Trudy Gold
Rescuers from the East: Sugihara and Dr Feng Shen Ho, Shanghai and the Extraordinary Story of the Mir Yeshiva
Trudy Gold - Rescuers from the East: Sugihara, Dr. Feng Shen Ho, Shanghai and the Extraordinary Story of the Mir Yeshiva
- So, let’s have a look at the first slide. Yeah, “Little Vienna.” Shanghai, “Little Vienna.” So, I need to take you back to what was happening in Europe. You’ve got to remember that when Hitler took power in Germany in 1933, he had a policy. At that stage, Jews couldn’t get out of Germany. They were robbed, they were ill treated, but they were allowed to leave. And in fact, Jews were leaving Germany as late as 1941. In 1938, the Anschluss, when Hitler went home to Austria. Unfortunately, as a result of that, the Jews of Vienna were also under threat. And Kristallnacht happened. Now, let me go back a few months, three months after the Anschluss, the Allies came together at a conference called Evian. Now, those of you who know about the Evian conference and love playing word games will know that Evian actually means naive backwards. The countries of the free world under the auspices of the League of Nations and McDonald, they sat down to talk about the plight of German and Austrian refugees. The Australian delegate opened the conference. He said, we don’t have a race problem, we’re not prepared to admit one. And basically, very few countries were prepared to relax the quota. Goebbels writes in his diary after Evian, in fact, I must go even further, Lord Winterton, who was the British delegate, they called him Wellies Winterton they said he was too wet for Jack boots. He actually apologised to the German ambassador in London for quote unquote, “The unwarranted interferes of the affairs of a sovereign state.”
As a response to that, Goebbels writes, in his diary, “We savages a better than the so-called civilised world at least we say what we’re going to do.” And tragically, what happened after Evian is that the Nazis began to expel to the Polish border. Eastern European Jews who had fled to Poland after 1914, over 40,000, and amongst them was a family called Grynszpan. Now, can you imagine they were given 24 hours to get out of town. The Polish wouldn’t let them in. And consequently, they are stuck in October, a cold October on the borders of Germany and Poland. They were finally allowed in, but the conditions were appalling. And there was a family called the Grynszpan who informed their son, who was a student in Paris, what was going on. In a desperate plea to alert the world he went into the German embassy in Paris and shot vom Rath who was a secretary at the German Embassy. As a result of that, Kristallnacht, the night of the smashing of the glass, the first state organised pogrom in Germany and in Austria. And it’s as a response to that, after Kristallnacht, you can just imagine, the countries are tightening up, who is going to save German Jewry, Austrian Jewry? Adolf Eichmann opens up an immigration bureau in Berlin, and in Vienna, to facilitate Jewish immigration out. As I said, and this is terribly important, Jews could leave and that’s one of the problems. When one looks at the shoah and the horror of it all, we know who the perpetrators were.
Do the allies have a role as bystanders, or when does it cross over to collaboration? And I really think if you want to understand modern Israel, you need to understand that. Anyway, Shanghai, Shanghai had a part that was the international city, and you didn’t require visas. And in fact, the first refugees from Nazism had actually arrived as early as 1933. There were 12 families, about 100 people. Until the summer of 1938, it was quite a small number, 1,000 mainly professionals and intellectuals. They had brought a certain amount of money with them. And by the end of 1933, there were 30 Jewish doctors who had established clinics. But after Kristallnacht, and after Eichmann’s Immigration Bureau is opened, it surges, and this is the report from the Israel Messenger, which is the Jewish newspaper of Shanghai. Because there was already a Jewish community in Shanghai before the Germans came over. There were, of course, the Baghdadis, extraordinary families who helped so much like the Sassoon family. Those of you who have visited Shanghai, they had a wonderful residence on The Bund, which is now the Peace Hotel. And one of the most extraordinary Shabbats of my life was actually in the Sassoon rooms in the Peace Hotel in Shanghai. But that’s another story for another time. So, there were also Jews who’d escaped from Eastern Europe, from Manchuria. So, there were Jews, there was already an Ashkenazi community, a Baghdadi community and now you have the influx of German-Austrian Jews. And I’m going to explain why it was called Little Vienna later on. So, this is from the Israel Messenger, 180 refugees.
And this is just indicative of how the floodgates are going to open after Kristallnacht. And it’s discovered that Shanghai can offer refuge, if you can get there. “180 refugees took the Italian ship, the Faro and arrived on November the 26th,” this is 1938. “They had very little luggage because their belongings being confiscated by the Germans at the border. One had been released from a concentration camp.” And the paper talked about how he was bandaged, but Nazis were actually allowing Jews out from concentration camps as long as they left the Third Reich, which now of course, incorporated Austria. For those of you who don’t know, the Austrians had asked for Anschluss at the end of the First World War, and it was denied them by the Allies. Many German Jews had spent time in camps from 10 weeks to three years. There was a red letter J in their passports. I’m quoting, “The majority were panellists. The committee in charge had rented the British Woman’s Centre and turned it into a shelter for 50 people. And as more and more refugees flooded in, the Jewish community actually established a special fund.” Victor Sassoon donated $150,000. And in total, between August ‘38 and August '39, 16,000 refugees came to Shanghai. Now can we have a look at the next couple of slides, please? If you could go on, yes. There you see the Anschluss and it’s, can we go back to the Anschluss, just for a minute? Because I want them to understand, you know, this is 90% of the population of Vienna came to greet them. 10% of the population of Vienna was Jewish, and they were humiliated and attacked in the most appalling way.
So, however, rumours are spreading in Shanghai that the China Omnibus Company, which was part of the Sassoon Empire, was going to fire its mainly Russian Gentile employees and higher Jews instead. As a result, there was an appalling anti-Semitic pamphlet, published, a warning, and this is the title of the pamphlet, “A Warning to Chinese and Japanese Pagans, Refugees are Inundating Shanghai.” And this is a quote from the anti-Semitic paper. “Shanghai has become the paradise of people who had attempted to cause destruction to Germany, Austria, and to Czechoslovakia.” Now also, many of the refugees had settled in Hongkou which was the Japanese centre within Shanghai. And it had led to increase in rents, there was competition. And even the Jewish community in Shanghai worried about the adverse comments, believed it would lead to riots, wanted to curtail immigration. And as a result, between April '39 and June, 1940, only between 2,000 and 3,000 people managed to get in. But this is a lot more than they’re getting in anywhere else, apart from the Kindertransport, which is another place and another time. Financial aid was desperately needed because these people had lost everything. And who came in with the money? Well, it was mainly the extraordinary American Joint, HIAS, and the Joint was managing to get money through Switzerland. And money was being raised because you’ve got to remember, American Jewry, British Jewry, and the Jews of Palestine above everybody, they knew what was going on. They were not predicting the Holocaust except for a few extraordinary individuals.
