It is a symbol that seems completely out of place.
In the center of Shanghai, near the gleaming skyscrapers of the city, I saw a brick building worn by time adorned with a Star of David (symbol of Judaism).
The Jewish emblem is small enough that few passersby will notice it, yet it bears witness to one of the most stories extraordinary events in the history of the Chinese city .
And it took place here, in the Tilanqiao neighborhood.
For thousands of scared people in the decade of 1930, this metropolis was almost his last resort.
Most of the countries and cities on the planet had restricted entry for Jews who were trying to flee from the violent persecution of Nazi Germany.
However, not Shanghai. This multicultural oasis, which included British, French, American and Russian residents, was one of the few places where the acceptance of Jewish refugees was guaranteed, without the need for a visa.
Despite Shanghai is more than 7. 000 kilometers from their homes in Germany, Poland and Austria, more than 20 . 000 Jews fled to China’s largest city to escape the Holocaust between 1933 Y 1941.
The city was not just a safe haven. It was also a modern city with an established community of Russian Jews, who a decade earlier had built the structure that supported that Star of David in the Ohel Moshe synagogue.
Beginnings
At first, at the dawn of the Third Reich, life in Shanghai was peaceful for its newer residents. The Jewish refugees were welcomed by the residents and created a strong community with schools and an active social life.
Some of the newcomers started working as dentists and doctors, while others set up shops, cafes and clubs.
But what What the refugees could not foresee is that they would travel thousands of kilometers to suddenly find themselves in the territory of the most powerful ally of the Nazis.
On 1941, Japan seized Shanghai. Acting in coordination with Hitler’s forces , the Japanese troops rounded up all the city’s Jews and confined them in Tilanqiao.
He was born thus the “Shanghai Jewish ghetto”.
Tilanqiao
As the plaque (in English, Mandarin and Hebrew) explains, this The area around Huoshan Park was the site of the Jewish ghetto.
It was approximately 2.5 square kilometers in size and more than 15. 000 Jews lived within those boundaries in the early 1940.
Huoshan Park served as a kind of meeting point where many Jews gathered during the day.
Unlike some of the Jewish ghettos in Europe at the time, Tilanqiao was not fenced off.
But it was a place neglected, according to Dvir Bar-Gal, an Israeli journalist and expert on Shanghai’s Jewish history, who has been touring Tilanqiao since 2002.
“Imagine being a doctor, lawyer or musician living in Vienna and suddenly unemployed in the ghetto of Shangh á i “, said Bar-Gal.
He adds that “it was not a happy place.”
“But they tried to maintain Jewish life by following their customs associated with theater and music. They were earning very little doing this, but Tilanqiao was thriving on Jewish life in the early 1200 ”.
This dark story swirled in my mind when I stopped in front of a stone memorial sign in Huoshan Park, a small, serene green space with paths that cut through lush greenery.
A group of Chinese elders sat on benches. looked with puzzled expressions as he photographed the plate.
While the Jewish history of Tilanqiao attracts a group of international visitors, this area stays away of the main tourist route of the city.
Life
According to Bar-Gal, even before the Japanese invasion, many Jewish refugees in Tilanqiao lived in poverty compared to their more comfortable lifestyles in Europe.
And conditions got much worse after Japanese soldiers rounded up Jews from all over Shanghai and forced them to live within the borders of that newly formed ghetto.
They were forbidden to leave the area, even to work, unless they received permission from the Japanese officers , which rarely happened.
Diseases and malnutrition multiplied in many of the group homes that were horribly overcrowded.
“It went from a poor neighborhood to an extremely poor neighborhood, ”said Bar-Gal.
“ Many people did not have jobs and lived in houses with many other beds and common bathrooms and kitchens. They had no privacy and almost no food, ”he indicates.
They survived
Although six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust and until 14 Millions of Chinese soldiers and civilians died during their nation’s war with Japan between 1937 to 1945, most of the Shanghai refugees survived.
This remarkable feat was described by historian David Kranzler, who dubbed it the “Shanghai miracle”
On 1945, when World War II ended with the defeat of Japan and Nazi Germany , the Japanese troops withdrew and most of the Jews left quickly, moving to places like the United States, Australia and Canada.
But what historians say is that if Shanghai had not welcomed these refugees at the time, it is possible that many of them would not have survived the Nazi death squads.
Today
These days, Tilanqiao is a decidedly Chinese neighborhood with barely a few foreign residents.
Less than 2. 000 Jews currently live in the city.
None of them, as far as the historian Bar- Gal, they are relatives of the Jews who once lived in what was the ghetto.
But many descendants of those who sought refuge in this place have visited Tilanqiao. They know that they might not have been born if they didn’t open the door to their parents or grandparents to Shanghai.
Before the pandemic, Bar-Gal used to show Jewish visitors where their ancestors lived, low-rise buildings and that now is n almost in ruins from Tilanqiao.
He misses this experience as he suspended his tours and left Shanghai last year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
However, in his absence, the history of this unusual Jewish ghetto has not faded thanks to the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum, located on the grounds of the Ohel Moshe Synagogue.
This place of worship functioned as a center community during World War II.
Then in 2002, it conv It poured into a museum, which reopened last December after a major expansion and is dedicated to preserving the little-known story of how Shanghai acted as “a modern day Noah’s Ark” to Jews, as you can read in its website.
The museum
The prayer room of the synagogue serves as an entry point to the site and was not altered since than the years when it was regularly frequented.
The exhibits show how the Jewish community of Tilanqiao was formed, as well as personal stories of the refugees, according to Sophia Tian, director of the Department of Exhibition and Research
I was especially struck by the story of Jacob Rosenfeld. This Jewish doctor arrived in Shanghai from Austria in 1939 and later joined the Chinese army in their war against the Japanese invaders, working as a field medic and saving the lives of many wounded soldiers.
After receiving several military medals, Rosenfeld returned to Austria in 1949 to reunite with his family.
Another sample contains the emotional memories of Jerry Moses , who was just six years old when he and his family fled to Shanghai from Germany in 1941.
“If they had not been so tolerant, our life would have been miserable,” says a legend that quotes Moses.
“In Europe, if a Jew escaped, he had to hide, and here in Shanghai we could dance, pray and do business”, it can be read.
The famous prison
The museum also encourages tours walk independently and provides detailed brochures that explain and map out the historical Jewish sites of Tilanqiao, which are signposted in English.
Walk its streets let me imagine what Tilanqiao must have looked like ago 80 years, when Japanese troops invaded Shanghai.
The first structure I found was the imposing Tilanqiao Prison.
During WWII, the Japanese incarcerated dozens of Jewish refugees and Chinese dissidents behind its thick stone walls.
The brutality of the Japanese gave Jews and Chinese a common enemy and a shared experience. This connection remains strong, according to Sophia Tian.
“The Jewish community established a certain relationship, cooperation and affection with the local residents of Shanghai,” he indicates.
He adds that “they brought European culture, lived in harmony and culturally integrated with local residents ”.
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