Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

Museum and former synagogue in Shanghai, China

Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

上海犹太难民纪念馆

Location of the museum and former synagogue, in Shanghai

Established| 2007
Location| 62 Changyang Road, Hongkou, Shanghai, 200082
Coordinates| 31°15′16″N 121°30′33″E﻿ / ﻿31.254352°N 121.509196°E﻿ / 31.254352; 121.509196
Type| Jewish museum
Website| www.shhkjrm.com
Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

Simplified Chinese| 上海犹太难民纪念馆
Traditional Chinese| 上海猶太難民紀念館
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Shànghǎi Yóutài Nànmín Jìniànguǎn

The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is a museum commemorating the Jewish refugees who lived in Shanghai during World War II after fleeing Europe to escape the Holocaust. It is located at the former Ohel Moshe or Moishe Synagogue, in the Tilanqiao Historic Area of Hongkou district, Shanghai, China. The museum features documents, photographs, films, and personal items documenting the lives of some of the more than 20,000 Jewish residents of the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, better known as the Shanghai Ghetto, during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai.[1]

## Background

[edit]

Main article: Shanghai Ghetto

The museum is situated in what was once the Jewish Quarter of Shanghai, which had had a Jewish community since the late 19th century, in Hongkou District (formerly rendered as "Hongkew").[2][3]

After the 1937 Battle of Shanghai, Japan occupied the Chinese sections of Shanghai, but the foreign concessions—the Shanghai International Settlement and the Shanghai French Concession—were still under the control of the European powers.[3]

In the 1930s, Nazi Germany encouraged German and Austrian Jews to emigrate, but most countries closed their borders to them, Shanghai and the Dominican Republic being the only exceptions. 20,000 European Jews sought refuge in Shanghai, which did not require a visa to enter, the most of any city in the world.[3] The Ohel Moshe Synagogue was the primary place of worship for the Jewish refugees in Shanghai.[2]

Soon after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and declared war on the allies, Japan invaded Shanghai's foreign concessions and occupied the whole city. The war ended the flow of American funds to the impoverished Jewish refugees. The Japanese imposed restrictions on the Jews,[3] and in 1943 officially established the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, better known as the Shanghai Ghetto, in Hongkou, forcing most Jews to live there.[3] After World War II, China soon fell into a civil war, which ended in the victory of the Communist Party in 1949, and almost all the Shanghai Jews emigrated by 1956.[3]

## Ohel Moshe Synagogue

[edit]

Ohel Moshe Synagogue

Chinese: 摩西會堂

A closeup view of the former synagogue

Religion
Affiliation| Judaism (former)
Rite| Nusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational status|

* Synagogue (1927-1949)
* Profane use (1949-1990s)
* Jewish museum (since 2007)

Status|

* Closed (as a synagogue);
* Repurposed

Location
Location| 62 Changyang Road, Hongkou, Shanghai
Country| China
Architecture
Founder| Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi
Date established| 1907 (as a congregation)
Completed| 1927
Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

Ohel Moshe Synagogue
Traditional Chinese| 摩西會堂
Simplified Chinese| 摩西会堂
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Móxī Huìtáng

The Ohel Moshe congregation was established by Russian Jewish immigrants in Shanghai in 1907.[4] This Ashkenazi congregation was named after Moshe Greenberg, a member of the Russian Jewish community, and was first established in a rented space.[4] As the congregation grew to 250 families by the 1920s, Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi, Chief Rabbi of Shanghai, supported the creation of a new space for the congregation.[5] In 1927, the current structure was created by remodeling an existing three-story building in the Hongkou District, removing the second floor and adding a mezzanine.[2][4] The synagogue is situated on what was once Ward Road (now Changyang Road),[6] close to the Ward Road Gaol (now Tilanqiao Prison).

The synagogue was confiscated by the government after the communist takeover in 1949 and converted into a psychiatric hospital.[7] It was also used for office space.[8] It reopened in the 1990s.[9]

Ohel Moshe and Ohel Rachel are the only two Jewish temples of old Shanghai that still stand, out of the original six.[10] In 2004, the Ohel Moshe Synagogue was inscribed on the list of architectural heritage treasures of Shanghai.[1] In 2007, the Government of Hongkou District restored the synagogue to its original architectural style based on the original drawings in the municipal archives, and opened it as a museum commemorating the Jewish refugees.[1][8] Some of the residential buildings from the ghetto period still stand around the former synagogue, though most have been demolished. The museum itself, and the remaining historic structures, are preserved as part of the Tilanqiao Historic Area.[2]

## Monument

[edit]

In 2014 the museum unveiled a monument to the refugees, which includes more than 13,000 names and a memorial statue commemorating their experience. The memorial was designed by artist He Ning.[11]

## Exhibits

[edit]

The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum encompasses the Ohel Moshe Synagogue building, two additional exhibition halls, and a courtyard.[12] The synagogue exhibition presents a "small collection of artifacts" depicting the lives of Jewish refugees who found shelter in Shanghai during the Holocaust.[8] One exhibit on the second floor of the synagogue is devoted to the life of the Chief Rabbi of Shanghai, Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi.[13] While the synagogue still contains a Torah ark, Ark cover, and reader's platform, it does not have a Torah scroll or prayer books, precluding its use for prayer services.[14]

The No. 2 Exhibition Hall, completed in 2007, displays more than 140 historical photographs and other artifacts including artworks, a refugee's passport, copies of the Shanghai Jewish Chronicle, and a stone tablet engraved with the words of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin during his visit to Shanghai. A documentary film about the refugees is also shown in the hall.[1] The No. 3 Exhibition Hall was completed in May 2008, and is used for temporary exhibits.[1]