They knew what was going on and they knew help was needed. And now, I want to, because even in these terrible dark times, there are heroes. And I want to bring to your attention, Dr. Feng, can we see his face please? He was an extraordinary man. If we could go onto Dr. Feng-Shan Ho, yes. He was the Chinese consul in Vienna. He was awarded Righteous Amongst the Nations in 2000. He was actually born in Hunan province, China. He was a brilliant student. He went to school in Changsha and he later went to Yale in China. The University of Yale had founded a branch in China, it was a Protestant missionary school. And its purpose was to actually create understanding. The picture’s blown up a bit too much if you could bring it down a bit, Emily, it’s too big. I dunno what’s happened. Anyway, he has a diplomatic career, he’s first appointed to Turkey. And in 1937, he’s appointed the first secretary to the Chinese legation in Vienna. And he becomes the consul general.
Now, after Kristallnacht, as I said, there are now 200,000 Jews in Austria who are under threat. Acting against the orders of his superior, Chen Jie, he began to issue visas. Now, Chen Jie had been influenced by certain, Nevile Henderson, who was the former British ambassador to Berlin. He was very right wing and he was quite anti-Semitic. And he told Feng-Shan’s boss, look, be careful of Chinese-German relations. And he starts issuing visas for Shanghai. And in the first three months he issued 1,200 visas. They weren’t actually needed for Shanghai, but they needed these visas to get them out of Austria. And he goes on signing visas and stamping visas right up until May, 1940. And many of those he helped, actually reach Shanghai, either by boat from Italy. They needed the transit visas or overland in through the Soviets. And they used these visas for alternate destinations, the Philippines, for example, I could give you the example of Dr. Israel Singer he later became the Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress. His family made it to Cuba on one of these visas. Can we see the next slide, please, Emily? Can you shrink it, Emily, because it’s much too big.
[Emily] I’m not sure, these are the size of the photos. I could pull it off slideshow view, but I’m not sure you’d want that.
I want, just let them see the photos, if you don’t mind. I just want them to see the photos, because I want to tell an extraordinary story, the story of one of the people he saved and that man was in fact, General Rosenfeld. Now, Jakob Rosenfeld, can we see his picture please? Have we got a problem with our slides? If you pull it over, Emily.
[Emily] Let’s see.
They worked when we, no, I want that in a minute. Go back, Jakob Rosenfeld, all right, you’re going to have to take my word for him. He’s one of those who was given a visa by the Chinese delegate. He was born in Lemberg. He was a brilliant young student, at the University of Vienna. And after graduation he, thank you very much, we’re fine. He went to work at the Vienna General Hospital. You can see from his dates, he’s born in 1903. In 1934, go back to where you were, that was perfect, Emily. He was a member of the social Democratic Party, he was a very left wing, Vienna itself was called Red Vienna. And don’t forget, in 1934, Austrofascism. So, consequently, he’s in trouble, and he’s in trouble in Austria. And after the Anschluss, he’s actually deported to Dachau and a year later to Buchenwald, he was severely tortured. He was a communist Jew, his property was seized. His parents tragically later on, died in the camps. In June, 1939, he’s released on condition he leaves within 14 days. And Feng-Shan Ho issues him and his brother transit visas and he flees to Shanghai, along with 400 other doctors and dentists. And he opens a practise, urology, gynaecology, obstetrics. Remember, he’s a communist. And I wanted to tell his story because it’s just so interesting. From 1941, he decides to help the Chinese Communist Party, and he becomes a field orderly for the Chinese Communist Party, which he joined in 1942. He becomes a general in the Chinese army. He is a brilliant medical man. He even performs surgery in tiny little boats. He founds a medical school to train doctors. And he remains in China after the collapse of the Nazi regime. He participates in the long march before returning to Europe to search for his family tragically, most of them were lost, perished, murdered, whatever word you want to choose.
He immigrated to Israel where he was reunited with his brother, Josef. And he worked at a hospital in Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, he died quite young of a heart attack. When he was in China, he was very close to Chen Jie who was commander of the Fourth Army. He was an intellectual, he was a poet. And he and Rosenfeld conversed mainly in French. Rosenfeld contributed articles expressing his love for China. And in the selective poems of Chen Jie who later becomes the foreign minister of China, there is a poem dedicated to Comrade Rosenfeld. And after the war, Chen Jie becomes first governor of Shanghai, and then foreign minister until he dies in 1972. Rosenfeld is showered with honours. On his 100th birthday, the Chinese issued a stamp in his memory. There’s a Rosenfeld Hospital in Shandong, where he was a field doctor. In 2006, there was a large exhibition about him at Beijing Museum, inaugurated by the Chinese President. He is a total hero in China. And not only that, when the Chinese established diplomatic relations with Israel, the first visit was to General Rosenfeld. And in fact, when he told them he was leaving China to find his people, they thought he was going back to Vienna. And then he said, no, I’m going back to my homeland. In fact, his story only came to light when his daughter wrote his obituary. The American Senate actually, beg your pardon, his saviour, Feng Shang Ho, his story only came to light when his daughter actually wrote his obituary. Can we go back to him? Because I want to say a little bit more about the man who saved, yes. This is an account from one of the other families he’s saved.
This is a man called Eric Goldstaub, and he said, “In July, 1938, his whole family received,” he was giving testimony. “Received visas after spending days, weeks, months, visiting one consulate after another.” Can you imagine the desperation? There’s an immigration bureau, they’re being tortured they’re being robbed, and the consulates are closing. And this is a Chinese diplomat, and the word’s got around, he will help. In the end, he granted his whole family 20 visas and he made it to Canada. This is from Liliath Dorahan, she met him accidentally as both watched Hitler’s entry into Vienna and physical assaults were being perpetrated on Jews. And this is her testimony, “He accompanied me home, and claimed that thanks to his diplomatic status, the Nazis wouldn’t harm him as long as he remained in our home.” And she’s, again, giving testimony. “When my brother was sent to Dachau, he was released because Feng-Shan Ho issued him a visa, he made it to Palestine.” Now his superior, remember he’s disobeyed orders, put a demerit in his file because of his insubordinate nature, but he remained in the diplomatic service. He retired in 1973, he didn’t die 'till 1997. And throughout his life, he never considered he’d done anything special. Now, can we see what his wife said about him? If you could go onto the next slide, please. After Jakob Rosenfeld, there’s a slide. Can you find it? Oh, nevermind, nevermind, just let’s go on. Anyway, let me just say what his wife said, “Seeing the Jews so doomed, it was only natural to feel compassion and a humanitarian standpoint to be to help.” One of the only stories he told his daughter, who I met actually, there was an American academic called Eric Schwartz.
