History of Jewish Refugees in World War II: Who should Shanghai Jews thank?

History of Jewish Refugees in World War II: Who should Shanghai Jews thank?

A month ago, the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Memorial Museum and the American Jewish Committee held a photo exhibition of "Jewish Refugees and Shanghai" in Washington. The past events of "saving Jews" during World War II reappeared in the public eye, and there were many related domestic reports. The title "Those who witnessed the massacre thanked China in tears", while emphasizing the kindness and helpfulness of the Chinese people, some also mentioned the cruelty and arrogance of the Japanese.

From 1933 to 1941, 30,000 Jews fled to Shanghai to escape Nazi persecution. During the same period, the United States only accepted 200,000 Jews. Palestine, the homeland of the Jews? In 1939, the British colonial authorities announced that they would only accept 75,000 Jews in the next five years. Especially after the Kristallnacht persecution of Jews broke out in Germany on November 9, 1938, Shanghai was almost the only city in the world that opened its doors to Jews.

In the large number of memory documents left by Jewish refugees in Shanghai, many people express their attachment to Shanghai, but it is rare to see words expressing their gratitude to Shanghai or Shanghainese. This is very different from relevant reports in China.

Why Shanghai

Shanghai has unintentionally become a "port of hope" for the Jews.

After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Jews who were pessimistic about their future fled Germany one after another. Strictly speaking, they were expatriates rather than refugees. After Kristallnacht, Nazi Germany suddenly accelerated the elimination of Jews. Those Jews who stayed and watched in the self-comfort that "things will not be so bad" suddenly found that they had become refugees, and there was almost no place to stay in the world. Place.

In July 1938, Roosevelt took the lead in organizing an international conference to discuss accepting Jewish refugees in Evian-les-Bains, France. However, among the 32 participating countries, except for Dominica, the rest were unwilling to accept Jews. The United States is no exception. At that time, anti-Semitism was prevalent in the West. Even in the United States, which was the most friendly country to Jews, there were hundreds of anti-Semitic groups.

Anti-Semitic pressure prevented Jews from entering the United States even if they fled to the United States. The most typical example is the tragedy of the St. Louis cruise ship. In May 1939, nine hundred Jewish refugees were sent to Cuba by Nazi Germany on the cruise ship "St. Louis". They were rejected by Cuba. They docked in Miami and were rejected by the United States, so they had to return to Europe. Six hundred of them later died in the concentration camps. In the 1980s, the American movie "The End of the World" introduced to China was based on this incident.

Although Dominica has expressed its intention to accept 100,000 Jews, it is unable to raise huge resettlement fees, and the Jews are unwilling to go to a country where the living environment is poor and far away from Europe. At this time, Shanghai, China, thousands of miles away, became the only choice due to multiple factors.

First of all, it is the unique status of Shanghai Concession, a country within a country. After the establishment of the concession in Shanghai in 1845, the public concession and the French concession gradually formed, which were merged with the concessions of Britain, the United States and other countries. They were independent of the Chinese Communist Party, especially the public concession which was not subject to any foreign consular jurisdiction. A distinct local entity governed by foreign expatriates.

Due to the special status of the concession, foreigners did not need any procedures to live in Shanghai during the Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. In 1932, the Republic of China government began to add passport and visa inspection procedures for foreigners landing in Wusongkou and Shanghai. Traditionally, Shanghai actually requires a visa on arrival for everyone and is the most famous open city in the world.

After the fall of Shanghai in 1937, the Kuomintang was unable to exercise administrative jurisdiction, and Japan had not yet established a puppet regime to manage Shanghai. The visa jurisdiction for entering Shanghai was in vain, and the concession inadvertently acted as a refugee shelter. Role (During the Battle of Songhu, the northern and eastern areas of the public concession were controlled by the Japanese army, and this part was later called the "Japanese Concession").

Therefore, from the August 13 Anti-Japanese War in 1937 to September 1939, the Shanghai Concession opened its doors to Jews: no visas, no sworn guarantees, no police certificates, no guarantee of economic independence.

Shanghai not only has the convenience for Jews to enter the country, but also has the financial resources to settle Jews in advance. At that time, there were two Jewish groups in Shanghai. One was the British Baghdad businessmen, including the Sassoon family, the Caddoly family, the Hartung family and other famous rich people. The other was the Russian Jews. Although they were not as rich as the former, they were numerous and quite wealthy. Have financial resources.

The Jews who landed at Pier 16 on the Bund did not look like refugees. At least their escape from Europe to Shanghai was not embarrassing, and could even be considered luxurious. They buy first-class tickets, hold parties on the ship, and eat high-end Western food. In the memories of many Jews, ribbons, Japanese bands, dedicated flight attendants, and cakes are the main impressions of their journey.

However, leaving home during the war was different from traveling. After landing, they quickly pawned their furniture, clothes and luggage and had to wait for relief. Baghdad's wealthy Jewish businessmen were the first to lend a helping hand. In 1938, they established the first COMA committee to assist Jews. They not only provided apartments, but also provided each refugee with 5 cents a day, which was enough to ensure the refugees' basic life.

