Three waves of Jewish migrants went to China, mainly to Shanghai. First in 1845 from the Middle East for trade; the second group, refugees from Russia during the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and ensuing Civil War; the third group in the mid-1930s of refugees fleeing from virulent antisemitism in Nazi Germany to China, one of the rare countries in the world where entry visas were not required. The lives of these three groups are described before/ during/after the Japanese occupation (Pearl Harbor-August 1945). By 1948, their exodus to various countries. In partnership with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, GW Judaic Studies Program and the GW History Department and the GW Confucius Institute, we are proud to have Dr. Liliane Willens lead a special lecture and Q&A on Three Waves of Jewish Migration to China: 1845-1941.
A retired professor from Boston College and MIT, Dr. Liliane Willens is a current Washington, D.C. resident with a vibrant history growing up in Shanghai, China. Dr. Willens was born of Russian parentage in the former French Concession of Shanghai. She, her parents, and sisters all lived in China during Japanese occupation and World War II, and emigrated a couple years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Dr. Willens is the author of the book, Stateless in Shanghai
I would love to read the transcript for this seminar. My mother was born in 1930 and grew up in Shanghai with her Russian-Jewish mother and grandparents. Her American military father left shortly after her birth. She also lived in the French Concession and attended a British school. My mother left for California in 1946; her mother and second husband left for Sao Palo, Brazil, and her other family left for Israel, Australia, and Italy.