 |
|
 Donations Membership Tribute Cards Volunteer   
50 - 950 West 41st Ave, P: 604.264.0499 |
|
SHANGHAI: Shanghai: A Refuge During the Holocaust, produced by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, documents the experience of more than 18,000 Jews who escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe to Shanghai, China between 1938 and 1940. Forced to flee their homeland, these Jews became “stateless refugees” and were denied entry into most countries. Several countries, including Canada, restricted the flow of immigration during the war, especially for Jewish refugees. As an open port, Shanghai was one of the very few places that stateless Jews could disembark without passports or visas. As a result Shanghai became an important, life saving refuge for thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. The exhibit, comprised of photographs and documents, presents the complex Jewish community in Shanghai that resulted from this emigration. Approximately 50 families now residing in Vancouver were part of this little known community. The VHEC has documented the experiences of one family, the Gottfrieds, whose detailed story of flight from Nazi occupied Vienna to Shanghai, and then their later immigration to Canada, is presented within the exhibit.
|
