1 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:10,160 May, 1939 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:13,160 My dear friends, 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,360 We see the children only at mealtimes. 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,520 They are happy and animated, and we with them, 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,280 especially since we could not find any rest in Berlin ... 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:26,880 due to so much running around in recent times. 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,280 We will be able to represent two good companies in Shanghai ... 8 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,880 and hope to make a living in the international quarter. 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,960 At every port representatives from the Jewish relief committees ... 10 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:44,240 come on board and bring old things and cigarettes for frugal travelers. 11 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:47,160 Colombo, 12 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:49,680 the capital of Ceylon, 13 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:52,480 home of the famous tea. 14 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:56,120 The children exchanged stickers from the Lloyd Triestino ... 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,360 for pineapples and coconuts. 16 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,920 In German money one pineapple costs only fifteen to twenty cents. 17 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,400 A blessed land, this island of Ceylon. 18 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:09,440 Yours, Annie Witting 19 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,560 Gradually the trip comes to an end. 20 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,480 The day before yesterday we were in Singapore. 21 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,680 Tomorrow we will arrive in Manila, 22 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,080 then Hong Kong, and Shanghai. 23 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,080 From the experiences of this journey ... 24 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,000 endless stories could be told. 25 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,560 At the moment due to high waves ... 26 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,480 my morning exercises are most interesting. 27 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,800 All the best. Greetings to all. 28 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:48,280 Storfer 29 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,720 Judaism is Criminal. Read the special issue of the "Stürmer". 30 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,960 To Dachau ... 31 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:08,560 Jew. 32 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,320 1939 was a time, when ... 33 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,400 a lot of Jews were picked up in the streets, 34 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,800 and taken from homes and sent to concentration camps. 35 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,720 My father had ... 36 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,800 very good friends in higher places, 37 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,200 which one day tippet him off that his name ... 38 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:53,880 was on the list, 39 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,520 to be picked up for transportation, to a concentration camp. 40 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,080 And sure enough that evening the Nazis came to the door, 41 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,800 and searched for my father which was gone, of course. 42 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,960 At that point they left with a remark that we will be back ... 43 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:11,880 to pick up the Jew. 44 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,560 Then, later on that day ... 45 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:16,960 my father got in touch with my mother ... 46 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,400 and told her to pack a suitcase that we were leaving. 47 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,160 My sister and I where really too young, 48 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:26,880 to understand what was going on. 49 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,480 My sister was 13, I was 11. 50 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,600 Nevertheless, we realized that we were leaving ... 51 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:36,960 what, I, at the time thought was a vacation. 52 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,720 We thought Hitler would take the Jews, the young Jews like me, I was 18, 53 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,720 would take us first, and throw us in the front line ... 54 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:49,320 and be cannon fodder. 55 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,640 And I said: "I got to get out of here." And then my mother saw it. 56 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,520 She wanted to see and stay in Germany ... 57 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,960 to witness the downfall of this mad man. 58 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:02,440 And I said: "No, it's too much, I don't want to." 59 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,160 And she realized that it was important that I should go. 60 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:08,800 She made contact with friends ... 61 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,840 and they said I should go over the "green border". 62 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,920 In other words, somebody would take me over to Holland or France. 63 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,000 And somehow I said, I don't want to stay here in Europe. 64 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,840 This is not far enough. If war breaks out, 65 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:23,600 he'll roll over, 66 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:25,840 these countries. 67 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:29,400 And so, where can you go? We had no money. 68 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:34,680 We had relatives in the United States. 69 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:37,160 They were willing to provide us with a affidavit ... 70 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:41,160 which they filed with the State Department, that we would not become a public burden. 71 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:43,120 That was not good enough. 72 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:44,640 There was a quota. 73 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:49,240 And my quota number was 67.000. 74 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,560 And we were told it might take about a year and a half ... 75 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:55,520 before our quota comes up. 76 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:57,640 I wouldn't wait that long. 77 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:00,040 I wanted to get out in the worst way. I threat, 78 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,480 if we don't find a place I go over the border. 79 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,040 So we looked for an alternate solution. 80 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,360 Everbody ask me, why was it so difficult to leave Germany? 81 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:09,800 It was not. 82 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,240 It was the free world that would not give us a place. 83 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:15,960 The SS Troopers came into the house. 84 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,880 Our apartment was on the 5th floor and the elevator was out of order. 85 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,880 They asked the custodian, is there any Jews above the 3rd floor, 86 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,240 because they were too lazy to walk up. 87 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,480 And since he had been tipped well throughout our stay there, 88 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,600 he said: "No". And my father slept through it all. 89 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,760 But after that he decided he did not wish to wait, 90 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,320 for our quota to be called for the United States, 91 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:44,840 but rather go to Shanghai. 92 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:48,240 But since I hadn't quite finished school, 93 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,600 I was to stay in Berlin with my mother ... 94 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:56,240 and we were to meet him again in the United States. 95 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,800 Somebody came up in the summer of 1938 ... 96 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,280 with the idea there is one place on earth ... 97 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,720 where you can go without any paper, no permit, 98 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,520 no affidavit, no special entry-permit not visa. 99 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:13,680 You just got there, that's Shanghai. 100 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,400 It would take about 4 weeks to get there, 101 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:24,280 but the boats are all full. 102 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,560 There is a waiting list, 6 to 12 months. 103 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:29,360 The travel agent said to my mother: 104 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,160 "I know you have some impressionistic paintings. 105 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,440 The agent of the German steamship agency is a collector," 106 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,000 He got a couple of our paintings ... 107 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,560 and a few weeks later came a call from the travel agent. 108 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,800 A Jewish couple on board the "Potsdam", 109 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,280 committed suicide on board the boat as it left the harbor of Hamburg ... 110 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,280 and a cabin for two would be available. 111 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,160 So it was decided that my mother and I go ahead. 112 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,160 We were only allowed to take with us ... 