Jewish Ghetto

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Hi All,

Another interesting day wandering around the streets of Shanghai. I walked from my hostel at Laoximen to Hongkou to visit the jewish ghetto. I'm finding China's involvement in WWII really interesting and there is a link between the synagogue here in Shanghai with the ones I'd already seen in Ha'erbin.

Around 25,000 jews lives were saved by the Japanese and Chinese in the ghetto of Shanghai. Many jews tried to flee Nazi Germany after 'Kristalnacht' but nobody was willing to accept them apart from the Chinese. A Chinese and Japanese diplomat distributed visas to many jews so they could escape persecution.

When Japan entered WWII the jews were classified at 'stateless' and a ghetto was set up in Hongkou district to house them. The area already had Chinese people living there and so living conditions were very cramped. To give you some idea one toilet was between around 20 families.

Some of the houses still remain from these times and there is still a synagogue although it has been turned into a museum. The staff at the museum were very helpful and extremely friendly. The museum itself was Ok but I did feel it was a little bit expensive.

Enjoy the photos

Jah Bless

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