Posted on Aug 6, 2023
Where did 20,000 Jews hide from the Holocaust? In Shanghai
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https://www.npr.org/2023/08/06/ [login to see] /jewish-refugees-shanghai-world-war-ii
In the late 1930s, as the Nazis stepped up their persecution of German and Austrian Jews, many countries in the West severely limited the number of visas they granted to refugees.
But there was one place refugees could go without even obtaining a visa: Shanghai.
Long known as an "open city," the Chinese port was tolerant of immigrants. Much of it was controlled not by the nationalist government, but by foreign powers – including France, Britain and the United States – that had demanded their own autonomous districts. Jewish people had been moving there since the mid-1800s, and as long as people could reach it – at the time, most likely by boat – they could live there.
In the late 1930s, as the Nazis stepped up their persecution of German and Austrian Jews, many countries in the West severely limited the number of visas they granted to refugees.
But there was one place refugees could go without even obtaining a visa: Shanghai.
Long known as an "open city," the Chinese port was tolerant of immigrants. Much of it was controlled not by the nationalist government, but by foreign powers – including France, Britain and the United States – that had demanded their own autonomous districts. Jewish people had been moving there since the mid-1800s, and as long as people could reach it – at the time, most likely by boat – they could live there.
Where did 20,000 Jews hide from the Holocaust? In Shanghai
Posted from npr.orgPosted in these groups: 
Shanghai
China
WWII World War TwoUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Judaism
Shanghai China WWII World War TwoUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum Judaism
Posted 9 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."After World War II, most Shanghai Jews moved to Israel, the United States or back to Europe. But not all of them. Leiwi Himas stayed on and became an important member of the small Jewish community there. His daughter Sara grew up learning Chinese and still lives there, as does one of her sons, Jerry, the product of her marriage with a Chinese man.
Jerry Himas is now creating a nonprofit in collaboration with the Shanghai museum to foster connections among refugee families, the Chinese-Jewish Cultural Connection Center.
"We want to keep the story, the memory, generation by generation," he said. "Otherwise, my son, my grandson, when they grow up, if we don't leave something, they might forget."
..."After World War II, most Shanghai Jews moved to Israel, the United States or back to Europe. But not all of them. Leiwi Himas stayed on and became an important member of the small Jewish community there. His daughter Sara grew up learning Chinese and still lives there, as does one of her sons, Jerry, the product of her marriage with a Chinese man.
Jerry Himas is now creating a nonprofit in collaboration with the Shanghai museum to foster connections among refugee families, the Chinese-Jewish Cultural Connection Center.
"We want to keep the story, the memory, generation by generation," he said. "Otherwise, my son, my grandson, when they grow up, if we don't leave something, they might forget."
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