Daily Alert Archives

China Prepared a Plan to Resettle Persecuted European Jews in 1939

(Ha'aretz) Aharon Shai - In 1939, China prepared a plan to settle persecuted European Jews in the southwestern Yunnan province, close to the Burmese border, according to documents recently found in Chinese state archives. The plan was never implemented. After Germany's union with Austria in 1938, and the exit of those countries' Jews in response to harsh, brutal persecution, the Chinese government adopted a suggestion to settle Jewish refugees raised by Sun Fo (also known as Sun Ke), the son of the Republic of China's founder and first president Sun Yat-sen. It's important to note that when the initiative was drafted, in 1939, the Chinese government itself was in the midst of a humiliating withdrawal inland from the Japanese forces on the coast charging west. The documented discussions reflect the Chinese establishment's sympathy for the Jews and its readiness to help them in their time of need. One document, describing the rationale for the plan, claimed that the U.S. and British governments had not given the Jews sufficient help. In contrast, the Chinese city of Shanghai had granted them vital shelter. But now that city was inundated with refugees. The documents show that the first secretary in Germany's embassy in China expressed his government's concern over the initiative and demanded China take into consideration the Jews' supposed hostility toward Germany. Apparently Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek, with whom Sun Fo had consulted, was apprehensive, at that critical time in the battle against the Japanese, about supporting a plan that would harm China's relations with Germany. Japan's threatening stance against the plan presumably also played a part in Chiang Kai-Shek's decision. The writer is Professor of History and East Asian Studies at Tel Aviv University.
2017-08-04 00:00:00
Full Article