After Kristallnacht, there were few places still taking in Jews fleeing Nazi Germany. One of those was Shanghai, under Japanese occupation. When Japan entered the war as allies of Germany, the fate of these refugees hung in the balance.

Photo

The arrival of Jewish refugees from Austria in Shanghai. The refugees are disembarking from the Italian ship Conte Verde. 1938 December 14

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park

References

German and Austrian Jewish Refugees in Shanghai

Griffiths, James. Shanghei’s Forgotten Jewish Past in The Atlantic. 21 November 2013.

Judgement of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Part B. Chapter VII: The Pacific War. November 1948 https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llmlp/Judgment-IMTFE-Vol-II-PartB-Chapter-VIII/Judgment-IMTFE-Vol-II-PartB-Chapter-VIII.pdf

Kozak, Warren. The Rabbi of 84th Street: The Extraordinary Life of Haskel Besser. Harper Perennial, 2005.

Mitter, Rana. Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937-1945. Mariner Books, 2014.

National Public Radio. “Where did 20,000 Jews hide from the Holocaust? In Shanghai”. 6 August 2023.

Newman, Amy. The Nuremberg Laws: Institutionalized Anti-Semitism. Lucent Books Inc., 1999.

“Polish Jewish Refugees in the Shanghai Ghetto, 1941-1945”. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

“Proclamation of Restricted Zone in Shanghai for Refugees.” Issued 18 February 1943. From the USHMM special exhibition Flight and Rescue.

“Research Starters: Worldwide Deaths in World War II”. The National World War II Museum: New Orleans.

Reischauser, Edwin O. Japan: The Story of a Nation. 4th Edition. McGraw-Hill Publishing, 1964.

Tennembaum, Baruch. “Feng-Shan Ho, Chinese Savior”. International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation”

“Good-bye Mr. Ghoya pamphlet”. Accession number 1998.49.1. Friedrich Melchior Collection. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C.

RG-50.477.0391. Oral History Interview with Hans Arons. From the Bay Area Oral History Project donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC

RG-50.477.1231. Oral History Interview with Hella Levi. From the Bay Area Holocaust Oral History Project donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC

RG-50.462.0069 Oral History Interview with Walter Silberstein. Gift of the Gratz College Holocaust Oral History Archive. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C.

RG-50.462.0441. Oral History Interview with Willie Nowak From the Gratz College Oral History Archive donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC