A scene of Jewish refugees’ life in Shanghai

On June 23, the Jewish Refugee Memoirs: Their Experience in Wartime China was released in Shanghai as a part of a broader effort to study the history of Jewish refugees in China.

In the past four years, the research group collected a large volume of written records and compiled oral histories from interviews of hundreds of Jewish refugees in China and their descendants, said Pan Guang, chief editor of the book and director of the Shanghai Center for Jewish Studies. Limited by the length, the book included the experiences of 38 typical refugees that reflect the overall situation and reveal details, among which some little-known historical facts of that time were brought to light for the first time.

China opened its doors to Jewish refugees who fled Nazi persecution and slaughter. According to the book, from 1933 to 1941, European Jews traveled across vast oceans to Shanghai. Together with those who came to Shanghai from other cities, they brought the city' s Jewish population to more than 30,000.
 

Later, thousands of them went to other countries from Shanghai, and by December 1941, when the Pacific War started, Shanghai was home to 25,000 Jews, more than the sum of Jews in Canada, Australia, India, South Africa and New Zealand at the time. The event was applauded by the international community as a significant contribution of Chinese people to World Anti-Fascist War. 

Jewish refugees shared the joys and sorrows of the Chinese people, and some participated in the fight against Japan and national liberalization movement of Chinese people, Pan said. "Oral records have enriched historical research materials," he said. "The publication of the memoirs based on the firsthand oral and written records is of historic meaning and realistic value given the context of the 70th anniversary of China's War of Resistance against Japan and World Anti-Fascist War."

Li Yu is a reporter at the Chinese Social Sciences Today.