Council of the Jewish Community of Shanghai, 1956

The Council of the Jewish Community was founded in 1949 for the welfare of China Jewry. When the American Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC) closed its Shanghai office in 1951, the Council took over the administrative work in connection with the global repatriation and resettlement of Jews residing in China.

I’ve written extracts from the Council’s 1956 report below:

Economic Welfare and Relief

Shelter House and Free Meals

During 1956 the Shelter House harboured an average of 14 inmates and dispensed free meals to a daily average of about 23 persons; in the first six months of 1957 the average number of inmates was 13, while the average number of persons was about 13. The cost of supplying two meals daily to each person was approximately Yen 40.00 per month.

Mr. E Abraham had been acting as Shohet in an honorary capacity up to his departure in November 1956, and was succeeded by Mr. I. Udovich. Mr.  & Mrs. G Gleizer acted as supervisors of the Shelter House and Kosher Kitchen.

Seward Road Camp (961 Tung Chang Chi Lu)

The Seward Road Camp is one of the many camps which housed European refugees during World War II. There were 11 inmates domiciled in the Camp during the period under review. The premises are owned by Messrs. E. D. Sassoon & Co., Ltd. Shanghai, and have been used free of charge by the indigent Jews for many years. Mr. H. Lewin supervises the Camp.

Medical Assistance

In order to alleviate the suffering of the mental and chronic cases two nurses are employed in the Shelter House to look after them as before. It must be mentioned that many critical cases have been averted due to the promptness of the United Hias Service in Hongkong in sending the required medicines to the sick. Dr. S. Hocs and Dr. G Rosenkevitch served as Medical Advisors for the Community with marked efficiency.

 

A room in the shelter ward

Religious and Cultural Activities

 Synagogue

As mentioned in the last year’s report after the disposal of the Synagogue on Hsiang Yang Road, services have been regularly held in the new Synagogue at the Shanghai Jewish Centre. In spite of the diminishing number of Jews in Shanghai, attendance in the Synagogue has continued to be gratifying in the circumstances.

 Matzoth

As in the preceding four years, Matzoth were baked locally and distributed free of charge to all needy Jews in Shanghai. As in the past, the highest grade of wheat flour was allotted by the Food Administration Bureau and sympathetic cooperation was rendered by the bakery were the Matzoth were prepared in accordance with Jewish rituals. Due to technical difficulties in Tientsin, 250lbs. of Matzoth were sent by train for gratuitous distribution among the Jews in that district.

Reading and Recreation Room

Since the closure and liquidation of the Shanghai Jewish Club on December 31 1955 the reading and recreation room has afforded books, periodicals and newspapers to the local Jews. The room has also been used for Hebrew Classes, Children’s parties and other activities.

Children attend Hebrew class, 1956

 Cemeteries

The four Jewish cemeteries in Shanghai continued in the care of the Council. All graves and memorial stones are constantly kept in good condition under the able supervision of Mr. H. Lewin.

Fa Yuan-Lu Cemetery

Communal Association

By July 1956, the centralised management of the properties and the internal affairs of both the Ashkenazi and the Sephardic Communal Associations had merged into the Council’s office. The works in connection with the two communal associations have been handled by the Council staff. The legal entities of the Communal Associations have been preserved. In line with a general decree by the Government, land tax on properties owned by or managed by Jewish organisations has been altered to property tax which has been levied at 18% on rentals received since the fourth quarter of 1956.

Personnel

As the number of remaining Jews in Shanghai gradually diminished, the manifold works of the Council had devolved upon the few members who have been serving selflessly for the welfare of the Jewish Community.

Mr. R.D. Abraham: Mr. R.D. Abraham resigned his membership of the Council on September 1 1956, but continued to give the benefit of his experience and advice up to the time of his departure from Shanghai in November 1956. Any attempt to evaluate his service to the Jewish Community within the limitation of this Report would be hopelessly inadequate. Following the noble tradition of his forebears, he left behind him a record of a life-long devotion to the interests of the community. Whole-heartedly and unobtrusively he identified himself with all aspects of our communal activities, so that every Jewish institution, Religious, Cultural, Social or otherwise bears the impress of his work. His long tenure of leadership as Chairman of the Council since its inception in 1949 will always remain a cherished memory. It was under his able captaincy that the Council was steered through difficult times and the care and welfare of our brethren in China enhanced. Every Jew who is or has been in China will remember R.D. Abraham with gratitude and affection.