113 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:03,360 2 suitcases each and 10 Marks, 114 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,000 the equivalent of 8 American dollars. 115 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:07,400 One of the worst moments was, 116 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:08,880 when I said good-bye ... 117 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,040 to my father and to my sister. 118 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:16,080 I knew in my heart ... 119 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:17,920 I would never see them again. 120 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,280 We entered from the mouth of the Yangtze ... 121 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,520 we got into the Whangpoo river, 122 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:36,600 the muddy Whangpoo and as we finally came closer to Shanghai, 123 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:39,360 we were very getting nervous because on the right side we ... 124 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:41,360 saw nothing but ruins. 125 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,520 The whole coastal area were in ruins. 126 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,600 We found out later on, since 1937, 127 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,760 when the Japanese invaded China ... 128 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,440 there was severe fighting between the Japanese and the Chinese forces. 129 00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,600 The Japanese controlled the harbor. 130 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,480 And later on we were puzzled, 131 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:06,240 that it was the Japanese that actually permitted us entry. 132 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:14,720 Declaration from the Japanese Five Ministers Conference, Dec. 6, 1938. 133 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:18,280 Our diplomatic ties with Germany and Italy require ... 134 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,480 that we avoid embracing the Jewish people. 135 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,920 But we should not reject them as they do ... 136 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:29,240 because of our declared policy of racial equality. 137 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,480 This is particularly true in light of our need ... 138 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:34,400 for foreign capital ... 139 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:38,040 and our desire not to alienate America. 140 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:51,600 Notice from the National Christian Council of China, February, 1939. 141 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:56,280 The persecuted Jews of Europe are pouring into Shanghai. 142 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,800 Forty arrived on the Lloyd-Triestino steamer in July; 143 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:03,200 another 40 in August; then 80 in September; 144 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,160 and now each steamer brings them by the hundreds. 145 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,480 At first, it was the professional men who came, 146 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,800 doctors mostly, who, by a stroke of the pen were forbidden ... 147 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:15,840 to practice their professions. 148 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,600 Now it is the white-collar workers: 149 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:22,000 grocers, cafe keepers, tailors, barbers, 150 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,120 and young women who were secretaries, or corset-makers, 151 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:26,680 or shop-workers. 152 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,480 Most of them speak neither Chinese nor English. 153 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,480 They land in Shanghai - a blind alley. 154 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,120 We were met at the docks by ... 155 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,000 a contingent of refugees, 156 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,000 that arrived prior to our getting there. 157 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:47,040 They had trucks ready. 158 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,920 And we were taken on the trucks ... 159 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,280 to one of the few camps that was established at that time. 160 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,240 When we got there, we were fed noodle soup. 161 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,520 And I'll never forget, that was very ... 162 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:04,200 uncommon for me to not have a complete meal. 163 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:07,960 But nevertheless, it satisfied us at the time. 164 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:10,920 We had no funds left of any kind ... 165 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:15,080 to rent private apartments or quarters of any kind. 166 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,200 May 21, 1939 167 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,880 Two years ago war broke out between the Japanese and Chinese ... 168 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,320 in which the quarter of Hongkew was completely destroyed. 169 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:37,960 The local residents, mostly Chinese, 170 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:40,880 escaped into the other parts of the Settlement ... 171 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,640 and into the French Concession. 172 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,760 As emigration of the Jews grew more and more, 173 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:53,680 and there were few possibilities for accommodating the refugees, 174 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,760 the committee began to repair buildings in Honkgew ... 175 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:58,520 in order to establish camps. 176 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:05,160 Then some refugees began to buy and repair demolished houses themselves. 177 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:08,280 Even though these Jews are mostly without means, 178 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:10,880 an active life has begun. 179 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,000 In Japanese occupied Hongkew ... 180 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,480 the Europeans can freely come and go, 181 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:21,240 but the Chinese only with specially issued passes from the Japanese. 182 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,040 Otto Israel Gruber 183 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:40,320 My dear, 184 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,680 Since February 22 I have been in Shanghai, 185 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:45,560 and feel wretched. 186 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,320 The deplorable economic circumstances, 187 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,320 and consequently the hopelessness of getting a job, 188 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:52,600 the difficulties to get away from here some day, 189 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,400 the difficulties to get away from here some day, 190 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,280 and the dread of spreading diseases, 191 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:02,000 these each in turn add to inexpressible despair ... 192 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,640 and drive us, who had to go through inhuman hardships already, 193 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,120 to a complete breakdown. 194 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,960 The building where we are housed was a school formerly. 195 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:18,000 There are 40 people in one room with 40 bunks. 196 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,800 One washing basin for about 8-10 people. 197 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:23,320 Food is monotonous. 198 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:26,200 There is also tea that is smelling of carbolic acid ... 199 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,160 as the water has to be disinfected every other day. 200 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:31,520 I hope you are well ... 201 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:33,720 which is somewhat a consolation to me. 202 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:36,600 I kiss you with all my love. 203 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,080 Tobias Farb 204 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:43,560 You got up in the morning. 205 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:47,240 You went out to a common facility ... 206 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,200 to wash yourself. 207 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:51,280 It was cold water. 208 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,000 There was no hot water. 209 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:54,600 You stood in line ... 210 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,520 sometimes with many other people ... 211 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,600 with a rag in your hand which was your towel. 212 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:03,360 If you were fortunate to have a bar of soap, 213 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:04,840 you could use that. 214 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:06,800 If you didn't, you didn't. 215 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:08,840 You just used water. 216 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:11,840 The next thing you would have breakfast. 217 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:17,400 Breakfast consisted of a piece of bread that was given you and tea. 218 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:20,840 The tea was hot water, which we had to buy. 219 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,280 Three dips of water would be like a penny, 220 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,240 and then be very careful to strain the tea ... 221 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:29,680 so that you would have the leaves for tomorrow ... 222 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:32,760 and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. 223 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:34,240 That was breakfast. 224 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,680 There were committees that had been hastily established ... 225 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:42,120 by Jewish communities that had come to Shanghai previously. 