Located at 62 Changyang Road, Hongkou District,
Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is an important component of the “Tilanqiao Historic Area” and serves as a witness commemorating the phase of history when the Jewish refugees lived in
Shanghai. The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum contains the site of one of only two synagogues in Shanghai, the Ohel Moshe Synagogue, along with two exhibition halls.
if you’re interested in the lives of the 30,000 Jewish refugees who settled in Shanghai before and during the Second World War, this is the place to go. There are two permanent exhibits with artifacts from the time this area in Hongkou was a Jewish ghetto, plus an exhibition space with more general shows about Judaism. In the surrounding streets, some of the buildings used by Jewish organizations back in the 1930s and ’40s still stand.
【No.2 Exhibition Hall】
No.2 Exhibition Hall was finished the restoration at the end of 2007. More than 140 photos are exhibited and a multi-screen display system is the first of its kind to be used in Shanghai. The short film about the refugees living in Shanghai together with an oil painting and sculptures make that phase of history come alive.
【No.3 Exhibition Hall】
No.3 Exhibition Hall finished the restoration in May of 2008 and has novel exhibitions from time to time. As it was the site where Jewish refugees lived in greatest concentration during the Second World War, this place was a commercial gathering area with an exotic atmosphere, known as “Little Vienna” in those days.
History
From 1933 to 1941, Shanghai became a modern-day “Noah’s Ark” accepting about 30,000 Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust in Europe. In the “Designated Area for Stateless Refugees” in Tilanqiao area of Shanghai, about 20,000 Jewish refugees lived harmoniously with local citizens, overcoming numerous difficulties together. After the time the Second World War ended in 1945, most of the Jewish refugees had survived. In the “Tilanqiao Historic Area”, the original features of the Jewish settlement are still well preserved. They are the only typical historic traces of Jewish refugee life inside China during the Second World War.
In March 2007, the People’s Government of Hongkou District budgeted special funds for a full renovation of the synagogue in accordance with the original architectural drawings found in the city archives. It has been restored to the same architectural style when it used as a synagogue in 1928.
How to Get to Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum
You may take Subway Line 4 and get off at Dalian Road Station. Then walk down the street about 500 meters to the museum. Take bus 13, 22, 33, 319, 868, 934 and get off at East Changzhi Road Haimen Road Station in Tilanqiao area.