Mr. Ezekiel Abraham: Equally noted for religious and charitable activities is Mr. E Abraham who served as Hon. Treasurer of the Council until his subsequent departure from Shanghai. During a long period of social work, he gave unstintingly of his time and energy in the cause of communal welfare, and his cheerful readiness to assist any one who applied to him had endeared him to all and has made his name synonymous with selfless service.

Mr. K.I. Kushner: Mr. K.I Kushner served as member of the Council and later succeeded Mr. E. Abraham as Hon. Treasurer. Though his service was brief, his work with marked distinction will be long remembered.

Mr. N.L Schifrin: Mr. N. Schifrin succeeded Mr. Kushner as Hon. Treasurer of the Council. In addition to the many works devolved upon him due to the departure of honorary members of the Council, Mr. Schifrin had inaugurated a Hebrew Class and taught the Jewish children with admirable fervency to see that those children were well-equipped Hebraically. Mr. Schifrin has rendered invaluable services to the community in many facets.

Staff: Mr. A.M Bagg continued in rendering invaluable service up till his departure in March 1957. The Council staff consists mainly of Chinese who have worked many years with the Jewish organisations and have performed their duties to the full satisfaction of the Council.

The Jews of Shanghai

A busy street in Old Shanghai, looking from City Wall across Canal into French Concession, 1900. C. Underwood & Underwood

‘Shanghai … life itself … nothing more intensely living can be imagined … So much life, so carefully canalised, so rapidly and strongly flowing, the spectacle of it inspires something like terror’. – Aldous Huxley

‘Shanghai, this electric and lurid city, more exciting than any other in the world’. – J.G. Ballard

For almost 100 years, Shanghai had been home to a small, close-knit Sephardi community of Baghdadi Jews. The Sassoons were the first to establish themselves in Shanghai in 1850, and were successful traders. Others, such as the Kadoories, the Abrahams, Ezras and Hardoons, most of whom started out working for the Sassoons, soon prospered as successful businessmen in their own right. Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews arrived in the early 20th century from Russia following the anti-Jewish pogrom of 1905 (Kiev Pogrom) and later the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Following the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938, tens of thousands of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria fled to Shanghai, attracted by the city’s visa free status. The established Jewish communities of Shanghai immediately began fundraising activities to deal with the refugee’s most urgent needs. Horace Kadoorie founded the Shanghai Jewish Youth Association (SJYA) to provide a meal programme, medical supplies and employment bureau to meet the refugee’s most urgent needs. The SJYA School was opened in November 1939 at 100 Kinchow Road (today, Jingzhou Road) to supplement the overcrowded Shanghai Jewish School. The school was highly regarded due to its emphasis on sports, cultural and social activities, and its high calibre of teaching staff.

Report on Activities in the Far East

I’ve come across this interesting Report on Activities in the Far East by Leon Frieder, written in December 1938 about the work undertaken by various refugee aid committees in the port cities of Asia. Leon’s report covers Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Colombo and Bombay. In this blog posting I cover the first three cities, and I’ll continue with Colombo and Bombay in a later posting.

Hong Kong

Very few Jewish refugees are allowed to land at Hong Kong, but a relief committee with Sir Ellis Kadoorie at its head raised a few thousand dollars and sent some of it to Shanghai.

NB: I doubt that the author of the report visited Hong Kong during his trip. Sir Ellis Kadoorie passed away in 1922 and his brother, Sir Elly Kadoorie, was then based in Shanghai.

Manila

When I arrived in Manila, Mr. Frieder, the President of the Manila Jewish Relief Committee, told me that over 400 Jewish refugees had recently arrived and settled in Manila. Those who were destitute were taken care of by the Relief Committee, others have already secured positions and earning livelihood. When I asked help for the Relief Committee for Shanghai, it informed me that since it is short of funds and faced with many problems, it was not in a position to help. The committee in Manila is very active and it stated that a movement is underway at present among the Philippine government officials to permit 10,000 Jews to emigrate to the Philippines were an island is to be set aside for them. This proposition is not being presented to the United States government for its final approval so that a financial arrangement may be made to take care of this proposition.