In 1939, the number of Jews entering Shanghai surged from 1,374 in 1938 to 12,089.

At this time, the American Jewish community organization JDC joined forces with philanthropy and became the main organization to rescue refugees.

In any case, the Jewish refugees were far better off than the locals in Shanghai. They were deeply impressed by the Asian-style poverty: "Those Chinese rickshaw drivers who drag rich people around on the streets all day long are simply not human beings." They had no heating in the winter, and many Chinese froze to death on the streets. When the garbage trucks came the next day, their bodies were thrown directly onto the trucks. ?

The misfortune of the Chinese people under Japanese occupation also impressed them deeply: ?The Japanese treated Jews and Chinese very differently. Whenever the Chinese crossed the bridge, they were always insulted by the Japanese. The Japanese soldiers stabbed them with bayonets or burned them with cigarette butts, but the Chinese were more powerful. They turned back and smiled at the Japanese who hurt themselves. In my opinion, this is a sign that the Chinese defeated the Japanese. ?

Brothers, benefactors and strategies

Japan was perhaps the country with the most favorable impression of the Jews in the world at that time. Their favorable impression of the Jews has a long history. It is based on delusions, conspiracy theories and gratitude. Strange mix.

As early as the Meiji period, the Scottish missionary Macleod put forward a whimsical hypothesis in order to facilitate Japanese missionary work: the Japanese are the descendants of the 10 lost tribes of Judaism. The origin of the theory of common ancestors.

Macleod's theory was once quite popular in Japan. At that time, Japan was in a disgraceful position of being regarded as an isolated island in the Far East and a pagan country. People find the foundation of their love in the Western European world from the Jews who were excluded despite doing no fault.

Japanese theologians have also joined in the construction of this "great theory": Shigeharu Nakata argued in "Biblical Japan" that Japanese and Jews are both "people of God"; Yoshiro Saeki proposed After the Qin family, a prominent ancient Japanese family, came to Japan, they settled in Taiqin on the outskirts of Kyoto. The Japanese pronunciation of Taiqin is uzu massa, so uzu is the ihishu in Hebrew. (Jesus), Qin (masa) refers to the Messiah.

Having a relationship with the Jews at least provides a perfect answer to the self-mythology of Japan’s discrimination and bullying by the West in modern times: Jews have the right to the eldest son in the history of religion because their religious origin precedes Christianity. Being bullied, Japan is also a "Chinese Empire" that despises European and American countries in religion, so like our "brothers", we are constantly bullied by European and American countries.

History proves that the Japanese did not recognize this "Jewish brother" in vain.

When the Russo-Japanese War broke out in 1905, Korekiyo Takahashi, then vice president of the Imperial Bank of Japan, went to London to raise funds. His lobbying was ineffective until he met Jacob Henry Hill, a wealthy American Jewish businessman. husband. The latter hated Tsarist Russia's anti-Semitism and immediately agreed to lend Japan 5 million pounds. With Jacob's help, Japan finally raised 450 million US dollars. Jacob thus received the Order of the Rising Sun, awarded by Emperor Meiji.

Many Jews were captured by the Japanese army during the Russo-Japanese War. They received special preferential treatment from the Japanese. These Jews, who were discriminated against in Russia, were deeply grateful to Japan. Some of them Finally settled in Japan.

In 1903, Tsarist Russia published an anti-Semitic book "The Protocols of the Magi", which was a collection of Jewish conspiracy to control the world. After the October Revolution broke out in Russia, it became new evidence of a Jewish conspiracy (the early leaders of the Bolsheviks included many Jews), and the White Army printed a large number of this anti-Semitic book. At that time, Japan participated in the Allied Powers' invasion of Siberia. Affected by this book, the Japanese army from top to bottom was convinced that Jewish brothers and benefactors were secretly controlling the world.

After Germany became anti-Semitic, the Jewish experts who translated the "Protocols of the Magi" into Japanese soon came up with the idea of ??using the capital and technology of German Jews to develop Manchuria. This idea was proposed in 1934. That is? Puffer fish plan Jews are like puffer fish. If there is a good cook, puffer fish is delicious, otherwise it may be poison.

Japan is not the only one with the idea of ??using German Jews. In 1939, the National Legislative Yuan also had a proposal to attract 100,000 German Jews to settle in the southwest. It was more powerful than Japan’s idea of ??attracting 50,000 German Jews. It was grand, but China had no chance to take action at that time.

After the "Pufferfish Plan" was proposed, Japan quickly stopped seizing the wealth of Russian Jews in Manchuria. After the September 18th Incident, Russian Jews were affected by this and moved south one after another, causing them to become the majority of Shanghai Jews.

Around the time of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Japan began to become more and more pro-Jewish. They sent a delegation to publicize American rabbis (similar to priests) to introduce the similarities between Judaism and Shintoism. The Japanese also hoped to attract the favor of American journalism and Hollywood, both of which they believed Jews strongly influenced, if not completely controlled.