And he, back in the year 2000 for the inaugural conference of the IRA which was then called the ITF, there was a wonderful exhibition on diplomats who saved Jews. And all the embassies were very pleased to send their people. Look, we helped, we helped, we helped. And his daughter, who really was the one who publicised him after his memoir, after his obituary appeared, one of the stories she told him that he had confided to a Gestapo officer, at gunpoint, to save Jewish friends. And basically he did it because he thought it was wrong. And what I find, one of the great puzzles of the world is what on earth was it that made some people so extraordinary in their rescuing and how the majority of people just stood by and let it all happen? So, can we go on now to our next slide, which is the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. Thank you, yes. There, look, this completely electrifies the world. In August, 1939, the Russians and the Nazis, the Nazis and the Soviets, make a non-aggression pact. And what it meant was, the Germans would invade Poland from the west, and the Russians would come in from the east taking back, which they perceive and thought of, was theirs. You know, one can learn the lessons of history when all you’ve got to do, when you look at Putin, study a bit of Russian history, it’s absolutely extraordinary what’s going on today. Anyway, following the Nazi invasion of Poland, over 15,000 Jews fled into independent Lithuania. And of course, in November, 1939, Sugihara, who was a Japanese career diplomat, was sent to Kaunas. Can we see the next slide?
Let’s see the wonderful Sugihara, please. Can you somehow shrink it, if you don’t mind? Sugihara, he is a career diplomat, he’s sent to Kaunas, because Kaunas was the capital of Lithuania at this stage. Vilnius, which is today the capital of Lithuania was in Poland, so, it’s now occupied by the Nazis. So, consequently, Jews have fled to Kaunas. And in November '39, he is in Kaunas as a consul. And the reason the Japanese sent him there, although the Japanese and the Nazis were allied, he was sent there to watch troop manoeuvres. So, they would know in advance what the Germans were planning. The Japanese needed to know what the Germans were planning against the Soviets. You know, nobody believed that the pact would hold. And then of course, when Lithuania was annexed to the Soviet Union, all foreign diplomats were asked to leave. So, now the Jews who have made it to independent Lithuania are now under communist rule. Now, as he’s packing up, a Jewish delegation begs him for help. Refugees are absolutely impossible, it’s impossible to obtain visas. And Curacao did let a few in, the Dutch were there, still, there was a Dutch console I’m going to talk about him in the minute. There was Sugihara, the Japanese consul, and there was a British consul. Sugihara didn’t know what to do, he asked for time for authorization from the Japanese foreign ministry.
But he’s troubled by the horrific situation. He’s a very, just like the Chinese, he’s just a moral man and he can’t bear it. You can imagine the desperation. And he begins to issue visas on his own initiative. Nine days later, his superior in the ministry rejects his request. Despite the change in instructions, he went on issuing visas for final destination, plus the final destination, of course, Shanghai. Plus, he also issued visas for overground through Russia, because there’s a war on now and also a final destination after a stay in Japan. And although many Jews didn’t fall into these categories, Sugihara decides to issue the visas anyway, with a brief window of time he actually managed to issue 3,500 visas. He only had a small staff, he had a deadline, you can imagine the mayhem. He gets some of the Jews to help him start to actually stamp the visas himself. And it said he was even stamping them at the railway station and getting help from some people from his delegation. And all this time he’s receiving instructions to stop them. Can we see the testimony? I hope we can make it small enough that the group can see it.
Trudy-
Is it possible, the next slide?
[Emily] I just want to let you know that everyone is saying that they can see the slide, so, it may be something on your end, just so you know.
Oh, that’s fine darling. Well, I’m going to have to ask you, could you, if you don’t mind, read the testimony of his wife?
Sure.
Yeah.
Testimony is-
The testimony of his wife. Thank you, because I’ve only got a quarter of it.
[Emily] Yes, “At the beginning, there were about 280 to 300 people. They stood there from morning till night waiting for an answer. They stood like that the following day and the day after. They stood all the time. They had their small children together with them, people who had escaped from Poland, a place dangerous for them. Together with the children, walking day and night, they had reached the city and came to the Japanese Consulate asking for visas. They had risked their lives in order to reach this place, their bodies exhausted, their clothes torn, and their faces is tired. I would see them from my window, when they saw me looking, they would put their hands together as if praying. It was so hard for me to watch. Two days passed and my husband sent another telegram. Always the same answer, do not issue visas. We kept thinking about it. I had a baby, we had three young children. If my husband issued visas contrary to the foreign office instructions, then my husband would lose his job. But the representatives of the refugees begged for us to give them the visas.”
And it’s estimated, that of the visas he actually gave, and the people escaped, their descendants, are about 100,000 people today. That’s what really makes a person think. October, he lived in relative obscurity. He never had the career he should have had. After Kaunas, he was sent to a consulate in Kaliningrad and then to Bucharest, then he was dismissed for insubordination when he returns to Japan. Afterwards though, in 1984, Yad Vashem recognised him as a Righteous of the Nations. And ironically, now in Lithuania, there is, 2020 was designated the Sugihara Year. And there’s a very, very interesting Sugihara Centre in Kaunas and it does an incredible amount of work. But the Japanese and their attitude to the Jews was very, very interesting and I’m coming onto that in a minute. There was another consul, whose names I must bring to you. Can we see Jan Zwartendijk, please? The Dutch consul. Remember there are very few consuls left. And he was there, he was a Dutch businessman. He was actually the director of the Philips factories in Lithuania. Most of these multinationals had their branches. Remember, Lithuania had been independent, and he became part-time consul for the Dutch government in exile, which was in London, because, of course, Holland has been invaded. And it’s an irony, Philips was originally a Jewish firm. In fact, Karl Marx’s mother’s brother established the Phillips empire, if you like the byways of history. He actually supervised the writing of 2,345 visas for Curacao. But, of course, when the Soviets took over Lithuania, some Jewish-Dutch residents actually went to him begging him to help the Jews.