NB: Leon refers to the Mindanao Plan, Mindanao being an island in the Philippines. The plan did not go ahead due to a lack of funding and disputes over land ownership. 

Singapore

A very active Jewish Relief Committee exists in the city with Mr. Harris at its head. Over a hundred Jewish refugees have recently settled in Singapore. The committee functions as follows: As no emigrant is permitted to land at Singapore unless he has a guarantee of employment by which he may earn at least 250 Singapore Dollars the committee has arranged to secure positions  for these people before the arrival of the boat.  When the boat docks, they find qualified workers to fill those positions from among the refugees. The latter then disembark at Singapore and the committee allows the guarantee of employment to the government stating that those selected will earn the stipulated sum per month. I am glad to report that over 100 persons have already been placed in jobs as a result of this method. I also wish to state that in December, Singapore sent 3,000 Chinese Dollars to Shanghai to help us and have promised further assistance in the future.

NB: for further information on Singapore, see Paul Bartrop, ‘False Havens: The British Empire and the Holocaust’ (1995)

Refugee Employers

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been compiling a list of Hong Kong companies that employed Jewish refugees. As I discover more employers, several questions crop up: did they hire Jewish refugees because of their skills, or as a humanitarian gesture? What were the hiring practices of the time? To use Catherine Ladds’ term, how were refugees able to navigate and exploit the ‘imperial circuits’ used by mobile Europeans in China?

To answer these questions, I need to begin with the employers themselves. Here’s a little background on the companies I have found so far:

The Comptoir Anglo-Continental hired several Jewish refugees. This company is proving particularly elusive, although I believe it was a British bank.

Post-publishing note: I’ve since discovered that Hans Diestel, a Jewish refugee escaping the bombardment of Shanghai in 1937, was hired by The Comptoir Anglo-Continental in Hong Kong in around June 1938. He was also the Joint-Secretary of the Jewish Refugee Society. Could he have been responsible for hiring several Jewish refugees?

Gilmans & Co. was another firm that employed Jewish refugees. It’s listed in Solomon Bard’s Traders of Hong Kong: Some Foreign Merchant Houses, 1841 – 1899 (1993) as one of the oldest firms in China, founded by Richard James Gilman. In its early years, the company exported tea and silk and imported textiles, it also played an important role in the formation of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank, today’s HSBC. Although the company floundered in China, it survived in Hong Kong and diversified into the motor car trade. Its legacy can be seen in Hong Kong’s street names: Gilman’s Bazaar and Gilman Street.

Post-publishing note: Paul Braga, friend and business associate of the Kadoories, was a senior manager at Gilmans in the 1930s. M.H. Rackusan, a member of the Ohel Leah Synagogue, also worked here. Could they have collaborated to hire Jewish refugees in the firm?

Carlowitz & Co. was the only German entity to employ Jewish refugees, although this is partly explained by the fact that many German companies did not return to Hong Kong after the First World War. The founder Richard von Carolwitz was born in Dresden. Carlowitz & Co. started life as a shipping and merchant house in Canton, and later branched out into insurance in the various treaty ports of China.

The Jews of China

Jews of Kaifeng, late 19th or early 20th century, c. Wikipedia

Although there has been a Jewish presence in Hong Kong since the mid-nineteenth century, Jews were travelling, trading and inter-marrying in China much before this time. Scholars debate the exact arrival of Jews to Kaifeng – estimated between the Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty. Kaifeng was then a cosmopolitan city on a branch of the silk road, and the capital of the North Song Dynasty. A small community of Jews from India and Persia arrived in the city to trade and built a synagogue in 1163. They were welcomed by the emperor and permitted to become citizens of the capital. Over the course of time, Chinese and Jews intermarried. Despite their isolation from the Jewish Diaspora, Kaifeng Jews kept their traditions and customs alive for centuries, although increasing inter-marriage and assimilation began to erode these traditions. Eventually, worship services discontinued and in the 1850s impoverished families were impelled to sell some of their Torah Scrolls. Traces of a Jewish presence can still be found in Kaifeng today.

For more information on the current situation in Kaifeng, see the following articles:

The Sino-Judaic Institute, Crisis in Kaifeng

The New York Times, Chinese Jews of Ancient Lineage Huddle under Pressure