Hospitality in Shanghai: The Russian Jewish Community as Hosts and Polish Jewish Refugees as Guests during WW2

Abstract

This article is an exploration of three exile memoirs penned by Eastern European Jewish refugees who documented a notable world history event: during WW2, when 6 million European Jews perished in Nazis concentration and death camps, Shanghai was the city where more than 20,000 Jews were saved. Through a conceptual framework inspired by Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida, this article interprets instances of hospitality in these memoirs.