And his superior in Latvia actually gave him permission to do so, so he agrees to help. And, of course, as the word spread that you could get visas from the Dutch. And with the aid of people working with him, he managed to give over 2,345. You know, many of them didn’t even know his name. They called him Mr. Phillips Radio. And, of course, when the Soviets entered, they closed down his offices and all the consulates in Kaunas. He returned to occupied Holland, where he again worked for Phillips in Eindhoven and actually worked there until his retirement. He didn’t believe he’d done anything peculiar, but just think, he saved 2,345 people. If you think about them and their descendants, it makes an awful lot of incredible stories. He was voted by Yad Vashem, Righteous Amongst the Nations, in 1997. And of course he worked with Sugihara. Now, there was an Englishman, there was also a good Englishman. You know, a friend of mine who’s an English colonel, he said, the English aren’t just shopkeepers, sometimes they’re adventurous. I’m going to tell you quickly, and I’m going to talk about him at another time because his story is so interesting. So, Thomas Hildebrand Preston, there’s no picture for him. 1886 to 1976, he was born in Essex. He was the nephew of a baronet. He was educated in English public school, actually, Westminster, those of you who are living in England, but lack of money had forced him to abandon his study of Russian at Cambridge.
As an adventurer, he goes off to work in the mines in Georgia, and then he joined a team prospecting for gold in the Urals. He had a huge love of Russian culture, and he was obviously a prize candidate for the diplomatic order. I’m actually going to talk to Helen Fry to see if there’s any in indication that he was a spy, I’m sure he must have been. Now, in 1913, we haven’t got a picture for him, I’m afraid, Emily. He was the vice council in Ekaterinburg and he later got to know Czar and actually tried to save him. He’s then the consul in Petrograd, he leaves Russia in 1927, then Turin, then Kaunas. And in Kaunas he becomes a real cutting figure. If there’s high society in Kaunas, he was part of it. He composed a ballet that was performed at the Kaunas State Theatre, it was called “White Roses.” He’d lost an eye in a cricket accident, and he wore a monocle and he was very much the wanted guest. He was the suave, rather laid back Leslie Howard figure of Kaunas. And of course, when the Russians invade and later on the Nazis, he was later on placed on the special Black Book by the Nazis. The Nazis, by the way, collected 2,820 names of Englishmen that they wanted to kill if they crossed the channel. He went on with his story, he later on inherited his uncle’s title, and he became an aristocrat with a title and with land. And I would come back to him at another time. But now I want to go on to Mir because amidst this extraordinary story, there’s an incredible story of the Mir Yeshiva. So, can we turn to Mir, please? Now, Mir, I’ve been there, it’s in Belarus and it was once one of the greatest Yeshivas in the world. And today, the largest Yeshiva in the world with over 9,000 students, is the Mir Yeshiva. And most of the students are either in Israel or America, with a few in England. So, it’s founded in 1814 in Mir, which is a real backwater it’s near Nowogrodek, I’ve taught in all these places, and it’s an extraordinary place.
And of course, what happens at the outbreak of World War I? The Yeshiva had moved into Ukraine, it had moved back to Mir. And then when the Soviet Union invaded, many foreign board students left because the problem with communism, they’re not necessarily going to murder them as Jews, but they’re going to murder Judaism. So, what happens is the Yeshiva then flees to independent Lithuania, and they move en masse. And then Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel who travelled to Palestine to obtain visas for his students to try and get to Israel. World War II, interrupts his plans, so what he does is he opens a branch of the Yeshiva in Jerusalem. And then, of course, the Nazis invade, and the Soviets occupy Lithuania. Again, they’re going to have to move. If the Nazis, as I said, what are they going to do? And they’re determined to move as a group. Some of these students went to Kaunas to try and attain visas. The paperwork was absolutely immense because they didn’t even have papers. They needed exit visas, transit visas, and into anywhere that would take them. They needed funds for transportation, aid for their travels and by the summer of '40, the only consulates there were the British, the Japanese, and the Dutch. Now, some of the students they have the chutzpah to persuade the British consul, of course, who I’ve just talked to you about, to issue 300 documents in passports. Thomas Preston finally issued 800 of them before he closed the consulate. And later on he was honoured in England as a hero of the Holocaust. And he issued them with no expiry date without even seeing the students.
And also the Dutch consul was prepared to stamp the visas valid for Curacao. So, the final challenge was to get the transit visas from Japan to allow them to travel there. So, in the late summer, the Soviets closed all the consulates, the last appeal was to Sugihara. Now, how are you going to finance these endeavours? Can we see the next picture? A wonderful Rabbi called Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz. Now, he had an American passport, he flew to Sweden, then to the States to raise money for the travels. Remember, America’s not yet in the war. He immediately raised $40,000 from a businessman called Jacob Kestenbaum. We must always give credit to people who save, and $40,000 transferred to Kaunas. So, what happens is, the Mir students in groups of 40 to 50, they refuse to leave each other. And there you see Rabbi Abraham Kalmanowitz I’m going to talk about him in a minute. They made their way through Minsk to Moscow, the Siberia, the Vladivostok. Can you just imagine the Trans Siberian Express, 15 were arrested there. Luckily, Kalmanowitz managed to get the money for bribes, and finally they make it to Kobe in Japan. And in Kobe, the local Sephardic community made a synagogue available to them, and they resumed their studies. Can we please switch onto the Kobe Synagogue so they can see it? Yes, that’s today. And that is what was given to them by the Jewish community in Japan so that they continue their studies. It’s an extraordinary story. But can we go back please to the Rabbi’s picture? He was a huge figure in relief work. Back in 1914 when thousands of Jews fled Russia, he founded a rescue organisation. And during the Bolshevik revolution, he aided Jews, he was arrested in Minsk.
In 1926, he was elected honorary president of Mir Yeshiva. He goes to America, fundraising, that’s why he had an American passport. And, of course, then he flees to America on his passport to raise money, where he comes into contact with another extraordinary Rabbi, who I’m going to talk about later, called Rabbi Eliezer Silver, who was later the President of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis. They raised more than $5 million, and later on were actually going to capitalise on an exemption on US immigration policy, which allowed entry to ministers of religion. He secured 2,000 visas, which he telegraphed to Eastern Europe. Now, he was later on going to bombard the State Department with letters, and he’s going to be with Silver, leading a march of Rabbis to protest that the Americans by 1943 to do something to save the Jews of Europe. Anyway, I want you to know, in a terribly dark time, there were some extraordinary characters. Now, can we go on? And please, now, can we look at what happened in Shanghai? So, we’ve already talked about how thousands of Jews have made it to Shanghai. And, of course, in December the 5th, 1941, Pearl Harbour and the Japanese take over the whole of the city. And after a year, they interned all the Allied Nationals like the British and the Americans, the British and the Americans couldn’t defend Shanghai. The British couldn’t defend Shanghai. And what happened to their nationals was absolutely extraordinary. Now, the point was the Jews were not Allied Nationals and what to do with them? And now I’m going to tell you an absolutely extraordinary story, before we actually talk about the ghetto itself.