226 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:44,840 There was a Jewish community got there ... 227 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,080 after the Bolshevik Revolution around 1917. 228 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,800 There were some 4500 of them there. 229 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,120 Plus some 450 Baghdadi Jews ... 230 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,520 that had arrived during the Opium war years. 231 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,760 They had prepared some temporary shelter. 232 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,240 My mother and I stayed there for about two weeks, 233 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,960 until we were able to find a furnished room ... 234 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,360 after my mother was able to get a job ... 235 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:17,520 with the committee that dealt with the newcomers. 236 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:05,600 My dear friends, 237 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:09,600 Shanghai has 4 1/2 million inhabitants, 238 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,040 of which only 50,000 are Europeans. 239 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,280 It is always wet, whether it is warm or cold. 240 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,000 When it rains here one needs, by all means, high rubber boots ... 241 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,240 because without them you cannot even walk on the street. 242 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,120 Furthermore, the danger of epidemics is very great. 243 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,720 And despite the fact that we were inoculated on the ship ... 244 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,480 against cholera, pox, typhus and paratyphus, 245 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,200 one must be inoculated here again, and every quarter year. 246 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,640 We are in any case happy to be free people again ... 247 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,800 and to have the chance to make a new life. 248 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:50,480 Yours, Annie Witting 249 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:55,200 German and Austrian Jews who had no other place to go, 250 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:56,800 went to Shanghai. 251 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,920 Not because they were intrigued by China, or by Shanghai. 252 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,080 They didn't know much about it. But that was the only place, 253 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,280 due to the fact that Shanghai became an International Settlement ... 254 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:09,000 and it was a free port. 255 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:14,920 The British, when they had the famous Opium Wars in 1845, 256 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,880 insisted on a treaty to get a free harbor in certain spots. 257 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:22,600 And that counted for the fact that ... 258 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,200 since they didn't impose any restrictions of arrivals, 259 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:28,880 you got there and that was it. 260 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:30,760 That saved out neck. 261 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,720 Shanghai consisted of several colonial occupiers. 262 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:41,840 There was the International Settlement. 263 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:44,920 There was the French Concession, 264 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:47,920 where many of the Russian immigrants lived. 265 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:50,520 And there was the inner city, ... 266 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:52,880 the Chinese inner city, Nantao. 267 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,160 And of course Shanghai was a cosmopolitan city, 268 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:58,760 perhaps the most cosmopolitan city in the world. 269 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,080 Also the most crime-ridden city in the world. 270 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,600 How can I make it possible for you to feel ... 271 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:18,840 the specific atmosphere of this extraordinary city? 272 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:21,000 The many smells, 273 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,680 ranging all the way from the burnt incense in temples, 274 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:29,080 to the carts in which human excrement was collected for fertilizer. 275 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:32,800 The peculiar sounds and noises, 276 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:36,200 emanating from the great variety of people, 277 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,240 from the poorest coolies ... 278 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:40,480 to the wealthiest men in the world, 279 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,640 from the lives of socially accepted taxi dancers ... 280 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,400 to the puritanistic British society ladies. 281 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:49,640 Shanghai was a fake, 282 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,080 a phony, neither occidental nor oriental. 283 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,240 And yet - God forgive me ... 284 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:01,080 she was the most exciting and unique city in the world. 285 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,960 She was poison, and the old-time Shanghailanders ... 286 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:08,280 were addicts who never could free themselves ... 287 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,280 from being in love with her. 288 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,480 Max Berges, refugee 289 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,200 The number of prostitutes running around on Nanking Road, 290 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:24,680 you must remember, the main drag was covered with girls. 291 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,840 And they had these ballrooms with taxi dancers. 292 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,600 You went to a ballroom with 5 friends and you bought, ... 293 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,800 let's say for 50 cents, 294 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,920 30 Cents, 6 tickets and then you went to a girl and danced with her ... 295 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,240 and gave her one of these tickets. 296 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,440 That was the taxi dancing. It was very popular. 297 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:46,800 And we had very good bands, mostly Filipino bands. 298 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,280 They played beautiful modern music. 299 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,600 You had nightclubs in the western part of Shanghai, 300 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,760 past the Settlement which was Chinese territory ... 301 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:01,840 and which was run by the Japanese but not directly. 302 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,800 The Japanese had gotten themselves a puppet, 303 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,400 a former Associate of Chiang Kai-sheck 304 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:09,240 by the name of Wang Sheng-wai. 305 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,840 In this area there were quite a number of gambling dens, 306 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:15,160 opium dens, 307 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,880 clubs for transvestites for gays. 308 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,240 And I worked at this "Maskee Nightclub", 309 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:24,840 And I really learned to see, 310 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:28,040 what a gay nightclub was. 311 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,640 I didn't know what a gay club was, homosexuals. 312 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,360 It was very interesting. There were many interesting people, 313 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,520 very good looking British and German. Mostly German and British people. 314 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,880 That was an interesting introduction to the night life. 315 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:57,120 Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. 316 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:02,120 And it became apparent that we maybe should not wait. 317 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,720 And my father let us know that we should meet him in Shanghai instead. 318 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,920 Then, Italy entered the war ... 319 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,680 and we could not go by boat anymore. 320 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,800 So now we had to get rail transportation over Siberia. 321 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:22,240 We left in May, 1940, ... 322 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,200 and finally landed in Shanghai sometime in early June. 323 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,240 At that time too many refugees had gotten into Shanghai, 324 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,360 so the Shanghai Municipal Authority ... 325 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,320 required a permit. 326 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,120 And my father was able to get it ... 327 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:44,200 for my mother and me, because we were wife and child. 328 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,120 My father was a banker, 329 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,640 and through his connections he had been able ... 330 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,680 to transfer a little bit of money out of Germany into Switzerland. 331 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,040 So he had some limited funds to draw on. 332 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:02,560 And we moved into a European-style apartment building. 333 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:05,440 Of course, into a very small apartment, 334 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:09,120 but it had hot water and steam heat in the winter, 335 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,160 so we weren't really too uncomfortable. 