Jewish Refugees Museum

On the site of the Hongkew ghetto where 20,000 Jews escaped the Holocaust

A small museum in the restored Ohel Moshe Synagogue, in the Hongkou neighbourhood north of Suzhou Creek. It tells the story of how Shanghai — being a "free port" without immigration controls from 1938 to 1941 — became one of the few places in the world that would accept Jews fleeing Nazi Europe.

The exhibits include thousands of personal stories, documents, photographs, and a wall listing the names of about 13,000 of the refugees. Visiting Israeli and American Jewish groups come here often — many have grandparents who sat out the war in this neighbourhood. Free for short visits, paid for the full guided experience.

things to do museum hongkou
A story
From 1938 to 1941, Shanghai was the only major port in the world that required no visa to enter — which made it a haven of last resort for some 20,000 Central European Jews fleeing Nazi Europe. After the Japanese took the city, the refugees were confined to the Hongkew Ghetto, where many sat out the war in deep poverty but survived.

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