Jewish Refugees in Wartime Shanghai

After the violence of Kristallnacht in November 1938, Jewish families in Germany and Austria faced rapidly shrinking possibilities for legal emigration. Shanghai was unusual because entry did not initially require the immigration visas demanded by most other destinations, allowing thousands of refugees to reach the city by sea despite losing property, citizenship and financial security in Europe.

The refugees entered a city already divided among Chinese, foreign-concession and Japanese-controlled jurisdictions during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Many settled in crowded districts such as Hongkou and depended on relief organisations, local employment and fragile international institutions while attempting to rebuild lives in a city marked by war, crime, commerce and political uncertainty.

Japanese control tightened after 1941 and in 1943 many stateless refugees were forced into a designated area in Hongkou.