336 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,000 Emigrants have made unbelievable achievements. 337 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,800 Wonderful shops have opened and they are doing well. 338 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:32,440 When you walk on Broadway here ... 339 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:37,000 you think you are in Vienna or Berlin and forget that you are an immigrant. 340 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,760 A large number of people have already built a nice existence for themselves ... 341 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,720 and for some it definitely goes better than before. 342 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:47,800 Refugee 343 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,160 Since I was so interested in printing and writing ... 344 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,680 I met somebody who was a friend of Mr. Storfer, 345 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,000 and said he is planning to open up a newspaper. 346 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:13,200 And I met Mr. Storfer, who was a very intelligent, interesting man. 347 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:16,360 He had been a publisher of books for Sigmund Freud ... 348 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,160 and had published himself as he proudly told me. 349 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,720 And he liked me and said, would you like to work for me. 350 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:24,560 I said: "Oh, I'd love to." 351 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,240 March 31, 1939. 352 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,400 To Dr. Siegfried Bernfeld, San Francisco 353 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:32,840 Dear Doctor... 354 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:36,800 The "Gelbe Post" is concerned with East Asian matters, 355 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,360 but will take every opportunity to draw on psychoanalysis. 356 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,800 In the first issue I have an article by a Japanese professor ... 357 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,200 about psychoanalysis in Japan, 358 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,720 and another by an English author, 359 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,320 "On the Psychoanalysis of Chinese Written Characters." 360 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,120 The main thing is that I hurdle over the ... 361 00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:59,800 financially difficult beginning of my magazine. 362 00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:03,040 I work 15-16 hours a day ... 363 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,600 and sleep 4-5 hours. 364 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:07,960 But the worst is still to come ... 365 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:10,800 the notorious Shanghai warm period, 366 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,800 which will set in in a month. 367 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,960 I remain yours with heartfelt greetings, A. J. Storfer. 368 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:37,160 My dear friends, 369 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,320 I have started several export businesses ... 370 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,760 lingerie, pork bellies, etc. 371 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,800 Furthermore I have sold unneeded crystal and ... 372 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:48,920 I've bought American dollars. 373 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,160 Then I also sold some sports coats ... 374 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:54,320 for which I brought samples from Germany. 375 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,200 The Chinese are very handy at copying ... 376 00:24:57,360 --> 00:24:59,680 and under the guidance of a European middle-man ... 377 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:01,320 they came out very fine. 378 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:04,960 The children are doing very well here. 379 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,080 They attend a school in which instructions are only in English. 380 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,840 The second richest man in Shanghai, Mr. Kadoorie, 381 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,200 an Arabic Jew, established a club ... 382 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:16,560 which is completely modeled on the English youth clubs. 383 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,800 The children go to theater and concerts, take excursions. 384 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,600 And all this is financed by this Mr. Kadoorie. 385 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,600 He wants the emigrant children to lose the inferiority complex ... 386 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,120 that has been partly caused by emigration. 387 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:33,680 Yours, Annie Witting 388 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,160 There were concerts in the parks in the summer. 389 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:43,120 They had a, of course, symphony orchestra. 390 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:44,600 They had very nice ballet, 391 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:49,720 due to the fact that so many White Russians came to Shanghai, 392 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:51,360 after the Revolution. 393 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:53,200 We had excellent ballet. 394 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,760 When I was then dating, 395 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,600 I met my future husband ... 396 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,680 we were dating and there were Chinese dance halls. 397 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:04,080 It was wonderful. 398 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:06,920 There were big halls with big bands. 399 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,720 And for the price of a glass of tea, ... 400 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,120 you could dance all day. That was the cover charge. 401 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:18,280 We danced whole afternoons away. 402 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,800 Sunday afternoons that was the place to go. 403 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:28,400 I started working for a Russian-owned toy store, 404 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,720 in the French Concession. 405 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,080 It was a long, long walk from Hongkew. 406 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,360 Until a small branch store was established down in Nanjing Lu, 407 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,200 in Nanking Road, very close to the "Bund". 408 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:43,040 And I became the branch manager. 409 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,360 I was a Teenager, but I learned quickly. 410 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:49,760 Connected with the toy store was a Chinese-owned book store ... 411 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:52,720 who dealt primarily with pirate editions. 412 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,280 I made a little money in the book store. 413 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,200 And the best part was that I worked with Chinese ... 414 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:01,480 and got lunch. 415 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,160 Our store was right next door to a Chinese money changer ... 416 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:09,920 and I watched it every day. 417 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:11,760 When I had a few dollar left, 418 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,000 I bought and sold dollars. 419 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,080 And I was lucky, I always made a few dollars. 420 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,400 German General Consulate, Shanghai 421 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,000 To the Foreign Office in Berlin 422 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:53,800 From the recently arrived estimated 18,000 Jews, 423 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,960 around 11,000 live in Hongkew, 424 00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:00,600 about 6,000 in the International Settlement, 425 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:03,400 and the rest in the French Concession. 426 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,960 Out of despair the Jewish girls are forced ... 427 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,280 to go into the public hostess bars ... 428 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,520 where they are trying to push out and undercut the Russian women ... 429 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,120 who have dominated that field until now. 430 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,560 From the approximately 250 Jewish musicians, 431 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,360 a number of them find employment in the city orchestra, 432 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,720 as well as in hotels and nightclubs. 433 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:29,600 In Hongkew the Jews have established ... 434 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:35,080 an estimated 50-60 coffee houses and bars. 435 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,840 Nobody liked to stay home. The little rooms, 436 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,000 where maybe 6 or 8 lived in a small apartment, 437 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,480 with one toilet. And maybe three apartments in the building. 438 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:54,440 And they went out to the Kaffeehaus. 439 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:56,480 That was were the action was. 440 00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,360 You had to go in order to drink a cup of coffee, 441 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:03,000 and that in turn brought about more cultural activity. 442 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,080 They had hired singers, actors, ... 443 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:10,400 they started making up little skits in nightclubs and restaurants. 444 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,600 And opened up a quite few nightclubs along Broadway ... 445 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,200 and on the Hongkew side because ... 