In September 2014, a 34-metre (112 ft) long copper memorial wall was unveiled at the site, engraved with the names of 13,732 Jewish refugees harbored in China during World War II.[15][16]

## Gallery

[edit]

* Monument on display at the entrance to the museum, with Chinese flag

* A Jewish girl and her Chinese friends in the Shanghai Ghetto, from the collection of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

## See also

[edit]

* Judaism portal
* China portal

* History of the Jews in China
* List of synagogue in China
* List of Holocaust memorials and museums in China

## Notes

[edit]

### References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "Overview". Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
2. ^ a b c d Hall, Casey (June 19, 2012), "Jewish Life in Shanghai's Ghetto", The New York Times, retrieved November 26, 2014
3. ^ a b c d e f Griffiths, James (November 21, 2013). "Shanghai's Forgotten Jewish Past". The Atlantic.
4. ^ a b c Ember, Ember & Skoggard 2005, p. 157.
5. ^ Falbaum 2005, p. 40.
6. ^ Ristaino 2003, p. 67.
7. ^ Peh-T'i Wei 1993, p. 58.
8. ^ a b c "Shanghai remembers its Jewish past". JewishGen. June 12, 2008. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
9. ^ Montlake, Simon (November 1, 2006). "Shanghai's Jewish 'ghetto' looks to reinvent itself". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
10. ^ "Shanghai's Jews celebrate historic synagogue reopening". CNN. July 30, 2010.
11. ^ "Shanghai Museum Unveils Memorial to Jews Who Found Haven in City". New York Times. September 3, 2014.
12. ^ "An Introduction to Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum". Hongkou Shanghai. 2006. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
13. ^ Falbaum 2005, p. 44.
14. ^ Keinon, Herb (May 7, 2013). "PM tours Shanghai Jewish refugee museum". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
15. ^ "Jewish refugee list unveils bond with Shanghai 'safe haven'". Daily Times. September 3, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
16. ^ Jewish Telegraphic Agency (September 3, 2014). "Shanghai museum unveils memorial to Jewish refugees". Haaretz. Retrieved December 7, 2014.

### Sources

[edit]

* Ember, Carol R.; Ember, Melvin; Skoggard, Ian A., eds. (2005). Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9780306483219.
* Falbaum, Berl, ed. (2005). Shanghai Remembered: Stories of Jews who Escaped to Shanghai from Nazi Europe. Momentum Books. ISBN 1879094738.
* Peh-T'i Wei, Betty (1993). Old Shanghai. Oxford University Press. ISBN 019585747X.
* Ristaino, Marcia Reynders (2003). Port of Last Resort: The Diaspora Communities of Shanghai. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804750233.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum.

* Official website
* "360°: Inside the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum". Sixth Tone. July 14, 2019.

* v
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Museums in Shanghai

Public|

* Chen Yun Museum
* China Art Museum
* China Maritime Museum
* China Tobacco Museum
* C. Y. Tung Maritime Museum
* Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen
* Former Residence of Zhou Enlai
* Han Tianheng Art Museum
* Jiading Museum
* Liu Haisu Art Museum
* Lu Xun Museum
* Minhang Museum
* MOCA Shanghai
* Power Station of Art
* Qingpu Museum
* Rockbund Art Museum
* Shanghai Auto Museum
* Shanghai Children's Museum
* Shanghai Film Museum
* Shanghai History Museum
* Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum
* Shanghai Metro Museum
* Shanghai Museum
* Shanghai Museum of Arts and Crafts
* Shanghai Natural History Museum
* Shanghai Postal Museum
* Shanghai Railway Museum
* Shanghai Science and Technology Museum
* Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center
* Site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China
* Songjiang Museum
* Songze Site Museum
* Soong Ching-ling Memorial Residence
* World Expo Museum
* Xie Zhiliu and Chen Peiqiu Art Museum
* Xu Guangqi Memorial Hall
* Yangtze Estuary Science Museum
* Yuan Dynasty Water Gate Museum

Private|

* Aurora Museum
* Guanfu Museum
* Himalayas Museum
* Long Museum
* Minsheng Art Museum
* Propaganda Poster Art Centre
* Yuz Museum

* v
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Jews and Judaism in Shanghai

History|

* Shanghai Ghetto
* Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum
* Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai
* H Company
* Mir Yeshiva
* Tomchei Tmimim
* Israelis in Shanghai
* Shanghainese in Israel

Synagogues|

* Ohel Rachel

| Inactive (still standing)|

* Ohel Moshe

|

Destroyed or in ruins (no longer standing)|

* Beth Aharon
* Beth El
* New Synagogue
* Shearith Israel

Newspapers|

* Israel's Messenger
* Die Gelbe Post
* Shanghai Jewish Chronicle/Shanghai Echo

People|

* Victor Sassoon
* Silas Aaron Hardoon
* Elly Kadoorie
* Edward Isaac Ezra
* N.E.B. Ezra
* Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi

Film|

* Shanghai Ghetto
* A Jewish Girl in Shanghai

Hospital|

* Shanghai Jewish Hospital (B'nai B'rith Polyclinic)

* History of the Jews in China
* Religion in China
* Sino-Israeli relations

* v
* t
* e

Synagogues in China

Active|

| Shanghai|

* Ohel Rachel

|

Hong Kong SAR|

* Ohel Leah

Former|

| Inactive (still standing)|

* Harbin Museum of Jewish History and Culture
* Harbin Old Synagogue Concert Hall
* Ohel Moshe (as Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum)

|

Demolished or in ruins
(no longer standing)|

* Beth Aharon
* Beth El
* New

* Jews and Judaism
* Category (Hong Kong SAR)
* Category (China)

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

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* Israel

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