#pacificasiantheater

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The last letter Hans Harpuder, a Jewish refugee in Shanghai, received from his mother, Gertrude, before the Japanese cut off all communication channels with the outside world; dated December 18, 1941. Image courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Most of the refugees had not heard from their families since the Japanese takeover of Shanghai in 1941. “After Germany invaded Poland…letters from my family would come less and less frequently. The last communication I received was a Red Cross letter from my sister, dated November 8, 1942,” wrote Ernest Heppner. With the war over and communication channels re-opened, the refugees were finally able to to start working to locate family and loved ones they’d left behind in Europe. All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #holocaust #holocausthistory #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #eastasianhistory #shanghai #alliedforces #imperialism #japan #japanesehistory #jewishdiaspora #militaryhistory #pacificasiantheater #sinojapanesewar #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/BwDK57FF4kD/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=e01dkkahn6cw

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Hongkew homes destroyed by US bombs, July 1945. Image courtesy of the Leo Baeck Institute. The “bombs fell like rain,” wrote Ilie Wacs. “Until that moment, despite all our hardships, I had considered myself a spectator of the war, staring out my window, drawing the life below. As the ground shook...it occurred to me I might not be around to see what happened next.” Some, such as Otto Schnepp, felt intense relief at the American bombing. “The tremendous feeling of isolation in the world is a very deep thing...All of a sudden there was this connection to the outside world.” The American bombs killed thirty-five Jewish refugees, thousands of Chinese civilians, and wounded two hundred and fifty persons. Arms, legs, and body parts lay strewn across the streets of Hongkew. Deborah Strobin recalled that “The bombing stopped. I’d been given lessons through the Red Cross. I put on my white cap with the identifiable Red Cross stitched on it. I grabbed my bag, full of bandages, and ran out into the streets... The whole neighborhood had rushed to help…I was ten years old, but I had to be of use. I had no choice about it. I had to grow up fast in case I didn’t grow up altogether.” All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #holocaust #holocausthistory #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #eastasianhistory #shanghai #alliedforces #japan #japanesehistory #militaryhistory #pacificasiantheater #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/BvZr39hFzIt/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=4xidujnj5gzr

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American soldiers pose with Jewish refugee children in Hongkew, c. 1945. Image courtesy of Beit Hatfutsot/The Museum of the Jewish People. Jewish refugee Gertrude Kracauer wrote that “the young men, relieved from the horrors of war, [and] grateful to be alive enjoyed all the...city had to offer...Their jeeps were everywhere, they made friends with the English speaking school children...helped some poor refugees and were adored by the whole population…the Americans looked like giants, tall, good looking, and well nourished.” All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #holocaust #holocausthistory #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #eastasianhistory #shanghai #alliedforces #imperialism #militaryhistory #pacificasiantheater #ushistory #strongsteverogersvibes #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/Bv2d8bWFdGr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=wsgm5ienq9te

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The Japanese surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri, September 2, 1945. Image courtesy of Getty Images//Japanese soldiers surrender in Shanghai. Image courtesy of the Xinhua News Agency. On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allied Forces. Between July 17 and August 2, 1945, the Allies held the Potsdam Conference to discuss the establishment of a postwar political order. On July 26, 1945 they called for the unconditional surrender of Japan, which the Imperial Japanese Forces ignored. On August 6, 1945, the United States, after obtaining the consent of the UK, detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and Nagasaki three days later. On August 8, the USSR declared war on Japan, and on August 9, began to prepare for an invasion. Japan announced its surrender on August 15, 1945. On September 2, it signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, officially ending the Second World War. Allied and Chinese Nationalist forces liberated Shanghai one day later. All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #eastasianhistory #potsdamconference #russia #russianhistory #ussr #shanghai #alliedforces #japan #japanesehistory #militaryhistory #pacificasiantheater #germanhistory #imperialism #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/BvfLHW4FNNV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=vi17dwz3ag6x