It’s called the Fugu Plan. Now, the Japanese, what was their attitude towards the Jews? I’ve just told you they were absolutely horrific in their treatment of the British prisoners. I’m sure many of you know what happened on those terrible forced march, to the women and children and of course the men. Now, in a way, they had taken on board the notion that Jews were rich and famous. Back in December, 1938, the five Minister’s conference that included the Prime Minister, the Army Minister, the Naval Minister, and the Finance Minister, met to discuss the dilemma of Jews. Because the Germans were already, remember, they’re allied to the Japanese, and later on they’re going to be very strong, you’ve got to deport your Jews. Now, there are already 15,000 Jews in Shanghai, and it was actually the Jews of Shanghai who said, we can’t cope with any refugees. But why, what was the Japanese attitude to the Jews? Now, the Fugu, those of you who have a good grounding in this, will know that Fugu, and love your food, will know that Fugu is a Japanese fish, it’s a puffer fish. If you eat it in the wrong place, it poisons you. And that was their attitude towards the Jews. They believed that the Jews were somehow a special kind of people, and they believed that the Jews had certain kinds of magic. Please don’t forget that back in, let me get the date right.
Back in 1904 at the time of the Russian-Japanese war, a very important and very wealthy American Jew called Jacob Schiff, had lent $200 million to the Japanese to beat the Russians in the Russian-Japanese war. He was so angry about the Kishinev pogrom. So, they believed in the power of money, and also they believed the protocols of the elders design, which had been circulated by Russians who’d escaped the Communist revolution. So, they believed there was something mythical and almost powerful about the Jews. So, what they did was, rather than, so they don’t treat the Jews the same way that they treat the other nationals. Because remember, the Jews are not enemy nationals. What they do is they ghettoise them. And of course, in the ghetto, there’s going to be appalling deprivation because it’s not that easy to get money through. Although the Joint did manage to get around it through Switzerland. But nevertheless, there’s an incredible amount of poverty. The Japanese official who ran the ghetto was incredibly harsh. But having said that, if you want to think about Jewish resilience, there was a circulating lending library. There were four cinemas already in existence in what became the Jewish ghetto. Of course, what films could they show? They showed old German films, old foreign films. There was even an operata group that was formed, they were Jewish entertainers, there was a drama group. So, against the background of bad sanitation, terrible poverty and terrible lack of food. Nevertheless, the human condition, the same thing happened in the ghettos, you know, lending libraries, theatre, classical concerts, jazz concerts, there were even nightclubs and that’s why it was called Little Vienna. So, despite the horror, and because the Japanese had this incredibly bizarre attitude towards the Jews, and all you have to do is think of the way they were treating allied prisoners, and allied civilians, that treatment was not meted out to the Jews.
So, ironically, in Shanghai, although there was deprivation, and it was horrific, and yes, there were deaths. Nevertheless, they’re not going to suffer the same fate of many of their co-religionists who are trapped under the Nazis. And, you know, there was an extraordinarily evil Nazi who was later on, he was up to his neck in the Final Solution, a man called Josef Meisinger if we could see his face, if you don’t mind. If you could go onto Meisinger. Show a few more pictures of the ghetto, there’s the ghetto. You see this, and can we stop there? Actually stop at the next picture, because I’m, can you go back to the pictures? Yeah, look, this is Jewish life in the ghetto. And in fact, people have been in touch with me, some amazing pictures that you can see. Jewish life in the ghetto, Vienna coffee shops, they played chess, they played bridge. Can you go on please? That, believe it or not, is the Mir Yeshiva. There had been a huge synagogue built. Go back to the Mir Yeshiva, please. Sorry, I’m mucking you around today, I beg your pardon, Emily. That is the Mir Yeshiva. And that was actually in a synagogue that was called a Folly. An assimilated Jew had built himself a synagogue, which took up 250 people, and that was given, so they were in Kobe, and then the Japanese made them leave. They came to Shanghai and they reconstituted in Shanghai. There you see 250 students in the Mir Yeshiva studying. And, of course, another problem, they’d only had their own track dates with them. They needed to print more copies of the Talmud.
So, believe it or not, in Shanghai, it was also publishing houses were established, you know, the resilience of the individual. And so, copies of the Talmud, you know just think about the Talmud, there are 2 million words the Talmud and also other Jewish books were published. So, the life goes on, despite the appalling hardship. And you’ve even got the Mir Yeshiva. This appalling German, a man called Josef Meisinger. If we could see his face, before I want to tell you the good side. We have to come occasionally to the really evil. Have we got Meisinger? We would come back to him. I think Meisinger the last picture. No? Oh dear, nevermind. My grandson hasn’t been up to scratch today. Forget it. Oh yes, go to the last one, is it the last one? Go to the bottom.
[Emily] I don’t think so-
No, no, I’m sorry, he didn’t give it to me. Okay, I’m just going to tell you about Meisinger, he was a Nazi, he’d actually been the deputy commander of the Einsatzgruppen in Poland, and a commander in the Warsaw State . He was known as the “Butcher of Warsaw.” He had a fight within the Nazi party, and he was demoted. So, he’s sent to Tokyo as liaison, and he puts a huge amount of pressure on the Japanese to try and get them to deport the Jews from Shanghai. But because of Fugu, they refused to exterminate the Jews. What he had asked them to do was to create a camp and exterminate them, or either put them on ships out on the edge of the Shanghai Harbour and starve them to death. But the Japanese does not yield to German pressure. And, of course, he actually later on surrendered and was executed. Now, let’s go back to some of the good guys. So, what we’ve got, this is incredible, vibrant life, despite the horror. Can we go back please to Rabbi Silver? Because, remember, Rabbi Silver is the one who’s been working with Rabbi Kalmanowitz. And he, as I said, he manages to raise an incredible amount of money. And along with Kalmanowitz, he begins to bombard the State Department with letters, not just financial help, but isn’t it about time, once America’s in the war? And it’s very important to remember when knowledge of the death camps was released. What if I tell you that the Einsatzgruppen actions begin in the summer of 1941.