446 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:20,760 that's where good money was to be made. 447 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,880 And it's interesting to note that this became known ... 448 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:27,760 to the more adventurous in the International Settlement, 449 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:31,080 the younger ones, they came to see these shows ... 450 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,680 and there was a lot going on. 451 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,840 Each morning we get up between 5:15 and 5:45 ... 452 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,040 depending on our energy. 453 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,040 By 7:00 papa must already be in the shop ... 454 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:14,720 in order to carry the bread rolls with the boy. 455 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,680 I stay home to put the room in order, 456 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:19,920 and get the child ready for kindergarten. 457 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:23,880 Then every morning I cook 30 to 35 meatballs ... 458 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:26,600 that are sold for 10 cents each in the shop. 459 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:32,040 Aside from groceries and fruits, we sell homemade pickled herrings, 460 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,160 grilled foods, red beet salad, etc. 461 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:40,080 At 9 o'clock, papa comes home, because the shop closes at 8:30. 462 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:42,080 Then at last we eat. 463 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,880 Finally socks are mended, laundry is ironed, 464 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,720 and when we have time a letter is sometimes written. 465 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:52,640 In any case, no evening do we go to bed before 11:30 ... 466 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,600 and then we are of course dead tired. 467 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,720 Our clientele are 85 percent immigrants. 468 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:01,440 Most likely we will never learn Chinese ... 469 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,240 because we have no opportunity to speak. 470 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:16,120 The "Gelbe Post". 471 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:21,280 "Pidgin - English" will nevertheless not be a subject in the schools of Shanghai. 472 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:23,400 by A. J. Storfer 473 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,760 Of the nearly four million Chinese people in the city, 474 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:32,200 the greater part will never even try to learn English. 475 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,680 On the other hand, neither the Englishmen and Americans ... 476 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:39,840 nor the other foreigners, will learn the language of the natives. 477 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,280 One should therefore make Pidgin English ... 478 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,840 an obligatory school subject for foreigners and Chinese, 479 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,320 and the Babylonian chaos of languages ... 480 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:52,480 in Shanghai will be banished. 481 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,560 Representatives of the teaching profession ... 482 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,240 rejected the unreasonable demand ... 483 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,400 to actively participate in the murder ... 484 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:03,800 of the language of Shakespeare. 485 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,760 After all, if one cannot comprehend ... 486 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:09,960 the soliloquy "To Be or Not to Be", 487 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:13,840 one could still understand that Hamletian question in Pidgin: 488 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,080 can do - no can do. 489 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:27,680 "Die Gelbe Post" was a paper really on a high intellectual level ... 490 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:32,200 and unfortunately, the readership wasn't there. 491 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,480 By that time I needed a good job ... 492 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:40,080 so I wound up becoming a reporter for the "Shanghai Jewish Chronicle". 493 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:42,800 I could work with the Chinese printers ... 494 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:47,000 and tell them how to make up the headlines, 18 p. and figure out sizes. 495 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:51,080 So I became at this very young age of 19, 20, a night editor. 496 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,720 And here I was in charge of putting a paper together ... 497 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,000 and they had all these very well known former writers. 498 00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:58,840 But I was more or less, 499 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,520 they had to ask me to give them a good spot in the paper. 500 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,520 And satisfy the ad salesmen for the advertising ... 501 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:08,240 where to place their ads. 502 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,960 So, I had a fairly important job there. 503 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,840 My father was able to start a business ... 504 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,440 in the International Settlement, doing books for people. 505 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:31,360 So, he managed all right, 506 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,480 drawing a little bit on the Swiss money. 507 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:36,440 For my mother it was devastating. 508 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,320 She spoke French fluently, 509 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:42,600 English very badly. 510 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:46,720 She missed her mother and her sister and her surroundings. 511 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:48,840 She was afraid to go out. 512 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:53,720 So, our roles really reverse and whenever I explored, 513 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:57,880 I would take her along. But without me she really didn't go anywhere. 514 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:01,920 And I realized much, much later ... 515 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,400 that she really was clinically depressed ... 516 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:08,120 and had a very, very hard time of it. 517 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:17,160 Shanghai Jewish Chronicle 518 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,600 Mars is the only spot in the universe ... 519 00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:24,240 where a Jewish emigrant can enter without a passport ... 520 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:26,120 and an immigration visa. 521 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,760 We heard this yesterday in a melancholic and amusing operetta ... 522 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,320 which was performed at the Jewish Club. 523 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:35,840 A dentist and his wife ... 524 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,840 have a hard time adjusting to Shanghai. 525 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:41,920 Then the emigrant falls asleep and dreams ... 526 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,480 that he and his wife have landed on Mars. 527 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:47,120 On Mars, 528 00:34:47,240 --> 00:34:48,960 at least in the dream, 529 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,240 immigration, commerce, and love are free. 530 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:55,360 The bitter irony of this piece ... 531 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:57,840 unfortunately mirrors reality. 532 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:02,240 Six million Jews in Central and Eastern Europe ... 533 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:04,960 are still suffering with no prospects ... 534 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,920 of ever finding refuge in this miserable world. 535 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:26,080 With my mother I tried to stay in touch as best as I could ... 536 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:27,960 and as frequently as I could. 537 00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:30,560 And in the beginning when I was in Shanghai ... 538 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:32,400 we had a regular correspondence. 539 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:35,080 And she was careful, 540 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,400 knowing the political situation better than most. 541 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:44,320 She hinted about "this one left and, he disap---" 542 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:46,360 She didn't say "disappeared," 543 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:50,080 but she indicated somebody was taken away by the Gestapo. 544 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:55,680 The worst thing was, when she reported about her former husband, 545 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:59,120 my father, with whom she had parted in good company. 546 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,200 She went to see my father off when he was taken away ... 547 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,360 to a special collective station where they were sent by train ... 548 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,960 to Russia, where my father died, 549 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:13,880 was killed. 550 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,080 The letters became more and more desperate. 551 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:20,760 In the last letter she said whether I could help her to come to China. 552 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:22,960 I was devastated ... 553 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:24,840 and I tried, but ... 554 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,920 the communication was so bad already ... 