the debt. The couple never appeared again, and the man kept the bag for many years before finally donating it to the museum. Among the unique exhibits is the white wedding dress of Betty Grebenschikoff, a Jewish refugee who spent 11 years in Shanghai and now lives in the United States. She has visited her former home on Zhoushan Road near the museum several times and, on one such trip in 2013, decided to present the unique gift to the museum.
The expanded museum also houses a library with a collection of more than eight thousand books donated by Kurt Wick, an 82-year-old former refugee who arrived in Shanghai in 1939 with his family, aged just one year.
Another unique place in the museum is the Memorial Wall, which contains some 19,000 names of people identified as Jewish refugees of Shanghai. At this point, it is important to highlight the tremendous effort of those involved in compiling this impressive list. These are just a few of the many examples that illustrate the interesting history of the Hongkou district and its residents. The museum is undertaking numerous activities to expand its current collection, so there is a good chance that visitors will discover something new with each subsequent visit.
In the past, the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum presented Polish exhibitions, including. "The German Nazi Death Camp. Konzentrationslager Auschwitz" (2012) and "Samaritans from Markowa" (2016). Discussions are currently ongoing on further joint projects. It should also be noted that in the 1940s, a group of about one thousand refugees of Polish nationality stayed in Shanghai. Therefore, it is likely that there will be new exhibits and exhibitions related to the history of both Jewish and Polish refugees in the near future.
I wish to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to Mr Chen Jian, Curator of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, for his cooperation to date and for providing material and photographs for this study. I trust that the above article will encourage readers and history enthusiasts to undertake further exciting explorations.
Shanghai is a place that has appeared on many pages of history. However, much of the complicated fate of the city and its inhabitants remain undiscovered. One attempt to preserve the memory
of the extraordinary places, events and people of this city has been made
by the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum.
Piotr Leszczyński, Head of the Economic, Public Diplomacy and Cultural Affairs Department of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Shanghai
Oficjalna ceremonia na terenie Muzeum Holocaustu w Seredzie; Prezydent Republiki Słowackiej Zuzana Caputova składa hołd ofiarom Holocaustu. Zdjęcie: Muzeum Holokaustu w Seredzie