Foreword

This series of interviews deals with some fascinating stories—memories of Shanghai that are unique to its Jewish population and the city's locals.

Michael Blumenthal, the best-known Jewish refugee in Shanghai, and also a former US Secretary of the Treasury; Rabin, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Prime Minister of Israel; Haim Dotan, a descendant of Jewish refugees and chief designer of the Israeli National Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo … what touching memories do all these prominent fi gures have of Shanghai?

Moishe Synagogue, the spiritual home of Jewish refugees, has been renovated, and the sign of the historical Café Atlantic has been preserved. The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, after starting from scratch, is gradually turning itself into an international exhibition hall—how shall we cherish this relic of brotherhood in adversity?

How did the love story in the Vienna White Horse Café lead to the birth of an opera of the same name? And how did the “Shanghai Jews” replicate the café in Hongkou District?

How has the link between Jewish refugees and Shanghai rickshaws remained alive for more than seven decades, until the present day?

How did the “Shanghai miracle” spread its fame to the United Nations, and manage to move Capitol Hill?

It is only when the stories of Jewish refugees in Shanghai enter historical consciousness and are sealed in the memory of the nation that the spirit of “Peace, Friendliness and Tolerance” can be fully expressed. This is the essence of “Shanghai Memories”.