The Holocaust and the Shanghai Ghetto

During World War II, Shanghai, China was one of the few places on earth where doors to safety were open to Jews of Europe for a short time. The following resources provide information about this little-known story of nearly 20,000 Jews who fled from Europe to Shanghai.

Holocaust survivor and speaker

Mr. Manny Gabler is a Holocaust survivor who found sanctuary in the Shanghai ghetto. Mr. Gabler can be reached via admin@worldwithoutgenocide.org to arrange an in-person or online speaking engagement.

Books

1. Bacon, Ursula, Shanghai Diary: A Young Girl’s Journey from Hitler’s Hate to War-Torn China,
M Press, 2004

2. Grebenschikoff,.Betty, Once My Name Was Sara: A Memoir, Original Seven Publishing Company, 1993

3. Heppner, Ernest G., Shanghai Refuge: A Memoir of the World War II Jewish Ghetto, University of Nebraska Press 1993, Plunkett Lake Press, 2018

4.Kacer, Kathy, Shanghai Escape, Second Story Press, 2013

5. Krasno, Rena, Strangers Always: A Jewish Family in Wartime Shanghai, Pacific View Press, 2000

6. Ross, James R., Escape to Shanghai: A Jewish Community in China, The Free Press, 1994

7. Rubin, Evelyn Pike Rubin, Ghetto Shanghai, EPR Associates, 2000

Articles

Griffiths, James, “Shanghai’s Forgotten Jewish Past,” The Atlantic, November 23, 2013

Movies

1. Shanghai Ghetto, 2002, Narrated by Martin Landau, the film chronicles the story of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and their lives in the Shanghai Ghetto. It was awarded the Audience Choice Award and the Human Rights Award at the 2002 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

2. A Jewish Girl in Shanghai, 2010, is a Chinese animated family film. It was well-received in China and internationally, it was nominated for awards in China and Israel.

3. The Port of Last Resort, 1998, is an award-winning documentary about the nearly 20,000 European Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai from 1938 to 1941.

4. Above the Drowning Sea, 2017, a documentary, includes historical films and photos, and interviews with some of the surviving refugees and the Shanghai residents who befriended them, as well as the refugees’ descendants. It was co-written and co-directed by René Balcer, of “Law & Order” and “Law & Order Criminal Intent,” and is narrated by actress Julianna Margulies.