Learning the Ropes of Life in Shanghai: Jewish Refugee Children in Second World War China

Abstract

During the Second World War, approximately 17,000 to 18,000 central European Jewish refugees resettled in the semi-colonial, multiethnic metropolis of Shanghai, China. Given the city's lack of border control, Shanghai remained one of the only destinations in the world where refugees of all ages could go with their extended families. Comparing the experiences of younger refugees with those of their adult family members, this article explores how the young age of refugee children informed their sense of identity and belonging in Shanghai. Using memoirs, oral histories, and children's school materials, this study argues that Jewish refugee children often acclimated faster to life in China due to the knowledge they possessed. In Europe, refugee children had a greater sense of openness to living abroad, given that they knew less about the dangers of wartime Shanghai. In China, school and extracurricular youth activities quickened refugee children's adjustment to life in the city, facilitating language acquisition and exposure to other foreign cultures in the city. The density of the Chinese neighborhoods in which refugee children lived also allowed youngsters to learn more from their encounters with Shanghai's Chinese population. Ultimately, their greater understanding of life in Shanghai complicated notions of home and self for refugee youth.