Issue of The China Weekly REVIEW, which reports for the first time on the flee of European Jews from the burden of Nazi rule on their way to Shanghai, and on attempts to prevent the entry of the wave of Jewish immigration to Shanghai. Shanghai, February 4, 1939. The first news item reporting on the "Shanghai Exiles".
The main headline on the title page reads: Jewish Refugees in Shanghai. The headline of the first article in the newspaper - " JEWISH REFUGEES SHOULD BE WELCOME AND ASSISTED HERE!" . The newspaper attacks another article published that week in a local evening daily which said that Shanghai should be closed to Jewish immigrants fleeing Nazi persecution, because the entry and treatment of Jews could harm China's economy. "Somehow this flow will have to be stopped" that daily said. The same daily also reported on 1,000 Jewish refugees making their way from Europe to Shanghai and will soon arrive there, and recommended consular consultation to stop Jews from entering Shanghai.
This issue strongly attacks the same editorial published in the local daily and writes that the fleeing Jews should be welcomed and assisted in Shanghai. The writer notes that so far the expenses of the Jews who arrived in Shanghai have been financed by aid funds from the Jewish organizations themselves, and that they have not cost the state treasury anything. "Shanghai is one of the few places on the planet where pitiful victims of totalitarian terrorism in Europe can still migrate freely... If Shanghai was threatened by an influx of forty or fifty thousand refugees from Germany and Austria, perhaps there is reason to fear, but 1200 who arrived, and another 1000 who are supposedly on the way, will not cause any special complications... There is no doubt that the municipality should be able to deal with the problem of temporary supporting a few hundred...". The writer reinforces his argument that Jewish immigrants should be helped by the fact that at least three large waves of immigration that were welcomed in China since the end of the 19th century brought prosperity and economic growth to the country, and now the arrival of Jews the country may only benefit. " These refugees do not come from the lower peasant strata, but from the middle and upper middle classes... Most of them will be established in a very short time... It is doubtful whether the consular body has the authority to prevent the disembarkation of the Jews at this port, although the consular officials may wish to do so...".
Since most countries closed their doors to Jews, especially after the Evian Conference in July 1938, Shanghai became a major destination for Jewish refugees. As far as we know, before us the first news item reporting on the Shanghai Exiles. During World War II, many European Jews found refuge in Shanghai, as it was the only place immigrants could enter without a visa and without having to pay a large sum of money. In particular, the heroic story of the flight of Mir Yeshiva students to Shanghai during 1941 became famous. Most of the refugees lived in a quarter called "Honko" and created their own version of German-Viennese culture in its neighborhoods. At the end of 1943, the Japanese government succumbed to continued Nazi pressure and established a "ghetto" (in the sense of a neighborhood) for the 14,000 Jewish refugees. After the ghetto was dismantled, some managed to emigrate to North and South America, the rest waited helpless. With the establishment of the State of Israel, many of them immigrated to Israel.
China Weekly Review is the first English journal founded by American professional journalists in Shanghai in 1917. The Review has known three publishers and editors-in-chief simultaneously in its 32-year history – Thomas F. Millard, John B. Powell and his son John W. Bush. Powell. Millard, the chief founder of the Review, is considered the first professional journalist to come to China from Western countries. He is considered the "founding father of American journalism in China". Powell, the second editor of the Review, is the first professionally educated American journalist to come to China and help found the Review. Following Millard and Powell, many American professional journalists joined the effort to report on China, which has left a precious legacy in international journalism. After much effort, the young Powell found it difficult to continue publishing the Review in China. The "Farewell Issue" was sent to its readers in July 1953. The Review became the last foreign publication to leave mainland China.
[34] p. 30 cm. Complete Issue. Condition Good - Very Good.