555 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:31,520 and I could only communicate via the Red Cross, 556 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:36,320 which didn't, wasn't too good. And this failed. 557 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,360 I was terribly upset about my father. 558 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:41,560 My father was a sick man. At that time ... 559 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:44,360 he was about, just about 50. 560 00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:47,360 When I left him, I knew I would never see him again, 561 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:49,560 which was a horrible thing to think. My mother, 562 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:54,280 I was fully confident when I left on the 19. Dec. 1938, 563 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:56,520 that I would ever see her again later. 564 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:06,160 Report of The Committee ... 565 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:08,800 for the Assistance of European Jewish Refugees ... 566 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:12,560 in Shanghai for the first six months of 1940: 567 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:15,560 The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's ... 568 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:21,440 monthly allotment of $18,000 was reduced to $14,000 in April. 569 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,000 The task of operating with considerably less funds ... 570 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:28,080 was made vastly more difficult because of the rise ... 571 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,600 in the cost of foodstuffs and coal ... 572 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:36,080 The prices of these commodities went up from 50% to 150%. 573 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:39,880 Six camps and two hospitals are operated. 574 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,840 As of June, about 11,000 people were assisted monthly, 575 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:47,040 being given shelter, food and money. 576 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,320 There is no future for refugees in China. 577 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,000 Business has been disastrously affected by the wars. 578 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:02,800 Within the camp those that were fortunate to have a job, 579 00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:05,560 dressed and went to work. 580 00:38:05,720 --> 00:38:08,280 The rest of the people, 581 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,240 more or less, congregated in groups. 582 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:14,960 They did have one radio which had short wave, 583 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:18,400 which occasionally we would get news of the war. 584 00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:23,400 "The Russians were doing this the Germans that..." 585 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:24,600 Listen to that. 586 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:28,320 And many would sit around a table ... 587 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:30,160 and play cards. 588 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,080 And basically that is the way you would spend your day. 589 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:42,120 All my dear friends, 590 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:45,640 We have unfortunately suffered very much grief. 591 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,600 That is, first I had a tropical dysentery for 6 weeks, 592 00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:53,200 and then my husband, especially heavy, for 14 weeks. 593 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:56,800 And due to the dysentery, an inflammation of the heart muscle, 594 00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:01,680 which does not heal so quickly. Besides, he lost 40 pounds. 595 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,520 Expenses from the sickness were enormous, 596 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:08,680 and my greatest fear was: How do I make it? 597 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:11,760 The first thought when I got up in the morning, 598 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:14,240 and the last thought before going to sleep was: 599 00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:16,120 Making dollars! 600 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:20,120 Sometimes I don't recognize myself. 601 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,720 Was I ever so sober? 602 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:26,680 Yours, Annie Witting 603 00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:37,640 July 1941. 604 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:39,680 Dear Doctor Wittels, 605 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:43,600 for one long year I have not let anyone hear from me, 606 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,720 and I know that this makes an ugly impression. 607 00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:52,720 It was in the middle of August that the $400 arrived by wire ... 608 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:56,040 and I had every reason to see a rosy future. 609 00:39:57,240 --> 00:40:00,800 But I had not expected the unmerciful small-mindedness ... 610 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,200 of my business competitors. 611 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:06,880 Besides the two men who did night-duty ... 612 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:13,400 felt compelled to suddenly report sick. I myself had to fill in at once, 613 00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:17,160 which had the outcome that right after the first night ... 614 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,120 I suffered a severe heart attack. 615 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:24,840 I was forced to liquidate the business within 8 days. 616 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:29,080 I am completely cut off from friends in Europe. 617 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,040 But I also never hear anything from America. 618 00:40:32,240 --> 00:40:34,400 However this is, in fact, my fault. 619 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:38,160 Don't think too badly about your devoted ... 620 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,680 A. J. Storfer 621 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:56,440 It was the night of the 7th, my headline read ... 622 00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:58,400 something in German of course, 623 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:01,080 that there's good hope that they will ... 624 00:41:01,240 --> 00:41:03,360 come to some sort of agreement in Washington. 625 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:05,640 And I couldn't save it. 626 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:08,120 The paper came out with that ridiculous headline. 627 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:11,080 And all of a sudden at night I hear ush, 628 00:41:12,720 --> 00:41:15,720 a tremendous noise. We were pretty close to the harbor. 629 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:18,960 I hear what sounded like gunshots and bombing. 630 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:21,360 I called up my friend at "Domei", 631 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:24,680 the Japanese news agency, he happened to be on duty. 632 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:26,480 I said, what the hell is going on? 633 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,800 Well, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 634 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:31,360 Who knows where Pearl Harbor was? 635 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:35,640 The Japanese occupied Settlement and French Concession. 636 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:39,120 But basically there wasn't much change, 637 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:41,120 I mean it was slowly. 638 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,880 The hope of going to the United States ... 639 00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:47,640 was squashed for the time being. 640 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:51,880 But we really didn't expect that this would last very long. 641 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:55,640 We expected the American forces to win at that time. 642 00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:59,400 And, for us, aside from the fact ... 643 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:01,400 that the Japanese were there ... 644 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:05,240 marching up and down with their bayonets, which was a little scary, 645 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:08,360 personally I wasn't really affected by it. 646 00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:25,240 The Jewish Community ... 647 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:27,120 Association received word ... 648 00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:29,200 that Germany ... 649 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:33,120 declared all Jews living abroad as stateless. 650 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,680 So I pitched my passport in the waste basket. 651 00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:40,200 As far as the Japanese were concerned, we were just nobody. 652 00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:41,480 Furthermore, 653 00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:45,240 the rumors flew around in Hongkew constantly. 654 00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:47,800 One was, 655 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:50,680 that the Nazis had sent a Colonel Meisinger, 656 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:56,160 also called the "Butcher of Warsaw" Gestapo agent, 657 00:42:56,440 --> 00:42:59,600 to negotiate with the Japanese ... 658 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:03,000 to murder all 25.000 Jews in Shanghai. 659 00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:07,080 That would be 18,000 of us, 1,000 Polish Jews, 660 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:10,400 4,000 or so Russian Jews and ... 661 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:15,160 some 500 Iraqi Jews, Baghdadi Jews. 662 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:23,280 January 17, 1942 663 00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,800 Subject: Emergency Measures for Jewish People. 664 00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:30,840 From: Japanese Foreign Minister Togo. 665 00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:35,040 Since Germany has deprived the Jewish people overseas ... 