By September '41, knowledge is being passed by the Soviets. Wannsee, January, 1942, when the functionaries of the Third Reich came together to write down the final solution. They wrote it down, bureaucrats writing it down. Two-thirds of them were lawyers. Most of them had PhDs from top German universities. They write it down, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. And the minutes of the Wannsee, the minutes were actually leaked to the representative of the Joint in Switzerland. He passes it on, it’s coming through, it’s coming through, it’s coming through. And what he does is, and remember, the Americans are stopping any aid getting to Europe. He and Kalmanowitz are doing everything they can to stop it. And they openly, they even work on a Shabbat. They say, this is saving life. They set up fundraising and they are extraordinary individuals. And what happens is that they finally, can we go on? They finally march on Washington. This is the March of the Rabbis. And I hope I have a picture of it for you. And this is from Josef F. Schwartz. This is the March of the Rabbis, it’s the only real protest. It was organised, believe it or not, by the Irgun. And a man called Peter Bergson, I’m going to finish by him. This is the only real protest, it was by American Jews. This is the March of the Orthodox Rabbis begging the American State Department to intervene. In the end, Morgantown does listen, but they allow 1,000 in and they put them in a transit camp on the Canadian border. And can we see the last slide? Can we go on? There’s Peter Bergson. Peter Bergson was head of the Irgun in America. He was actually, his real name was Hillel Kook.
But he took the name Peter Bergson because his uncle was the Chief Rabbi of Palestine. It’s fascinating, it’s a story I’ve told before, and hopefully when the website’s up you’ll be able to hear it. But these are the people who did more to bring the attention of the world to what was going on than anyone else. And, of course, these two Rabbis are so instrumental, but I wanted to, in a way talk about Shanghai. We could have spent a lot of time on it, and I think some of the characters I will be going back to, because I’ve decided that once in a while, and those are sort of taken subject for the next few months. Once in a while we’re also going to be talking about leadership and these characters, they were incredible characters with huge heart and soul. You know, you have some of the rescuers, you have the Rabbis, you have Jewish rescuers. Yad Vashem has actually honoured 29,000 people. And it’s estimated for every person who was saved, the were others who helped. Think of the people in the consulate, the people with lesser jobs who helped sign the visas. So, it’s the story of the East. And if you add that to that, my lecture of John Rabe, who of course was a member of the Nazi party who saved 250,000 Chinese when they were attacked by the Japanese. It’s a very, very odd story. Over the years, I’ve had quite a few Japanese students who’ve come to classes on the Holocaust, which is also a strange story. But I’ve taught in China and the Chinese have never forgiven the Japanese. They’ve never forgiven them for the Nanjing Massacre and for the way they treated the Chinese civilian population. But I also wanted to throw you the story of General Rosenfeld, because what a character and what a story. So, I think I’ll stop there. And I apologise for the muddle of the slides. I’m apologising mainly to Emily. I couldn’t see them properly. Something wrong with my machine, but I believe you did. So, let’s have a look at the questions.
Q&A and Comments:
Martin, “One of the main lessons of history is that people do not learn.” Yes. Thank you, Karen, thank you.
Q: Your question, “Who was it on the Russian side, who’ve emitted a large number of Jews to traverse mother Russia and to exit again when no one else was allowed to exit?”
A: If they had visas, this is before the Nazis invade, remember? So, this is in 1940. If you had a visa to another country, why wouldn’t the Soviets let you through? They did.
This is Sally. “Many Polish Jews managed to reach Shanghai through the good services of the Japanese envoy. Cousins of mine slipped across the Polish border, fled to Russia with those members of the family who listened to the patriarch, took the Trans-Siberian Railway to Japan and spent nine years in Shanghai. They either went to Palestine, if the British allowed, or to USA.” Yes, the Jewish community quickly disbanded after 1945. Yes, that’s a wonderful story, yeah, yeah. And I hope you are all writing them down.
Patricia’s asking me to schedule a talk on my Shanghai Shabbat. It sounds as if it was really special. I think, you know, I was talking to Wendy on Friday, and I think maybe we will interview each other about some of the work we’ve done.
This is Arlene, “My friend was born in Shanghai. A brilliant cousin of my grandmother was a student in Lithuania. His Yeshiva went to Shanghai and was saved.” Was that Mir? Because that’s the only Yeshiva that in its entirety, but I know there were other Yeshiva students who made it there.
Q: “What about immigration to the Chinese city of Harbin?”
A: Yes, that was after the pogroms of 1881 mainly and after the revolution. So yes, there was quite a large community in Harbin. In fact, if you could just imagine, Harbin must have been an extraordinary city, Chinese, Jewish, Russian, French, French cuisine was extraordinary.
Yes, Sassoon yes, I mentioned that, Steven, he supported the influx of Jewish refugees. Yes, the Sassoon family were instrumental. In fact, I’m not going to lecture on the Sassoon family, but there’s a brilliant author who’s written a very good book on them, and we’re going to bring him in. Novel about this subject, “The song of Jade Lily.” Thank you. But Wendy’s saying the photos are fine, it’s obviously my thing. And as I said, Vivian, it won’t be me discussing the Sassoons and the Kadoories because luckily someone’s written a brilliant book. “There’s a book about Sugihara.” Yes.
This is from Rose. “My husband’s aunt went over to Russia to Shanghai and thus was saved, she ended up in South Africa.” Yes, yes, Sugihara was still issuing visas leaning out the train window as it was leaving the platform.
Yes, oh, this is from Abraham Sasson. “He got a friend of mine out,” amazing. There’s a film about Sugihara, yes. This is the tragedy, he lived in poverty. Yes, yes, exactly, he didn’t realise what he’d done I think he was dismissed, remember? You see, that’s the tragedy. The good are not always rewarded in this world. But they will be honoured forever. And Sugihara is a real hero. So, is the Dutchman, so is the Englishman and so are all those other people. If only we could bottle what makes rescuers.
This is Judith, “My mother’s cousin’s husband,” I love , “Was a cafe owner in Wiener Neustadt. He was also a trained master diamond cutter. This enabled him to get work in Shanghai. He was not able to join his wife and kids in the USA until 1947. His in-laws, my mother’s aunt and uncle stayed in Vienna and deported to , where they perished.” Oh Judith. Oh, yo yo, this is the point. When we tell these stories, we’re telling our stories. We’re telling the stories of our families. You know, “On the Move again,”, ya, ya, yes, what a story. “What is his name?” Sugihara, are you talking about? Sugihara, how to spell Sugihara, I’m going back to my notes because I’m almost dispraxit when it comes to names-
[Emily] Trudy, I think this question is about the Englishman who we didn’t have a photo for.
Oh, Preston, his name is Preston. And I promise you, I’m going to weave him into another lecture 'cause I’m going to discuss it with my friend Helen Fry. I don’t know if you listen to lectures, she lectures on spies, I’m sure he was a spy.