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A Jewish man stands next to the ruins of his house, July 17, 1945. Image courtesy of Beit Hatfutsot/The Museum of the Jewish People. Shanghai had been isolated from the outside world since Japan took control of the city in 1941. In 1944, the The US Air Force targeted Shanghai in its attempt to blockade Japanese territory in China. The sight of the American air force in the skies over Hongkew raised the refugees’ spirits and gave them hope that the war would soon be over. The refugees prayed that none of the bombs would hit them even as they cheered the Americans from the rooftops of Hongkew. Sigmund Tobias wrote: “We had little fear during the air raids because we assumed that that the Americans, knowing that Jewish refugees were there, would not bomb the ghetto…When the air raid sirens sounded…clusters of refugees gathered in various viewing spots secretly cheering the American planes on after picking them out with field glasses.” But, on July 17, 1945 those same American planes dropped bombs on Hongkew, targeting the radio station based there, which directed Japanese shipping lines. All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #holocaust #holocausthistory #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #eastasianhistory #shanghai #japan #japanesehistory #militaryhistory #alliedforces #pacificasiantheater #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/BvVDJl5lFMx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1unnjn3okq18

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Residents of Shanghai celebrate the end of the war. Image courtesy of the BBC. Lisbeth Loewenberg recalled that “one night, all of a sudden, it was like a rumor spread. The war is over. In the same moment, the reaction was, in the whole city, in the whole street where we lived, in the whole Ward Road, everybody turned on the lights and took down the blackout and opened the windows. The lights went on.” Improvised celebrations took place across Hongkew; music and song rang out into the night. Strangers embraced in the streets. The boundaries of the Designated Area “disappeared” as the refugees ran rejoicing through the streets, tearing down the signs which marked the borders of the Designated Area, celebrating their freedom and the surrender alongside the jubilant Chinese. All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #holocaust #holocausthistory #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #eastasianhistory #shanghai #alliedforces #japan #japanesehistory #militaryhistory #pacificasiantheater #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/BvmpSapla7O/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=kkvuwszhe0qq

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American soldiers stand with Jewish refugees, 1945. Note the painting of the flags of the Allied Forces in the background. Image courtesy of Beit Hatfutsot/The Museum of the Jewish People. All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #holocaust #holocausthistory #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #eastasianhistory #shanghai #alliedforces #imperialism #militaryhistory #pacificasiantheater #ushistory #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/Bv5QhjalYXC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zdjptfrpcdo4

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The Chinese Nationalist Army marches through liberated Shanghai as spectators cheer//Chinese Nationalist forces arriving in Shanghai via an American air lift. Images courtesy of Li Lin, Lecturer in the History of Education, East China Normal University. All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #holocaust #holocausthistory #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #alliedforces #chinesecivilwar #militaryhistory #pacificasiantheater #eastasianhistory #shanghai #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/BvwiKgwAfGv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=16et32usz4wgo

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The USS Lejeune (AP-74) on the Whangpoo River in Shanghai, November 21, 1946. Image courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command. And suddenly, Shanghai was flooded with American soldiers and sailors. All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #holocaust #holocausthistory #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #eastasianhistory #shanghai #alliedforces #imperialism #militaryhistory #pacificasiantheater #ushistory #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/Bvzlg6nlJlF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=9gwsy0xpqcs4

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American troops and residents of Shanghai celebrate the Allied victory on the Bund, 1945. Image courtesy of VirtualShanghai.net. When the Americans marched in, they hoisted the US flag over the Bund as the crowd burst spontaneously into “God Bless America.” Ernest Heppner wrote that this was “without a doubt the greatest moment of my life.” All content derived from my original research as presented in my 2014 MA Thesis --> https://bit.ly/2CLCrnV. . . . #history #jewishhistory #worldwarii #secondworldwar #holocaust #holocausthistory #refugees #refugeehistory #immigrationhistory #china #chinesehistory #eastasianhistory #shanghai #alliedforces #militaryhistory #pacificasiantheater #jewishrefugeecommunityofshanghai #historicitywasalreadytaken #historyblogger #historylovers #historigram https://www.instagram.com/historicity_wasalreadytaken/p/BvrZHgzFkWS/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=152zh0o05l8dm