It was a sunny September morning when Long Island's Hillcrest Jewish Center in New York welcomed their special guests — some of them elderly men and women in their 70s and others Chinese —to a ceremony for The Memory of Life - the Jews in Shanghai documentary.
During the 71st session of the UN Summit a week before the eve of the Jewish New Year Festival, Jews at the Hillcrest Center and their Chinese friends congregated for a breakfast and held a series of commemorative activities, including a photo exhibition and documentary screening.
During World War II, a large number of Jewish people fled overseas to escape the brutal persecution and massacres carried out by the Nazi government. One of their destinations was Shanghai. In order to commemorate their history, the Shanghai Radio and Television News Center produced the documentary film.
One of the leading women in the documentary, Glenn bin Chico J Betty, 86, made a special trip from New Jersey to Hillcrest for the ceremony. Well-dressed in an elegant black linen dress, she signed copies of the book about her life in Shanghai as a child during World War II for guests. Her eyes hinted at her overwhelming past.
"If the people of Shanghai had not accepted us, I might have already passed away."
In 1939, 9-year-old Betty became a refugee in Shanghai with her parents and sister. She lived there for 11 years. It was also where she met her husband.
During World War II in Europe, during which about 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, more than 20,000 Jews took refuge in Shanghai. These survivors gave birth to more than 400 new lives during their time in the city. When asked about her take on the current refugee problem in Europe, Betty showed concern: "I hope the refugees can find places to stay and be treated well. It would be such a beautiful thing if this could happen!"
The fires of World War II were extinguished 71 years ago. People living in peaceful countries may find it difficult to comprehend the tragedies of the past and the helplessness experienced by those who lived through the catastrophe of war. However, we have yet to achieve world peace: local unrest and conflict still exist, war has ripped thousands of children apart from their families, and refugees and immigration issues have once again become the focus of the international community.
At the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, Zhang Peilan, the news counselor of China in New York, said that China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang would work with the international community to solve the refugee crisis and pull through the troubled times together.
Secretary General of the Global Governance for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Guo Yuntao, said: "The film has a strong sense of the people's desire for peace, not war. Countries around the world should learn from the lessons of history."
To give witness to this history, the documentary crew traveled through Germany, Austria, the U.S., Israel and other countries for eight months, interviewing nearly 40 Jewish refugees who had sought asylum in Shanghai, as well as scholars and historians.
The Israeli Consulate General in New York, the public diplomacy commissioner, representatives of the New York state legislature and a number of state and city council members also attended the event.
"We are very grateful to Chinese people for their roles in helping the Jews in the Holocaust," New York Senator David Wei said at the event.
U.S. congressman candidate, Jewish lawyer Arthur Tobey said that any Jewish person, be they religious or nonreligious, should express sincere gratitude to the Chinese since no one was willing to accept the Jews during this period except for China.
"It is great to see such a hopeful film from China. We should tell people about this segment of history, which is a very an important chapter in the history of the Jewish people," Jialite Peregas from the Israeli consulate in New York's public diplomacy office stated.
According to reports, Jews in Shanghai is currently playing in a number of cities and universities throughout the U.S. The documentary is also scheduled to be screened at the Holocaust Memorial Hall, the U.S. Congress and Harvard University.
Before the film was screened, a young Jewish boy stopped to look at some photos at the Jewish refugees and Shanghai picture exhibition at the event. A large number of the precious historical photo records show Jewish refugees and Chinese working together.
"I know that the Chinese people have saved the Jewish people from the Holocaust, and I want to thank them," the boy told the Global Times.
