The Jews of Shanghai The War Years 1 | 2 | 3 | HOME Conditions in Shanghai continued to worsen, especially after December 7, 1941. Businesses owned by the Sephardic Jews, one-third of whom were British citizens, were operated by Japanese overseers. Communication with the United States, which was a source of relief funds and an export market, was broken. Unemployment and inflation intensified. As the War heightened, Nazi influence on Japan increased. On November 15, 1942, the idea of a restricted ghetto was approved, and announced on February 18, 1943. All stateless refugees (the Japanese proclamation never used the word "Jews") were restricted to a designated area in the Hongkew district; they had to move their residences and businesses to this area within three months (May 15). These stateless refugees -- generally those who arrived after 1937 -- needed permission from the Japanese to dispose of their property; others needed permission to move into the ghetto. "Thus," writes Kranzler, "about half of the approximately 16,000 refugees, who had overcome great obstacles and had found a means of livelihood and residence outside the 'designated area' were forced to leave their homes and businesses for a second time and to relocate into a crowded, squalid area of less than one square mile with its own population of an estimated 100,000 Chinese and 8,000 refugees." (p. 491). Although temporary passes were issued to work outside the ghetto, these were granted arbitrarily and were severely curtailed after the first year. But the fact that the Chinese did not leave the Hongkew ghetto, meant the Jews were not isolated. Nevertheless economic conditions worsened; psychological adjustment to ghettoization was difficult; the winter of 1943 was severe and hunger was widespread. U.S. air raids on Shanghai began in 1944, with the most devastating raid in July 1945 when 31 refugees were killed, 500 wounded, and 700 left homeless by an attack on a Japanese radio transmitter in the Hongkew district. The history of the Jewish community in Shanghai during this period also featured acts of resistance--sometimes subtle, sometimes overt. Jews participated in an underground network to obtain and circulate information, and were involved in some sabotage of Japanese installations and in aiding downed U.S. pilots to escape into Chinese-held territory. The ghetto was finally liberated officially on September 3, 1945, after some delay to allow Chiang Kai-shek's army to take political credit for the liberation of Shanghai. With the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the fall of Chiang Kai-shek in 1949, most of the Jews left for resettlement in Israel. By 1957 only 100 remained, and today only a few may still live there. 1 | 2 | 3 | HOME © 2002, J-Stamps/Murray Frost. All Rights Reserved. froststamps@yahoo.com