Jewish Refugees in China (1933-1945): History, Perspective and “Chinese Model”, a new book which gives a new perspective on Jewish refugees during World War II was launched in Shanghai Library on December 12.

As the latest and core achievement of a major research project sponsored by the National Social Science Found of China, the book systematically introduces the history of Jewish refugees’life in China with large amounts of documents and archives gathered from the living Jewish and their descendants.

According to Wang Jian, director of History Institute of Shanghai Academy of Social Science,“the book extends a lot in historical materials and makes clear of many facts like the population of Jewish refugees in China and the Meisinger plan. The Meisinger plan is the most challenging mystery so far in the research of Jewish refugees. This book provides us with an oral record of then deputy consul of Japaneseconsulate in Shanghai which seemed to demonstrate the existence of this plan.”

From 1933 to 1941, nearly 30,000 European Jews escaped from Nazi persecution and found their Noah’s Ark in Shanghai, an open city that didn't require a visa to enter.

Chen Chao,the curator of the Shanghai Library, explained that the history of Jewish refugees to China provides us with a historical reference for fighting against fascism through hand-in-hand cooperation and therefore illuminates the common development road for mankind’s future.