Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

About This Blog:

Through taking Dr. Levitsky’s Holocaust Literature Class, we have learned about the diverse reactions to the experience of the Holocaust. One of the most unique experiences is the group of Jewish, “stateless” citizens who emigrated to Shanghai and were forced to live in ghettos. Despite being allied with the Nazis, Japanese attitudes were much more accepting. Through analyzing the Werner von Boltenstern Shanghai Photograph and Negative Collection, we have provided research that highlights this unique period of history.

Our group chose to focus on the Jewish experience of being under Japanese occupation while living in World War II Shanghai, as well as the heroism of Chiune Sugihara, who rescued nearly ten thousand European Jews.

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

Early Japanese-Jewish Relations

Japan’s first impression of Jews was shaped by Western missionaries and traditional Anglophile literature, which painted Jews in a negative light.  While this did lead to anti-Semitic feelings, Japan has a different response than the West.  Instead of expelling or rejecting Jews, as was done in Spain in 1492, they saw Jews as being politically and economically useful (Rubenstein 294).  Richard Rubenstein in his article, “The Financier and the Finance Minister: The Roots of Japanese Antisemitism,” claims that while this perspective is dehumanizing and anti-Semitic in nature, it also explains why, in some cases, the Japanese were protective of Jews during WWII.

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

The Meisigner Plan

When first arriving in Shanghai, Jewish refugees were relatively free of the oppressive aspects of Japanese occupation.  This changed after the attack on Pearl Harbor and following increased pressure from Germany.

‘In July 1942, Colonel Josef Meisinger, chief representative of the Nazi Gestapo in Japan, arrived in Shanghai and put forward a plan for ‘Final Solution in Shanghai’ to the Japanese authorities. It was designed to be implemented in two steps:

Step one: Arrest all Jews in Shanghai in a surprise attack as they were spending the Jewish New Year with families.

Step two: To ‘deal with’ the problem in a decisive manner. The plan suggested 3 ways of ‘dealing with’ Jews. They could be placed in old ships and set a drift on the East China Sea, so that they would eventually die of hunger; they could be forced to toil themselves to death in the abandoned salt-mines on the upper reaches of the Huangpu River; or the Japanese could set up a concentration camp on Chongming Island, where the Jews would be subjected to medical experiments and die of their sufferings.’

Thankfully, the ‘Meisinger Plan’ was never put into order. However, the Japanese would establish ‘the Designated Area for Stateless Refugee’, which forced all Jewish refugees from Central Europe to move into Hongkew, Shanghai ghettos.

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

After Pearl Harbor, Jews were forced to give up their homes and businesses and crowd into a neighborhood then called ‘Hongkew.’ Today, it is spelled Hongkou. They needed permits, renewed monthly, if they wanted to work elsewhere in the city.

Vivian Jeanette Kaplan

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

Hongkew Ghettos

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese famously bombed Pearl Harbor. Many might assume that this would not effect Jewish refugees living in Shanghai, but Japan’s alliance to Germany influenced and changed their treatment of Jewish populations. This meant that Jewish people under already Japanese controlled parts of Shanghai were subjected to Nazi influenced policies.

“On Feb 18, 1943, the Japanese authorities declared a ‘Designated Area for Stateless Refugees’, ordering all those who’d arrived after 1937 to move into a an area of less than 2.5 sq km in the southeastern part of the Hongkou district. For the refugees who’d found a means of livelihood outside the designated area, leaving their homes and businesses behind for the second time was traumatic.”

Hongkew was notorious for being torn down after the Second-Sino Japanese War. The effects of war had physically and economically damaged the city, making it beyond impoverished. Irene Eber, a former Hongkew resident, claims in the documentary Shanghai Ghetto, that the city was “incredibly torn down and dirty, the weather was extremely hot and humid.” This was likely why it was chosen as the place for a “large majority” of Jewish refugee to live. They lived among poor Chinese workers in extremely crowded areas filled with disease, and struggled to become acquainted with their new environment. Survivors  tend describe the Hongkew experience as being oppressive:

“The area had no barbed wire or walls, but the streets were patrolled, food was rationed, a strict curfew was enforced, and everyone needed passes to enter or leave. “Of the 14,000 Jews living inside, only about 3,000 were given passes between 1943 and 1945.”

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

Jewish refugees arriving and crowding into Hongkew, January 1942.

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

Chinese themselves, many of them felt sympathy for the Jews, they were both being oppressed by the Japanese.

Shanghai Ghetto Documentary

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

“Jewish refugees relocating to Shanghai’s Hongkew ghetto in the spring of 1943.”

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

Daily Life in the Ghetto (Before and After 1939 Shanghai)

In 1939, the influence of Jewish refugees strained Shanghai’s resources. While Shanghai was home to many different nationalities, the bureaucratic system in which visas and paperwork were processed was very disorganized. The  descent into another world war only made things more chaotic.   In his book, Chinese Exile: My Years in Shanghai and Nanking, Horst Eisfelder writes about the experience of the sudden refugee influx. Horst and his family opened a notable cafe in which many colorful characters from all over the world lounged.  They were able to continue their business into the war until they were forced to move into the Shanghai ghetto for stateless refugees. Fortunately, his family was able to reopen the cafe which helped improve the poor and cramped living area. Ironically, Horst never experienced any real danger until the notable Allied bombings that unfortunately bombed part of the Shanghai ghetto. Horst was lucky to have a fairly stable life in the ghetto while many Jews were forced to work grueling jobs if they could find work at all. 

[Jewish Experience in Japanese Occupied Shanghai]

A Japanese soldier watches on as Jewish refugees line up to either enter or exit a ghetto.

Controlling the Jewish Ghettos

Jews regularly came in contact Japanese soldiers and government officials who oversaw the ghettos.  Kano Ghoya, the official in charge of issuing passes that allowed refugees to go in and out of ghettos, was an infamous authority figure known for being severely hostile and violent toward the refugees.

Above and below image from the Werner von Boltenstern Photograph and Negative Collection