666 00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:36,800 of their nationality, 667 00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:41,360 German Jews will hereafter be treated as denationalized Jews. 668 00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:45,360 Those who are or will be made use of on our part ... 669 00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:47,840 will be treated in a friendly way. 670 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,920 The rest of them will be placed under strict surveillance ... 671 00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:55,680 so that any hostile activity may be eliminated or suppressed. 672 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:05,120 At 14 years, it was in my mind, 673 00:44:05,240 --> 00:44:07,920 that I can be much more productive in trying ... 674 00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:12,520 to earn some money, rather than to go to school ... 675 00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:14,600 and bring home nothing. 676 00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:18,720 So I worked by mostly day labor. 677 00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:22,040 That is throughout the time that the war was on. 678 00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:25,800 I was out each morning looking for work. 679 00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:28,480 And that work that was available ... 680 00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:33,200 underbidding coolie wages was "Kohlendrehen", 681 00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:35,320 which means turning ... 682 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:40,400 a wheel that would grind sand and coal dust ... 683 00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:43,960 and then to be mixed to be made into charcoal briquettes. 684 00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:47,280 Or, since there was no electrical power ... 685 00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:50,640 to drive machinery ... 686 00:44:50,720 --> 00:44:54,320 they would build transmissions turned by hand. 687 00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:56,160 Some were rods ... 688 00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:59,720 which you would pedal like a bicycle. 689 00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:03,400 And there might be 15 or 20 men ... 690 00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:05,960 on one row doing this ... 691 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:10,360 and again creating power to power some machinery. 692 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:29,320 At the end of the day there was a good chance ... 693 00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:32,680 that Inflation throughout just one day ... 694 00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:37,120 had changed the value of what we were paid that evening. 695 00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:40,360 But somehow it always was enough ... 696 00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:46,200 to buy us a sweet potato which the vendors on the street were selling, 697 00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:48,240 or a bowl of noodle soup, 698 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:51,720 and eat up what we had earned that day. 699 00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:56,680 Then go back to camp and then crawl into our straw sack. 700 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:15,040 February 18, 1943 701 00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,240 The Imperial Japanese Army and Navy authorities, 702 00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:21,920 in a joint proclamation issued today, announced ... 703 00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:25,400 the restriction of residences and places of businesses ... 704 00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:27,720 of stateless refugees in Shanghai ... 705 00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:31,360 to a designated area as from May 18. 706 00:46:31,880 --> 00:46:35,000 By "stateless refugees" are meant those European refugees ... 707 00:46:35,160 --> 00:46:40,600 who have arrived in Shanghai since January 1, 1937. 708 00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:47,160 All those middle European refugees ... 709 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:49,280 who had arrived after 1937, 710 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:53,320 which was cleverly done the word "Jew" was never mentioned, 711 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:55,760 had to move into Hongkew. 712 00:46:55,960 --> 00:46:57,960 For instance, my uncle's cafe. 713 00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:01,920 Then he was forced to sell at very cheap prices their businesses, 714 00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:04,360 similar to what happened in Germany, for instance ... 715 00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:07,920 to the Jews who had to give it away when they were arisiert ... 716 00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:11,520 for a fraction of the actual value. 717 00:47:13,960 --> 00:47:19,400 That was the watershed. We had to move into the ghetto ... 718 00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:21,760 and that was terrible. 719 00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:24,160 The only requirement ... 720 00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:29,120 that my mother had was that it would have a WC, 721 00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:32,040 a real flush toilet, not buckets. 722 00:47:32,240 --> 00:47:34,720 And, so, the only thing we could find ... 723 00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:37,960 was one little room for the three of us. 724 00:47:38,920 --> 00:47:41,200 For my father of course that was terrible. 725 00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,840 He had to close is office in the city. 726 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:48,000 And then he still went on and kept books ... 727 00:47:48,640 --> 00:47:52,560 for refugee businesses in the ghetto. 728 00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:56,960 Sometimes he got paid and sometimes he got paid in goods. 729 00:47:57,200 --> 00:48:01,520 And I taught English to some people ... 730 00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:04,040 in exchange for food, 731 00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:06,600 and that was basically it. 732 00:48:35,040 --> 00:48:39,360 The Japanese established the borders of the so-called ghetto, 733 00:48:39,640 --> 00:48:43,160 where they very cleverly did not put the Japanese soldier, 734 00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:44,760 maybe in the beginning a few. 735 00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:48,080 But a refugees civil patrol was started, 736 00:48:48,240 --> 00:48:50,600 a militia, called "Pao Chia". 737 00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:55,320 We were forced by law to do "Pao Chia" duty ... 738 00:48:55,440 --> 00:48:59,800 at the border where if you came through I asked: "May I see your passport?" 739 00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:04,360 They issued passports to go to the Settlement or theFrench Concession. 740 00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:11,920 Ghoya was the person ... 741 00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:15,040 that called himself "King of the Jews". 742 00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:20,760 What it amounted to is he was of the Japanese group ... 743 00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:22,040 which administered ... 744 00:49:22,160 --> 00:49:25,080 or supervised all refugees. 745 00:49:25,200 --> 00:49:28,520 If you wanted out of the district you needed a special pass ... 746 00:49:28,720 --> 00:49:32,400 which in turn he in his office administered. 747 00:49:32,800 --> 00:49:35,840 And this little guy was about ... 748 00:49:36,200 --> 00:49:38,720 4 feet 8/10 inches tall ... 749 00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:41,280 and felt his power. 750 00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:46,040 And he really abused his power in many different ways. 751 00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:48,440 He would jump on his desk ... 752 00:49:48,600 --> 00:49:50,920 and slap the daylights out of a person ... 753 00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:53,320 simply for saying a wrong word. 754 00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:57,120 My father and I stood in line one day ... 755 00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:01,040 waiting to go to his office. He wasn't there yet. 756 00:50:01,280 --> 00:50:04,560 And word comes down very quickly, he's coming. 757 00:50:05,040 --> 00:50:07,760 Well, he came and walked by us. 758 00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:12,120 For some reason. My father must have either made the wrong move. 759 00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:16,160 I still to this day don't know why, but he stopped in front of my father. 760 00:50:17,040 --> 00:50:19,960 My father wore very thick glasses. 761 00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:24,360 And he made my father bend down and ... 762 00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:27,680 beat him in the face. 763 00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:30,120 Knocked his glasses off and broke them. 764 00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:32,080 And that day, 765 00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:36,280 I stood there and swore the day will come where I'll get even with him. 766 00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:52,240 From The International Committee of the Red Cross: 767 00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:55,520 June 15, 1943 768 00:50:55,960 --> 00:51:00,200 With reference to the situation of the civilian population in Shanghai, 769 00:51:00,680 --> 00:51:03,080 the worst distress exists undoubtedly ... 770 00:51:03,440 --> 00:51:05,520 amongst the German-Jewish immigrants, 771 00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:09,720 of whom at least 6,000 are on the point of starvation ... 772 00:51:10,040 --> 00:51:13,480 and about 9,000 more are not far better off. 773 00:51:14,680 --> 00:51:18,400 For the moment the Jewish Committee has still some of the ... 774 00:51:18,560 --> 00:51:22,600 3,000 bags of flour left which was donated last July, 775 00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:26,120 but even that will be exhausted by the end of next month. 776 00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:30,320 The fact that during the recent first cold spell ... 777 00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:34,880 534 dead bodies were picked up in the streets after one night ... 778 00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:38,520 may give you an indication of the extent of the misery ... 779 00:51:38,640 --> 00:51:42,760 which prevails amongst the poorer classes of the Chinese population. 780 00:51:47,200 --> 00:51:49,960 Food was, at that point, becoming very scarce. 781 00:51:50,560 --> 00:51:54,120 We had to go to the market every day and we ate whatever we had. 782 00:51:54,240 --> 00:51:55,720 But then my mother got ill, 783 00:51:55,880 --> 00:51:58,600 and got Bacilary Dysentery and ... 