Escape to Shanghai: A Jewish Community in China

by Alex Ross

Tells the story, based on interviews with survivors, of the Jewish ghetto of World War II Shanghai, where thousands of refugees lived under abysmal conditions while a courageous Jewish underground conducted sabotage against the Japanese

Genres: China

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Reviews

[Eugenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heading to Shanghai for a visit, i went to a library to typed a word Shanghai in a library search. This book came as a first hit. With a lesser known aspect of the Holocaust for me, I decided to borrow this book. It is a book about the experiences of a very small number of Jewish refugees who found escape in the far away Chinese city. The reader follows 4 lives from the start of the war, their journeys to the only city that would take refugees without a visa, their days in Shanghai and their lives after the war. Interesting and easy read and for sure changed my “places to visit” in Shanghai during my visit.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non fictional stories detailing several families. very informative

[Aaron Cooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lesser-know odyssey of Jews escaping the Holocaust by fleeing to China -- only to find some harrowing and horrible experiences there as well -- is told in this accessible non-fiction from the early 1990s. Ross wisely concentrates on four different European refugees of various ages in alternating chapters in order to engage the reader in what could have otherwise been a cold text book. There's no earth-shattering revelations or dramatic climax to this tale, but World War II buffs will find it a nice change-of-pace from the usual characters and locales.