Δ Voices from Shanghai Voices from Shanghai jewish exiles in wartime china Edited, Translated, & with an Introduction by Irene Eber The University of Chicago Press Chicago & London irene eber is the Louis Frieberg Professor of East Asian Studies Emeritus at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of many books, including The Choice: Poland, 1939–1945. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2008 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2008 Printed in the United States of America 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 1 2 3 4 5 isbn-13: 978-0-226-18166-0 (cloth) isbn-10: 0-226-18166-9 (cloth) Frontispiece: “Lane in Hongkou, ca. 1944” (4648/39). Courtesy H. P. Eisfelder Photogra- phy Collection (now housed at Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Voices from Shanghai : Jewish exiles in wartime China / edited, translated, and with an introduction by Irene Eber. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-226-18166-0 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-226-18166-9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Jews—China—Shanghai—History—Sources. 2. Refugees, Jewish—China— Shanghai—History—Sources. 3. Shanghai (China)—Ethnic relations—Sources. I. Eber, Irene, 1929– ds135.c5v65 2008 940.53′181420951132—dc22 2008009646 Maps by Dick Gilbreath and Eric Truesdell at the University of Kentucky Cartography Lab. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1992. for my colleagues & friends Harold Z. Schiffrin, Elli Joffe, and Avraham Altman Contents introduction 1 • Meylekh Ravitch • “A Rickshaw Coolie Dies on a Shanghai Dawn” (1935) • 29 Annie F. Witting • Letter (1939) • 33 Alfred Friedlaender • “Prologue” (1939) • 38 Egon Varro • “Well, That Too Is Shanghai” (1939) • 42 W. Y. Tonn • “Peculiar Shanghai” (1940) • 45 Annie F. Witting • Letter (1940) • 49 Lotte Margot • “The Chinese Woman Dances” (1940) • 56 E. Simkhoni • “Three Countries Spat Me Out” (1941) • 59 Kurt Lewin • “More Light” (1941) • 62 Yehoshua Rapoport • “And So It Begins . . .” (1941) • 65 Yosl Mlotek • “The Lament of My Mother” (1941) • 70 E. Simkhoni • “My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me” (1942) • 73 Mordechai Rotenberg • “Sun in a Net” (1942) • 75 Yosl Mlotek • “Shanghai” (1942) • 78 Karl Heinz Wolff • “The Diligent Mason” (1942) • 82 Hermann Goldfarb • “Wandering” (1942) • 85 Jacob H. Fishman • “Miniatures” (1942) • 87 Yosl Mlotek • “A Letter . . .” (1943) • 89 Yehoshua Rapoport • Diary (excerpts, 1941–1943) • 91 Anonymous • “Pins, Not for Me” (1944) • 96 Yoni Fayn • “A Poem About Shanghai Ghetto” (1945) • 98 Herbert Zernik • “A Monkey Turned Human” (1945) • 104 Shoshana Kahan • In Fire and Flames: Diary of a Jewish Actress (excerpts, 1941–1945) • 107 Kurt Lewin • “The Weekly Salad” (1946) • 119 Jacob H. Fishman • “A Wedding” (1947) • 121 acknowledgments 131 • notes 133 • index of names 141 • Δ Voices from Shanghai