A large photograph of the synagogue in Tianjin, China, taken by the A.F.P. photography agency.
The photograph notes that the synagogue served Jewish immigrants to Tianjin before the Russian Revolution in 1949, later becoming a warehouse, and that only a few Jews remained in the area.
The Jewish community of Tianjin, China, existed from the 19th century until the mid-20th century, when the last members left the city. Jewish merchants began settling in Tianjin in the 1860s alongside European traders, following the opening of the port for trade with the United States and France (1860). By the late 19th century, Jews fleeing the Russian Empire arrived in Tianjin, and by 1904, about 10 Jewish families were living there permanently. These families registered at the Russian consulate as the “Hebrew Association of Tianjin” (in Russian: THA Тяньцинская Еврейская Община). The community rented a building to serve as a synagogue and acquired land for a cemetery. In 1935, Jewish refugees from Austria and Germany began arriving in China, and the Jewish community in Tianjin grew to approximately 5,000 people, making it the third-largest Jewish community in China, after Harbin and Shanghai. In the late 1940s, many Jews left Tianjin for Australia and the United States, and following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, most Jews immigrated to Israel.
Size: 24×18 cm. Condition: Very good.