Japan’s efforts received positive response from the Russian Jewish community in China. They held three Far Eastern Jewish Congresses, affirmed racial equality under Japanese rule, and actively expressed their participation in the construction of Manchukuo. The Russian Jewish community also took the initiative Convey Japan's goodwill to Jewish organizations around the world.

On December 8, 1938, Japan's "Five Ministers Conference" formulated its highest policy towards the Jews. It hoped to actively use Jewish capital and technical strength to build Manchuria without offending Germany. At the same time, it hoped that Use the influence of Jews in the United States to change the United States' unfriendly attitude toward Japan.

Its most fanciful idea is to obtain the huge capital support of American Jews, establish Jewish settlements on the Chinese territory occupied by Japan, and help build the Greater East Asia Prosperity Sphere.

Repaying gratitude is a complex issue

The Japanese firmly believe in the magical powers of the Jews. Not only before the outbreak of the Pacific War, they tried to mediate Japan-US relations through American Jews, (historical figures) even in 1944 Also wanted American Jews to help persuade Roosevelt to negotiate peace with Japan. The problem is that Jewish influence is only a figment of Japan's imagination, and the positions of American Jews and Chinese Jews are completely different.

Stephen Weiss, the leader of the American Jewish community, is categorical about the lobbying of the Chinese Jewish community: Any Jew who cooperates with Japan is a traitor and violates the U.S. moral embargo against Japan. What you are doing Something extremely harmful to the Jews. ?

In 1939, as the aid from the American Jewish community began to decrease, the Jews who arrived in Shanghai early asked the Japanese occupying forces to control the flow of Jews into Shanghai. In September 1939, Japan began to limit the number of Jews entering and Receive $500 security deposit.

The Jews who fled to China disappointed the Japanese? There were no wealthy Jewish businessmen as legendary. What was even more frustrating for the Japanese was that none of them responded to the call of the Manchurian Jewish community to develop Manchuria.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese army attacked Pearl Harbor. The next day, the Japanese army captured the Shanghai Concession and sank the isolated island where Westerners and millions of Chinese took refuge. The ones who are most affected are not the Chinese, but the Westerners, except those who are moral and Italian. Japan not only robbed their property, but also imprisoned them in concentration camps.

Jews were also affected. Because of their British nationality, the Jews in Baghdad were sent to concentration camps together with the American JDC members stranded in Shanghai. The living standards of Jewish refugees who lost foreign aid dropped sharply. To make matters worse, more Jews arrived in Shanghai, including Polish and Lithuanian Jews accepted by Japan. However, the Jews remained free, founded three newspapers, and even promoted Zionism.

After Japan declared war on the United States, Britain and other countries, Nazi Germany continued to put pressure on Japan. In June 1942, Germany proposed the "Messinger Plan" to completely eliminate the Jews in Shanghai, and Japan had to say something. , February 18, 1943, Shanghai Jews were driven to the "Stateless Refugee Isolation Zone" in Hongkou District.

There are a large number of Chinese residents in this quarantine area. There are neither walls nor roadblocks. Jews can not only move freely in the quarantine area, but can also enter and exit the quarantine area according to the road rules. Japanese sentries do not stop the Jews.

There are approximately 15,000 Jews in the quarantine zone. Since Russian Jews have been actively responding to Japan, Russian Jews are not included in the quarantine. From 1943 to 1945, there were epidemics such as "Shanghai Fever" in the quarantine area, and some Jewish refugees died due to malnutrition or disease. However, what frightened the Jews most during this period was the US military's bombing of Shanghai after 1945. Thirty-one Jewish refugees and hundreds of Chinese neighbors were killed.

In contrast, the life of the Jews is worthy of the envy of expatriates from Britain, the United States and other countries. The latter have lost all freedoms. The concentration camp only distributes 0.4 kilograms of rice and other food every day? September 1943, Italy Surrendering to the Allies, the Italians in Shanghai immediately became the new tenants of the concentration camp.

Perhaps the most puzzling thing for the Japanese is that the Jews were confined in the segregated area. Although their lives were already very difficult, they tried every means to help the American, British and French expatriates in the concentration camps? In the eyes of the Jewish refugees, this was their way of repaying their kindness. Way.

Of course, the Jews are a nation that repays kindness.

During World War II, He Fengshan, the Consul General of the Republic of China in Vienna, and Chiune Sugihara, the Acting Consul of Japan in Lithuania, issued a large number of visas to Jews and saved many lives. In Austria and the Soviet Union at that time, Jews would not be able to leave without visas. territory. He Fengshan and Chihe Sugihara were awarded the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" by the Israeli government.

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A widely circulated saying is that there is a monument in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel's second largest city, which reads: "Chinese people, we will never forget your kindness!" ?No one seems to have seen this monument. Of course, it is even less likely that there will be ?Japanese, we will never forget your kindness! ?