Hero image 0 of Strange Haven : A JEWISH CHILDHOOD IN WARTIME SHANGHAI (Hardcover), 0 of 1
Strange Haven : A JEWISH CHILDHOOD IN WARTIME SHANGHAI (Hardcover)
(No ratings yet)
Key item features
- ISBN: 9780252024535
- Condition: New
- Hard cover
- Language: English
- Pages: 208
- Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 208 p. Contains: Illustrations.
- In the wake of Kristallnacht, November 9, 1938, Sigmund Tobias and his parents made plans to flee a Germany that was becoming increasingly dangerous for them. Like many other European Jews, they faced the impossibility of obtaining visas to enter any other country in Europe or almost anywhere else in the world. One city offered shelter without requiring a visa: the notorious pleasure capital, Shanghai. Seventeen thousand Jewish refugees flocked to Hongkew, a section of Shanghai ruled by the Japanese.Beginning in December 1938 these refugees created an active community that continued to exist through the end of the war and was dissolved by the early 1950s. In this exotic sanctuary, Sigmund Tobias grew from a six-year-old child to an adolescent. Strongly attracted by the discipline and rigor of Talmudic study, Tobias entered the Mirrer Yeshiva, a rabbinical seminary transplanted from the Polish city of Mir. The money and food the 1,200 refugees of the Yeshiva received from the American Jewish community made them a privileged elite within the Shanghai Jewish community.Tobias' own coming-of-age story unfolds within his descriptions of Jewish life in Shanghai. Depleted by disease and hunger, constantly struggling with primitive and crowded conditions, the refugees faced shortages of food, clothing, and medicine that became increasingly severe as the war continued. Tobias observes the under life of Shanghai: the prostitution and black market profiteering, the brutal lives of the Chinese workers, the tensions between Chinese and Japanese during the war, and the paralyzing inflation and the approach of the communist 'liberators' afterward.Sheltered from what was happening in Europe, Tobias recounts the anguish of the refugees when news of the Holocaust finally reached them. Richly detailed, "Strange Haven" opens a little-documented chapter of the Holocaust and provides a fascinating glimpse of life for these foreigners in a foreign land. An epilogue describes the changes Tobias observed when he returned to Shanghai forty years later as a visiting professor.
Specs
- Book formatHardcover
- Fiction/nonfictionNon-Fiction
- GenreBiography & Memoirs, History, Religion
- Publication dateApril, 1999
- Pages208
- LanguageEnglish
Current price is USD$25.95
Price when purchased online
Out of stock
How do you want your item?
Out of stock
About this item
Product details
In the wake of Kristallnacht, November 9, 1938, Sigmund Tobias and his parents left their home in Berlin and made plans to flee a Germany that was becoming increasingly dangerous for them. Like many European Jews, they faced the impossibility of obtaining visas to enter any other country in Europe or almost anywhere else in the world.
- ISBN: 9780252024535
- Condition: New
- Hard cover
- Language: English
- Pages: 208
- Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 208 p. Contains: Illustrations.
- In the wake of Kristallnacht, November 9, 1938, Sigmund Tobias and his parents made plans to flee a Germany that was becoming increasingly dangerous for them. Like many other European Jews, they faced the impossibility of obtaining visas to enter any other country in Europe or almost anywhere else in the world. One city offered shelter without requiring a visa: the notorious pleasure capital, Shanghai. Seventeen thousand Jewish refugees flocked to Hongkew, a section of Shanghai ruled by the Japanese.Beginning in December 1938 these refugees created an active community that continued to exist through the end of the war and was dissolved by the early 1950s. In this exotic sanctuary, Sigmund Tobias grew from a six-year-old child to an adolescent. Strongly attracted by the discipline and rigor of Talmudic study, Tobias entered the Mirrer Yeshiva, a rabbinical seminary transplanted from the Polish city of Mir. The money and food the 1,200 refugees of the Yeshiva received from the American Jewish community made them a privileged elite within the Shanghai Jewish community.Tobias' own coming-of-age story unfolds within his descriptions of Jewish life in Shanghai. Depleted by disease and hunger, constantly struggling with primitive and crowded conditions, the refugees faced shortages of food, clothing, and medicine that became increasingly severe as the war continued. Tobias observes the under life of Shanghai: the prostitution and black market profiteering, the brutal lives of the Chinese workers, the tensions between Chinese and Japanese during the war, and the paralyzing inflation and the approach of the communist 'liberators' afterward.Sheltered from what was happening in Europe, Tobias recounts the anguish of the refugees when news of the Holocaust finally reached them. Richly detailed, "Strange Haven" opens a little-documented chapter of the Holocaust and provides a fascinating glimpse of life for these foreigners in a foreign land. An epilogue describes the changes Tobias observed when he returned to Shanghai forty years later as a visiting professor.
info:
We aim to show you accurate product information. Manufacturers, suppliers and others provide what you see here, and we have not verified it. Â
Specifications
Book format
Hardcover
Fiction/nonfiction
Non-Fiction
Genre
Biography & Memoirs, History, Religion
Publication date
April, 1999
Warranty
Warranty information
Please be aware that the warranty terms on items offered for sale by third party Marketplace sellers may differ from those displayed in this section (if any). To confirm warranty terms on an item offered for sale by a third party Marketplace seller, please use the 'Contact seller' feature on the third party Marketplace seller's information page and request the item's warranty terms prior to purchase.
Customer ratings & reviews
0 ratings|0 reviews
This item does not have any reviews yet
