Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

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I took the subway, line 12, to Tilanqiao station. I came out of exit one, crossed the main road and headed left for about a minute or two. I could see a big sign pointing the way to the museum and I was pretty much on top of it. I bought my ticket at the ticket booth, 20 RMB for standard entry. There is another ticket for 45 RMB, which includes a coffee at the White House Tavern on one of the neighbouring streets, but seeing as I had recently just imbibed one, I didn't really fancy another. The ticket booth is just across from the entrance, so after getting my ticket I headed in. The museum is housed in the former Ohel Moshe Synagogue, which was established in 1907 and moved to the present location at 62 Changyang Road in 1927. The synagogue was also known as Ward Road Synagogue as the street was then called Ward Road. The synagogue was built by a Russian Jew as an orthodox synagogue for Russian and Central European Jews living in Shanghai. During the war, it became the centre for religious activities for the Jews that had fled persecution in Europe.

I headed into the synagogue building first. When you enter, you have to cover your shoes with plastic slippers to help preserve the old wooden floor. On the ground floor, the room was set up as a typical place for worship. I was surprised at how similar I found it to the inside of a church, with the altar and stained glass windows. I have never been to a synagogue before, and it was interesting to see what it was like. Then I headed up to the first floor, which had an exhibition on display about Dr. Jacob Rosenfeld. Dr. Rosenfeld was an Austrian physician, who came as a refugee to China in 1939. Dr. Rosenfeld became a member of the army in China, where he served as a medical advisor. He was a very interesting and hard-working gentleman and I am glad that he is remembered for what he did during the war. I headed up to the second floor, which had an exhibition about Anne Frank. I read all the information to re-acquaint myself with her story. It saddens me so much that she died only a few months before the war ended, after enduring so much.

I headed out of the synagogue, to the other parts of the museum. Outside, there were some coffee tables, with chairs and big umbrellas and on the wall behind them photographs, showing what the area around the synagogue looked like back in the day. The area was known as 'Little Vienna' in the 1940s as the European Jews in Shanghai ran many businesses such as cafes, bakeries, restaurants, and pubs in the Tilanqiao neighbourhood of the Hongkou district. It was Chusan Road, now Zhoushan Road, which was especially famous for its German signage. The area was noted as being a prosperous area, as the Jews created a part of their culture in Shanghai. The museum continued in two smaller buildings, so I headed into the one on the right to take a look around. The exhibits in the cases, videos, and blocks of text told the stories of the refugees as they headed to Shanghai to escape the Holocaust in Europe. The UK, other European countries, and the US had all introduced measures to stem the flow of European Jews from immigrating in the late 1930s. However, China did have such restrictions in place. Dr. Ho Feng Shan, the Consul-General of the Chinese embassy in Vienna, issued thousands of 'Visas for Life'; in the first three months of his appointment he issued 1,200 of these visas. It was really interesting to read about the Jewish refugees' journeys. They travelled so far, across many countries, by land and/or by boat. Their journeys were often treacherous as they had to leave Nazi occupied land and were subject to stringent checks. It was also interesting to hear how the refugees first fared when they reached Shanghai. They were not affluent like the Jews, who ha previously migrated and often lived in very primitive and cramped conditions when they first arrived.

The second building showed how the Jewish refugees' fortunes changed under the rule of the Japanese occupation. The freedoms that the refugees had previously enjoyed had been taken away from them and they were forced to stay in the ghetto, needing to ask permission if they wanted to leave. There was also some information about how the refugees got along with the locals that they lived side-by-side with. I enjoyed reading about how people got on with their lives in Shanghai. I like hearing about the babies and young children, who had spent formative parts of their childhood in the city and how they returned to visit. By 1949, most of the refugees had left the city for other countries. Out in the courtyard, I took some photos of the busts erected to commemorate two of the men, Dr. Jacob Rosenfeld and Dr. Ho Feng Shan, who were instrumental in developing the good relations between China and the Jewish refugees. The museum was a good way to spend a couple of hours learning about a group of people I knew nothing really about. I am definitely glad I visited it as I got to see another side of the city.

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