Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum reopens

When the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum was established in 2007, it faced the challenge of collecting enough exhibits to tell the story of the estimated 20,000 Jewish refugees who sought sanctuary in Shanghai's Hongkou district during World War II.

Since 2010, when the museum received a toy rickshaw donated by a former Jewish resident, more donated items have come in and the museum had attracted so many visitors－an annual average of 100,000－that it was forced to undertake an expansion project in 2017.

On Tuesday, the renovated museum, which is located on the site of the former Ohel Moshe Synagogue built in 1927 in Hongkou district, reopened its doors to the public.

The venue is now four times larger than before and features new function halls, educational facilities and nearly 1,000 exhibits－there were just 150 in the past－that tell the stories of many Jews who took refuge in Shanghai to escape Nazi massacres, and the relationship they shared with the Chinese.

New exhibits include personal narratives, books and memorabilia from refugees donated by themselves or their offspring, as well as collections of local residents. New technologies such as multimedia films have been installed to improve the visitor experience.