Unforgettable friendship between the Chinese people and the Jewish people during WWII

Author Pablo Eliyahu TITTEL，Israel

Unforgettable friendship between the Chinese people and the Jewish people during WWII

Author Pablo Eliyahu TITTEL，Israel

1950年作者的母親(嬰兒)與作者的外祖父

2015 is the world commemorating 70 anniversary of Anti-Fascist war victory, and 70 anniversary of Poland Auschwitz’s liberation. People all over the world will not forget 70 years ago Nazi massacre of Jews carried out Holocaust or ‘ Shoa’ . Throughout the holocaust from 1933 to 1945, Jews tried to flee Germany. Some made it to South America, England or the United States. Immigration to these places was however heavily restricted and required money. Unfortunately, it is rarely mentioned that China was the only country that offered Jews a safe haven without conditions. Huangpu River, the Bund Terminal，it was on this piece of land, Jews came here 70 years ago and established a community in Shanghai.

Being born as a Jew in Germany and learning about the history of your family puts one in a difficult situation. Like many other young Jews from Germany, I left the country at the age of 17 to immigrate to Israel, the Jewish homeland. Becoming aware at a relatively young age of what happened to my family during the holocaust, and being raised in a Zionist home, I decided to enlist in the Israeli military and compete for a placement in a special forces unit of the paratroopers, in which I served for 3 years as an enlisted soldier reaching the rank of 1st Sergeant, and have continued to serve for the past 13 years as a reserve soldier。Now in order to remember 70 ago what was happened and also remember this 70 anniversary of Anti-Fascist war victory, I hope to tell everybody aboutm yf amilyh istory.

Till today scholars attempt to grasp what led people (the Germans) to perpetrates ucha ctso rb arbarity.

TheH olocaust,o r‘Shoa’i nH ebrew, describes the genocide of Jews in Europe during World War 2. While anti-Semitism, the hatred of Jews, exists for thousands of years, and has led to persecution and killing of Jews throughout history (i.e. Spanishi nquisition,R ussianp ogromse tc.), the holocaust in Germany was unique in its scope and significance. It was the industrial killing of people through gas chambers and killing ovens, and attempt to erase an entire people. Over six million Jews were killed by Germany between 1933 and 1945. The holocaust is often described as the ultimate form of evil and barbarity. Jews were tattooed numbers on their forearms and transported like cattle in trains to concentration camps. Those who survived the transportation and arrived in camps were put in gas chambers and burned in ovens. People were used for medical experiments many times. The Nazi machine did not distinguish between men, women and little children. Out of over 6 million Jews, 1.5 million children and babiesw ereb rutallym urdered.

My grandmother Sara Meise, geb. Moses, z”l, and her mother, were the only survivors of the holocaust. My grandmother, at age 15, succeeded to escape transport in between concentration camps and stayed hidden on a farm outside the city of Kassel. Her mother was the only survivor of the camps andw asl iberatedb ya lliedf orcesi n 1945.

Her husband (my grandfather) was the only survivor of his family and was liberated by the Red Army from Auschwitz concentrationc ampi nP oland.

A few years ago, we found out that my grandmother’s uncle (Jakob Kaufmann z” l), who was in Buchenwald concentration camp between 1938- 39, and believed dead by my grandmother, actually survived the holocaust by fleeing to Shanghai, where was Jews a safe haven duringt hew ar...

After the Allied Forces defeated Germany and freed the few survivors from hundreds of concentration camps across Europe, Jews finally succeeded to establish a Jewish homeland in 1948 and Israel became a state in its original borders from where Jews came over 3,000 years ago. Today, Israel is for Jews, wherever they live around the world, the only security that something like the holocaust will never happen again. Today, we Jews have our own state and military to defend ourselves ande nsuret hes urvivalo fo urp eople.

After the war, my grandparents had one daughter, Rosi. She is my mother and residesi nG ermanya ndI srael.

Unfortunately all traces are lost and my grandmother passed away recently and hence cannot account for any more details.

After university I worked in a Jerusalem-based think tank dedicating myself to a year-long project on how to improve diplomatic relations between Chinaa ndI srael.

Today, I still reside in Israel and wok in international business between Israel and China. My family and I will always remember the Chinese people's friendship ands upportt ot heJ ewishp eople!

僑園