Q: “Was Mir close to Slonim?”
A: Yes, it was. I went to Mir, Jack Kagan, some of you who live in England will have known Jack. Jack, unfortunately passed away, but he was an amazing man. He was in the Bielski brigade and he came from Nowogrodek and half the town were Jewish. And of course most of them perished, including most of his own family. And he has managed to escape to the Bielski. And he was an extraordinary man. He went back to Nowogrodek and there was already a museum there, and he became very friendly with the curator and he set up a whole Jewish section in the Nowogrodek Museum. And he was actually responsible for us teaching in Belarus. So, we went to Slonim and we went to Mir. We used to take tours there, teaching and also tours.
Oh, “Mir Yeshiva also in Montreal. Rabbi lived there and passed away.” Yeah, evidently it’s the biggest Yeshiva in the world today.
Robert, “Our friend of my sister’s partner, Leo Hannon, left Lithuania with his family to go to relatives in Harbin and then to Mukden after anti-Semitism brought whites, then Shanghai, and then Kobe, Japan. He represented the Mir with Japanese officials. During World War II, he was sent to Shanghai and then to Israel and then to the US.”
Oh my goodness, what a life, I hope it’s been written down. Yes, there’s an interesting book called “The Fugu Plan,” by Marvin Tokayer.
Thank you for that, Katie. Yes, isn’t it extraordinary? That’s what the Japanese think. In fact, a friend of mine who worked for Rothschilds and when they opened up a branch in Japan, in Tokyo, evidently it was only seven partners, it was a small branch, 200 journalists came. But the Chinese also think that we are an extraordinary people. They have taken Philosemitism to an extraordinary, they believe we’re all rich and famous. You know, I remember, because of our work in China, Sir Sigmund Sternberg, some of you will remember him, he was an extraordinary man. He facilitated me having a meeting with the Chinese ambassador and the first thing the Chinese ambassador said, I like the Jews, they’ve never hurt China. And then he said, your civilization, I mean, it sounds like a story, but it’s true. He said, your civilization’s almost as old as ours. You respect the family and you’re good at business. What’s not to like? And it’s absolutely fascinating, the stereotype that they’ve taken on. But, you know, they have a very interesting relationship with Jews even today.
This is from Tamma, “Related to righteous Christian diplomats my friend Yvonne was raised in Montreal as Christian-ish. She fell in love with Ron, who was Jewish and Yvonne converted. She found out only after her parents death, not only was she Jewish by birth but she was born on Raoul Wallenberg’s bed as her mother was escaping Hungary.” My goodness, my goodness, my goodness. So, many, many, many, many stories.
This is from Rose again. Hi Rose, thank you for your lovely notes, by the way. “In PBS documentaries of USA and the Holocaust, there’s a video clip of the Rabbis marching to the White House and saying a prayer, although the documentary is long, it’s a must to see, simply to recognise the fact that nobody cared to help an anti-Semitism and US abounded as the war ends.” Okay, this of course, is the extraordinary new documentary. That’s six hours of it. Now, my friend, Rex Bloomstein, who occasionally lectures for us, he made a documentary a few years ago called “Auschwitz and the Allies.” He made it in 1986 based on Martin Gilbert’s book. And it was in a way more important because he interviewed many of the people who were involved in it all. I have dealt with it and I have a horrible feeling that I’m going to have to deal with it again. What the Allies didn’t do, I’m going to think of a way, it’s important.
“My grandfather, Gustav Schalf was partner in the Simon Hirschland Bank of Essen, Germany. One of the Hirschland’s was involved in the Fugu Plan.” I can imagine that, because there was this group of Jewish bankers, they didn’t see the poor Jews in Eastern Europe and the majority of the poor Jews of America. You know, it’s this high visibility profile that some Jews.
Oh, this is from Rachel. “The first lending library was run by Bruno Loewenberg whom I discuss in my book about the ghetto and Shanghai’s Jews.” Thank you for that, Rachel. Could you please get in touch with me, thank you.
Q: “Did the secular Austrians and the religious Jews of Mir get along incorporate about education culture in the ghetto?”
A: That’s an interesting question, what do you think? What do you think? They would’ve had to have the money for Kosher food, just think about it.
This is from Stewart. “When I visited Shanghai a few years ago, I picked up several copies of a book in Chinese language called "The Jews of Shanghai,” published by the state Foreign Language Publishing Company. It’s a fascinating, well illustrated issue of the Jews in Shanghai from the early 1930s through 1949, I also visited the new interactive Jewish museum, one of the restored synagogues.“ Yes, it was a fascinating place to visit. Unfortunately, when we were there, we used to go at least once a year for 12 years to teach at various Chinese universities. It was more open then, it seems to have gone back on itself.
This is from Jeff. "The Baghdadi and Russian Jews in Shanghai have been there for many decades, were not ghettoised. Only those who were considered stateless, they were considered Chinese citizens.” Yes, of course, Jeff, I am sorry if I didn’t make that clear, oh, yes. And they were incredibly helpful to the Jews already there.
Q: This is from Monica. “When I taught the Jewish quarter in Shanghai in 2008, we were told by the Jewish guide that the population of Shanghai blocked the access of the Japanese ghetto and provided Jews food. Do you have any knowledge of this?”
A: Look, the guy who ran the ghetto, the Japanese, was very, very harsh. But I do believe some Chinese would’ve helped. But I think it was probably over egged, Monica. Ah, yes, “The Last Kings of Shanghai,” yes. That’s the book that we want the author to come and talk about.
Oh my goodness, this from Liliana . “I was born in Shanghai in 1943 and in interred by the Japanese along with my parents for two and a half years.” Liliana, I do hope you’ve written about it. This is one of the extraordinary aspects of Lockdown because we are international and we are sharing things, we are discovering so much, and I do promise you when the website is up, we’re going to provide this facility because you would not believe the incredible information that I get. But what do I know? I read books and I don’t read all the books, and some of you will know more about certain things than I know.
Paula, “I hope you will talk about Nicholas Winton at some point. He and Sugihara, my favourite stories when I was a docent of the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Michigan.” Yes, I should talk about Nicholas Winton. I had the privilege of knowing him quite well and friends of mine wrote the book about him. And another friend of mine made the film. He was quite a character. He didn’t know what all the fuss was about. You know that he was of Jewish descent? He was interesting. Thank you.
“My grandfather is from Brisk but somehow joined the trip.” Who knows, Mark? He must have made it to get a visa. He must have got a visa from one of them. Can you imagine the desperation? Suzanne, yes, I promise you you’ll have a lecture on the Sassoon and the Kadoories.
