Shanghai wants to register its Jewish refugee history with UNESCO

Shanghai is working on making applications to register a page of the city’s history, when it successfully received 30,000 Jewish refugees during World War II, as part of the “Memory of the World” program under UNESCO.

Professor Pan Guang of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) revealed the information at the launch of the new book Jewish Refugees in China (1933-1945): History, Perspective and Chinese Model at the Shanghai Library on Dec 12.

Pan is a veteran researcher of Jewish history in China. He is the editor of the book, as well as dean of the Center of Jewish Studies in Shanghai. Pan will help the museum to authenticate a new collection of firsthand materials and historical items belonging to Jewish refugees during their stay in Shanghai. “A large number of more materials will be needed, especially firsthand documents, for the application,” he said.

Publication of the book marked the conclusion of the project studying Jewish refugees in China, a seven-year initiative sponsored by the National Social Science Fund of China.

Through his career spanning almost 40 years, Pan has witnessed the study of Jewish refugees in China developing from a subject known by few to an academic “hot spot”, drawing wide public interest. Films and musical plays featuring the Jewish experience in Shanghai have been made based on facts and stories discovered by Pan and colleagues.