Squeezing Through! Shanghai Sketches, 1941-1945, by Paula Eskelund & Schiff. Hwa Kuo Printing Co., [Shanghai, 1945?]. English.
Booklet humorously describing the life led by European refugees in Shanghai during the years 1941-1945. With numerous photographs and illustrations, including illustrations depicting the life of the Jews.
Between November 1938 and August 1939, 20,000 refugees from Central Europe arrived in Shanghai, most of them Jews; at the time Shanghai was the only city in the world that could be entered without a passport or a visa (the refugees still needed a visa to leave Europe. In this they were greatly assisted by the Consul-General at the Chinese Consulate in Vienna, Ho Feng-Shan, who issued visas to many refugees contrary to the policy of his superiors. He was later recognized as one of the Righteous among the Nations).
In Shanghai the Jewish refugees were able to preserve some of their European customs, establishing religious, social and cultural institutions. When the war broke out between Japan and the U.S. and the other Allies, the condition of the refugees worsened. In February 1943 the Japanese established a ghetto called the "Restricted Sector" on a territory measuring about 4 square kilometers in Shanghai's Hongkew District. The ghetto's residents endured destitution and distress, but were saved from the Holocaust.
[23] leaves, approx. 13.5X19 cm. Bound with red string. Good condition. Stains (many stains to cover). Pen inscription on title page. Pen inscriptions and sticker remains on back cover.