Cathay Theatre, Shanghai, 1940s, Courtesy of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. Cathay Theatre, Shanghai, 1940s, Courtesy of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
Cathay Theatre, Shanghai, 1940s, Courtesy of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. Cathay Theatre, Shanghai, 1940s, Courtesy of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
Jews search lists posted on the streets in Shanghai for names of survivors of the Nazi extermination camps. Courtesy of UNRRA, United Nations Archives
Jews search lists posted on the streets in Shanghai for names of survivors of the Nazi extermination camps. Courtesy of UNRRA, United Nations Archives
The Japanese naval forces parading up Nanjing Road in Shanghai on Pearl Harbor Day, December 8, 1941. Note the swastika The Japanese naval forces parading up Nanjing Road in Shanghai on Pearl Harbor Day, December 8, 1941. Note the swastika in window. Courtesy of Leo Baeck Institute Collection.
The Japanese naval forces parading up Nanjing Road in Shanghai on Pearl Harbor Day, December 8, 1941. Note the swastika The Japanese naval forces parading up Nanjing Road in Shanghai on Pearl Harbor Day, December 8, 1941. Note the swastika in window. Courtesy of Leo Baeck Institute Collection.
Group picture taken after the wedding in Shanghai of Gerda Gottfried and Hans Kraus, February 2, 1947. Courtesy of Gottfried Collection, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
Group picture taken after the wedding in Shanghai of Gerda Gottfried and Hans Kraus, February 2, 1947. Courtesy of Gottfried Collection, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
Shanghai: A Refuge During the Holocaust. Image courtesy of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
Shanghai: A Refuge During the Holocaust. Image courtesy of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
“Shanghai: A Refuge During the Holocaust,” produced by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, documents the experience of more than 18,000 Jews who escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe to Shanghai, China between 1938 and 1940.
Forced to flee their homeland, these Jews became “stateless refugees” and were denied entry into most countries. Several countries restricted the flow of immigration during the war, especially for Jewish refugees.
As an open port, Shanghai was one of the very few places that stateless Jews could disembark without passports or visas. As a result, Shanghai became an important, life-saving refuge for thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.
The exhibit, comprised of photographs and documents, presents the complex Jewish community in Shanghai that resulted from this emigration.
The exhibit is graciously underwritten by Leslie Alexander and the Houston Rockets, with special thanks to Continental Airlines, official airline of Holocaust Museum Houston.