This is from Jean . “A friend of mine was from Russia and was saved by her parents getting from Siberia to Tokyo, as a child she lived there. The area was cordoned off, but they weren’t brutalised.” Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s the point. Look, when we’re talking about this, we’re talking about gradations, remember?
This is from Carol. “My family immigrated from Syria to Shanghai around 1930. After marriage, my parents lived there. My mother was American. In 1941, she went to America to give birth. So my parents were separated in 1946, due to the war. I don’t know if it stops off there.” You see, that’s an interesting story, Carol. I hope you’ve written it down. “A former US Secretary of the Treasury often spoke about the kindness of the Japanese in Shanghai.” Yeah.
Ellen, “The survivor of Shanghai of an organised survivor group, Rickshaw Reunion, and they meet in different cities, as part of Holocaust Archive in Philadelphia. We were asked to interview and record .” That’s an incredibly important thing to tell us, Ellen, thank you very much. Oh, and by the way, in a couple of weeks we’re having an expert on genealogy coming in, because I know a lot of you are very interested and somehow we’ve got to bring all these things together. We can only be a conduit. But I know a lot of you, as I said before, a lot of you know so much. It was the Mir Yeshiva, yes, of course.
Katie, “There’s also an interesting story of the Philippines president, five American brothers who had a cigar manufacturing company in Manila, as well as the US Governor General who saved 12,000 in German and Austrian refugee.” Yes, a wonderful story, Katie. There are these byways of history where 1,200 people saved, how many thousands of descendants?
This is anonymous. “The Fugu Plan by Rabbi Tokayer is wonderful reading. It’s also worth noting that Chinese leadership in the 30s and 40s had a deep respect for Jews. Two-Gun Cohen was minister for state security.” Yes, a long time ago, my friend Sandra Myers, gave a lecture on Two-Gun. So, we’ve got it all in the archive when it’s all released, yes. Thank you,
Merna. If it was, they couldn’t, she was an American here. French National. Carol, you’re asking a question of one of the, somebody who’s just submitted. I don’t know the answer.
This is from Vivian, “My grandfather’s brother fled Germany for Shanghai. After the war, he left for San Francisco. My grandmother’s brother also fled from Germany to Shanghai. He sailed first class from general, he was single. A very respected doctor, unfortunately died in Shanghai, '43. He wrote to my grandmother, having to endure 45 degree heat. I have an , which is the names of refugees. There’s a Jewish museum in Shanghai whom I’ve been in touch.” Yes, I hope you are recording all of this. This is so important. Yes, can you imagine? You see there was, you know, the heat, the lack of, I would think, air conditioning, yeah. And also there was disease. “Ten Green Bottles,” Francie is recommending as a wonderful book.
This is from Shelly. “I am the daughter of a Sugihara visa recipient. Many others contributed to his safety, including the Polish ambassador in Tokyo,” yes. Yes, Eric Schwartz did a lot of work on diplomats who saved, it’s an interesting area. That was from Vivian, right? Thank you.
Q: “What about Beate Gordon who wrote the Japanese constitute?”
A: There’s just so much, there’s so much. Yes, about the Portuguese consul issued visas. Yes, now the Portuguese consul, he was in Hungary.
Q: “What should we learn from the history in the Ukraine today?”
A: Honey, I’m not going there.
Preston was knighted though. Preston he wasn’t knighted for that, Alfred, he was a baronet. He inherited his title because his uncle only had daughters. So, it went to the man.
This is from Norman. “I propose the question of why some from particular background helped those suffering and some not. Years ago, my late mother, a therapist told me about a learning book she just finished reading, investigating just this question. The question was that in a nutshell, researchers simply couldn’t explain why.” Norman, there are a few clues. Most of them seem to have been loved as children, not necessarily conventional families. Most of them had what we would call, reckless personalities. Most of them didn’t necessarily receive orders well. And somehow they had a moral compass. This is the area we really should study, I agree. It’s like knocking your head against the wall.
This is from Rebecca, “And I think it’s the American Institute of Jewish Affairs in New York City, wrote and published numerous pamphlets about what was happening in various cities where Jews lived in Europe to inform FDR. My father, Henry Weise, had joined this organisation in Boston. His paper on involvement in this organisation, as well as publications from the Institute of Jewish Affairs, donated to the Jewish Historical Society in Boston.” Thank you, Rebecca. Yes, of course American Jewry was trying to do something. The tragedy was that nobody was prepared to listen. You know, McCloy even refused to countenance whether he should bomb Auschwitz. This was, don’t forget, the Nazis built the railway lines right up to the crematorium and the Hungarian Jewry were not sent there until the beginning of May, 1944.
Q: Anyway, so, you will get in touch, thank you, Rachel. “When all those Rabbis gathered in Washington, what were they campaigning for?”
A: For America to do something, to save their brethren in Europe. Look, it’s the end of '43, the beginning of '44, there was a huge pageant in Madison Square Garden. 50,000 people went. It was, created by the Irgun, Paul Muni gave the address. Edward G. was there, the great American screenwriter, oh, Ben Hecht was there, a lot of showbiz people. A great big pageant begging that Europe opened its eyes, the free world, America, Britain save Jews. So, it is published, there’s so much information on what was happening in Europe, I’m afraid. Although when the camps were liberated, a lot of people said they couldn’t realise it. You see, when you see on the news that a terrible bomb has exploded in Kherson you know because you see it. Nothing like the shoah, it’s beyond contemplation. So, although people knew, because I’ve been teaching since the 70s and I teach mainly adults and a lot of my students were of a certain age. So, they were alive in England during the war. And although there was so much information, a lot of them said they didn’t take it in. I mean, really good people who did a lot for their own people. I think we better stop there because it’s quarter to seven and I really don’t want to drive Emily mad. Emily, I’m sorry I was in such a muddle with the slides today.
[Emily] No problem, no problem at all.
I will try and do better next time, as they say. Anyway, I’m on again next week. But again, this time I’m with French history, once in a while we will be giving lectures on rescuers, because the other sub-theme of our talks, this is really, it’s kind, and William’s lecturing it on this subject on Monday, is about leadership, moral leadership, spiritual leadership, political leadership. And that’s one of the reasons, David, of course, lectured on Saturday before last, I beg your pardon. Because we have to look at the big themes as well, particularly with an audience such as you. And so, I wish you all well and from England, I don’t often say this, but think of us. I’ve never known in my cognizant lifetime the country to be such in such a muddle.
So, God bless you all and I will see you next week. Thank you.