The Jewish Refugee Community in Shanghai

Abstract

After their arrival, the European Jewish refugees had established close contact with the local Sephardi Jews and Russian Jews. However, they had different religious activities and living customs, so there were clashes. Over time, the European Jewish refugees gradually formed their own communities, and also established their own organizations. As the number of European Jewish refugees in other cities in China was small, this chapter focuses on the European Jewish refugee community in Shanghai with more than 20,000 members. It should be noted that, as Jewish refugees could move around in China, the Shanghai Jewish refugee community and their organizations had influenced Jewish refugees in other Chinese cities.