International Holocaust Remembrance Day event

An International Holocaust Remembrance Day event organized by the Israeli Consulate in Shanghai and Jewish Refugee Museum was held in Shanghai on Jan 31.​​​Ms. Ravit Baer, the Consul General of Israel in Shanghai, Mr. Eytan Halon, the Deputy Consul General of Israel in Shanghai, Mr.Chen Jian, Curator of Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum attended the event and delivered speeches. Five Consuls General of the US, the UK, France, Germany and Italy in Shanghai shared stories from the people in their countries who made great efforts to help rescue and shelter Jewish refugees. From an embassy official who bent the rules to issue Jews visas to a language teacher who built a children's home for Jewish and Spanish refugee children, they protected Jews from the Holocaust at great risk and some of them gave their lives to help others.

"Thanks to the Chinese authorities, including the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum and Hongkou District, the story of 20,000 Jews who found refuge in this city, is well documented and is part of the 

educational efforts encouraged by the UN General Assembly," said Ravit Baer, the Israeli Consul General in Shanghai.

"Yet, as first-hand memory and testimony fades, our common responsibility as diplomats is to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are transferred to the next generations," she added.

Chen Jian, curator of the museum, said Shanghai was closely connected with the world when rescuing and aiding the Jewish refugees.

"The period of history has actively interpreted the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind," he pointed out.

To commemorate Holocaust survivors, an exhibition Displaced Persons and Displaced Persons Camps is currently being held at the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum in the city's downtown Hongkou district, which sheltered thousands of Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution in the 1930s and 1940s.