New York City Exhibit Spotlights Jewish World War II Refugees Who Found Salvation in Shanghai
From left to right: School report of the SJYA (Shanghai Jewish Youth Association)School. First-class passage ticket of the Kohn family from Naples to Shanghai. Card of Identification of Antmann Erna issued by International Committee for Granting Relief to European Refugees. Photo: Provided
A new exhibition that opened in New York City on Monday highlights the personal stories of Jews and their descendants who found refuge in Shanghai, China, in the 1930s and 1940s during World War II.
Titled Shanghai, Homeland Once Upon a Time – Jewish Refugees and Shanghai, the exhibit shares 30 oral stories of former Jewish refugees and their families, and also displays memorabilia, replicas of historical records, more than 200 photographs and documentary videos. On display are boat tickets refugees used to escape Nazi-occupied Europe, a marriage certificate issued in Shanghai that has Chinese lettering, and a student report card from the Shanghai Kadoorie School, among many other items. The exhibit depicts the daily lives of these Jewish refugees who resettled in Shanghai and their partnership with the Chinese people.
The exhibition was organized by Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Shanghai Fosun Public Welfare Foundation and the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum in China. It is the museum’s first overseas exhibition since its expansion in 2020.
About 20,000 Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi persecution in Europe found a safe haven in Shanghai between 1938 and 1941 and set up a new life for themselves in China. Shanghai did not require entry visas at the time and kept its borders open for all immigrants.
Chen Jian, director of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, said in a news release that the institution was particularly interested in bringing this exhibit to the United States because of the country’s large Jewish population and especially in New York City, which is home to over 2 million Jews, many of whom are descendants of Jewish refugees who resettled in Shanghai. At the exhibit’s opening ceremony, New York City Mayor Eric Adams gave the museum a special certificate of honor.
Shanghai, Homeland Once Upon a Time – Jewish Refugees and Shanghai will run until Aug. 14 at Fosun Plaza at 28 Liberty St in downtown Manhattan. Watch a promotional video for the exhibit below.
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