New Language

How Jewish refugees found a home in China

By Todd Balazovic (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-17 07:55

Staring vacantly from the photograph on her pass to freedom, Sara Seidamen's stern gaze isstained with the ink ofa German swastika.

The small passport-like document gave Seidamen, and tens of thousands of other Jewish refugees, a way to escape the horrors of Nazi-controlled Europe and forge a new life in Shanghai.

Now, nearly 70 years on, the piece of paper that surely saved her life is now on display in a collection of artifacts highlighting a chapter of Jewish history in China that few people know of.

The collection is part of an exhibit of artifacts and memorabilia in the new Sino-Judaic museum at the Bet Yaakov Chabad House in Beijing.

"Most people who know any history of the Jews in China focus mainly on Shanghai. People are amazed to discover that there were actually thriving communities throughout China," said Rabbi Shimon Freundlich, who has spent the past decade guiding the Jewish community in Beijing.

As China celebrates International Museum Day, Rabbi Freundlich and Beijing's 2,000 Jewish residents are opening the doors of the capital's first Sino-Judaic museum to commemorate their role in the nation's vast history.

"We want to show Chinese youth the history of the Jews in China," said Rabbi Freundlich.

"But more importantly we want to give attribution to the Chinese people for helping preserve that heritage so well."

Housed below the images of six bold stained-glass synagogues, windows created in the image of China's largest Jewish worship centers, the collection comprises hundreds of relics ranging from old newspaper clippings to inventory sheets used to track aid distributed by the Red Cross in Shanghai during World War II.

Rabbi Freundlich's most prized piece is a 1905 bronze pointer, used by rabbis as they read from the torah, with one end molded into the head of a Chinese dragon.

"This to me shows the connection between the two cultures; it links us," he said.

Though there are records of Jewish people in China since 231 BC, the turn of the 20th century saw mass numbers of Jews moving to China, beginning with refugees from the Russian October Revolution in 1917. The number of Jews in China peaked in 1940 at the height of World War II, as an estimated 36,000 sought refuge in the country.

After arriving in Beijing in 2001, Rabbi Freundlich and his wife, Dini, began exploring these small communities and that led them to begin collecting artifacts.

"After researching more about the history, we discovered there had been so many other little communities throughout China that we hadn't heard about," Dini said. "So we began collecting anything we could find."

What began with a 330-yuan ($50) law book bought from eBay has since gained the support of people across the world looking to take part in preserving Jewish heritage. The collection is now worth an estimated 650,000 yuan ($100,000).

The Sino-Judaic museum, which initially had its first soft launch on May 1, has already caught the attention of hundreds of businessmen and tourists visiting Beijing as well as the local community.

Although Dini said she is pleased to be helping people discover a little-known element of their heritage, she said she hoped the museum will attract the interest of those beyond the Jewish community.

"It's important for the people of Beijing to know what their people did. They are not aware of the thanks that are due to them," she said.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/17/2011)