784 00:51:58,760 --> 00:52:03,000 died within 3 days, because we didn't have any medication. 785 00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:06,280 After this it fell to me ... 786 00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:08,280 to do all of this. 787 00:52:08,440 --> 00:52:11,000 That was kind of a shock ... 788 00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:14,520 to find out how to cook, 789 00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:18,200 to take care of the house, whatever there was, 790 00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:21,200 to take care of my father who was ... 791 00:52:22,040 --> 00:52:25,240 getting more and more despondent, being a ... 792 00:52:26,040 --> 00:52:27,760 fairly young widower. 793 00:52:28,240 --> 00:52:31,640 And the situation for me personally became worse, 794 00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:33,000 much worse. 795 00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:19,080 Just about midway through the war ... 796 00:53:19,960 --> 00:53:21,760 conditions were so that ... 797 00:53:23,600 --> 00:53:27,520 the clothes you had either brought or acquired ... 798 00:53:27,680 --> 00:53:30,040 in the meantime gave out ... 799 00:53:30,200 --> 00:53:32,400 and no money to buy anything else. 800 00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:36,240 So that even though in the wintertime ... 801 00:53:36,400 --> 00:53:38,720 it would come down to zero or below, 802 00:53:38,880 --> 00:53:40,920 you had no warm clothes ... 803 00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:45,360 and you might, I might have worn a T-shirt, 804 00:53:45,760 --> 00:53:49,040 a pair of shorts, no socks. 805 00:53:49,480 --> 00:53:51,200 In place of shoes ... 806 00:53:51,760 --> 00:53:55,200 I would whittle or cut out of a piece of wood ... 807 00:53:55,360 --> 00:53:59,520 I would find, the shape of a sole. 808 00:53:59,800 --> 00:54:02,960 Put a strap across the front part ... 809 00:54:03,960 --> 00:54:07,600 and what might be described as a slipper ... 810 00:54:08,360 --> 00:54:11,200 use that for shoes. They didn't last very long. 811 00:54:11,360 --> 00:54:14,680 Either the darn strap came off every 15 minutes, 812 00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:17,880 or the wood would be too soft ... 813 00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:20,440 and be used up in nothing flat. 814 00:54:20,680 --> 00:54:26,520 But all this came much after we got actually in so low, 815 00:54:26,640 --> 00:54:30,800 that we sold every single thing we owned. 816 00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:52,560 People's nerves were on edge. 817 00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:55,520 Everybody seemed to be screaming. 818 00:54:56,480 --> 00:54:58,520 There were lots of family fights ... 819 00:54:58,680 --> 00:55:00,720 among the families in the ghetto. 820 00:55:00,880 --> 00:55:03,400 And, of course, you heard everybody else's fight, 821 00:55:03,840 --> 00:55:06,760 along with all other noises - 822 00:55:06,920 --> 00:55:08,560 the Chinese noise, 823 00:55:08,920 --> 00:55:11,440 the Mahjong-tiles. 824 00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:17,000 What I remember most about Shanghai in that time ... 825 00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:20,960 is there was never silence. 826 00:55:21,120 --> 00:55:24,520 There wasn't ever a moment where it was silent. 827 00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:38,480 That was the time ... 828 00:55:38,760 --> 00:55:40,200 when the Japanese ... 829 00:55:40,560 --> 00:55:41,960 advanced in the Pacific ... 830 00:55:42,680 --> 00:55:44,480 and the Allies were retreating. 831 00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:49,640 We had radio news, local news. 832 00:55:49,960 --> 00:55:53,960 We could get news from the Soviet Union, but we didn't trust it. 833 00:55:55,840 --> 00:56:00,000 We had through underground channels access to short wave. 834 00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:03,200 So even that news was not very good, 835 00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:05,720 that the Allies were retreating. 836 00:56:06,080 --> 00:56:09,200 We couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen ... 837 00:56:09,760 --> 00:56:11,520 if the Japanese would win. 838 00:56:11,880 --> 00:56:14,280 we didn't even dare to think about it. 839 00:56:15,560 --> 00:56:18,800 To describe the mood, it was almost near desperation. 840 00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:22,040 It was getting worse and worse ... 841 00:56:22,320 --> 00:56:23,760 as time progressed ... 842 00:56:24,880 --> 00:56:28,080 between 1943, 44. 843 00:56:29,120 --> 00:56:32,520 And then after Illo's mother had passed away, 844 00:56:34,280 --> 00:56:35,600 we decided, 845 00:56:37,560 --> 00:56:39,240 why don't we get married. 846 00:56:40,320 --> 00:56:43,960 It looked to us as to some of the other young adults, 847 00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:47,440 that we might not survive the war. 848 00:56:47,720 --> 00:56:49,960 We might not survive the ghetto. 849 00:56:51,840 --> 00:56:53,560 So we got married. 850 00:56:55,800 --> 00:56:59,720 A very good friend of my mother-in-law's ... 851 00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:03,600 was a Viennese dress designer and she offered, 852 00:57:03,760 --> 00:57:07,720 if we would find her some fabric, to make me a real wedding gown. 853 00:57:08,440 --> 00:57:11,840 My mother had brought some white curtains ... 854 00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:15,680 from Germany and they didn't fit any windows, 855 00:57:15,760 --> 00:57:17,160 so they were lying there. 856 00:57:17,280 --> 00:57:20,760 And she used that. And I had my mother's veil, 857 00:57:20,880 --> 00:57:22,640 so we had a very elegant wedding. 858 00:57:22,760 --> 00:57:26,160 I asked my father as a wedding present ... 859 00:57:26,320 --> 00:57:29,960 to buy me enough hot water from the hot water dealer ... 860 00:57:30,080 --> 00:57:35,000 to have a warm bath for the first time in years. 861 00:57:35,480 --> 00:57:38,160 Well, it was so wonderful to luxuriate ... 862 00:57:38,320 --> 00:57:40,480 that I was almost late for my own wedding. 863 00:57:40,600 --> 00:57:44,000 They had to pound on the bathroom door to get me out of there. 864 00:57:44,600 --> 00:57:48,920 I moved into her room, with whom she had lived previously ... 865 00:57:49,480 --> 00:57:52,560 with her father and her mother. And her father moved out. 866 00:57:52,720 --> 00:57:57,280 And this room was just around the corner from the bakery where I worked. 867 00:57:57,400 --> 00:57:59,080 So at least I had something. 868 00:57:59,480 --> 00:58:00,840 I earned a little money ... 869 00:58:01,120 --> 00:58:03,280 and I got two breads per day. 870 00:58:03,720 --> 00:58:04,720 That was my ... 871 00:58:05,960 --> 00:58:07,400 That was my pay. 872 00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:11,320 We had a very good friend who was a pianist, 873 00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:16,920 and we used to go to their room at night. 874 00:58:17,040 --> 00:58:20,800 There wasn't enough money for lights or candles, 875 00:58:20,920 --> 00:58:23,800 but we were sitting in the dark and he'd play in the dark. 876 00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:26,720 There were lots of things you could do. 877 00:58:41,760 --> 00:58:43,400 We rejoiced when we ... 878 00:58:44,120 --> 00:58:46,640 heard the American bombers in the distance, 879 00:58:46,800 --> 00:58:50,960 when they were starting to attack in Shanghai surroundings. 880 00:58:51,720 --> 00:58:55,560 And when they finally attacked the Shanghai wharves, 881 00:58:56,040 --> 00:58:57,640 I stood out on the window sill, 882 00:58:57,840 --> 00:59:00,320 because they were very often low-level attacks. 883 00:59:00,840 --> 00:59:03,840 And once I could even see the cockpit ... 884 00:59:04,560 --> 00:59:06,120 and I cheered them on. 885 00:59:07,560 --> 00:59:12,080 Until 17th of July 1945. 886 00:59:14,160 --> 00:59:15,760 The bombers came over the ghetto ... 887 00:59:16,200 --> 00:59:19,040 I climbed out of the window again, and we got hit. 888 00:59:20,160 --> 00:59:22,400 And I decided to go back to the bakery. 889 00:59:23,040 --> 00:59:24,440 Well, there was nothing left. 890 00:59:24,680 --> 00:59:26,040 The whole lane was destroyed. 891 00:59:26,200 --> 00:59:28,960 I don't know how many hundreds of Chinese ... 892 00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:31,840 lived in that lane and were killed. 893 00:59:33,280 --> 00:59:35,200 Not a single baker survived. 894 00:59:36,480 --> 00:59:39,000 We heard we had become a secondary target ... 895 00:59:39,160 --> 00:59:41,880 because the Japanese had a munition dump. 896 00:59:42,040 --> 00:59:45,720 They also had a communication transmitter ... 897 00:59:46,320 --> 00:59:47,600 in our ghetto. 898 00:59:55,680 --> 00:59:58,920 About 38 or 39 of our refugee people died, 899 00:59:59,040 --> 01:00:01,000 and hundreds, 5 or 6 hundred Chinese, 900 01:00:01,120 --> 01:00:02,800 and it was pretty bad, 901 01:00:03,000 --> 01:00:05,200 it was the highest time, 902 01:00:06,360 --> 01:00:09,800 because if things got worse I don't know what would have happened. 903 01:00:09,920 --> 01:00:12,720 But things were already pretty bad ... 904 01:00:13,360 --> 01:00:15,080 in the summer of '45. 905 01:00:21,280 --> 01:00:24,760 In the daily paper we found a little notice ... 906 01:00:25,120 --> 01:00:27,320 that an atomic bomb ... 907 01:00:27,480 --> 01:00:29,440 was dropped on Hiroshima. 908 01:00:29,840 --> 01:00:33,280 What's an atomic bomb? We had no idea what it was, 909 01:00:33,560 --> 01:00:37,680 but, we felt that is must be pretty good if they're ... 910 01:00:37,880 --> 01:00:40,960 dropping some sort of bombs on Japan. 911 01:00:41,080 --> 01:00:43,080 so the tide must have turned. 912 01:00:44,120 --> 01:00:47,640 And, then, of course, one day the Japanese ... 913 01:00:48,680 --> 01:00:52,440 guards, or whatever you call them, army, they were gone. 914 01:00:52,760 --> 01:00:55,520 And then we heard that, actually, 915 01:00:56,080 --> 01:00:57,840 there's going to be peace, 916 01:00:58,280 --> 01:01:01,440 which was just, almost unbelievable. 917 01:01:15,520 --> 01:01:17,840 We ran around and tore down ... 918 01:01:18,240 --> 01:01:21,880 the border signs, the border of the ghetto. 919 01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:24,000 We ran to the city. And then the ... 920 01:01:24,840 --> 01:01:26,800 first American troops arrived. 921 01:01:27,120 --> 01:01:29,600 They had been in the Alusians for two years. 922 01:01:29,760 --> 01:01:31,480 They hadn't seen a woman for two years. 923 01:01:31,640 --> 01:01:34,680 So you can imagine what went on in Shanghai. 924 01:01:34,880 --> 01:01:39,320 I got friendly with some Navy officers ... 925 01:01:39,800 --> 01:01:40,880 and that was our ... 926 01:01:41,040 --> 01:01:44,040 greatest thing to go to these Officers Clubs, 927 01:01:44,200 --> 01:01:47,320 being invited and eating decent food. 928 01:01:48,720 --> 01:01:50,400 Well, it was wonderful. 929 01:02:15,800 --> 01:02:19,480 The Japanese soldiers registered for repatriation. 930 01:02:19,720 --> 01:02:22,080 We found out where that was, 931 01:02:22,600 --> 01:02:26,360 and two other friends of mine and myself ... 932 01:02:26,520 --> 01:02:29,080 decided we were going to try and find him. 933 01:02:29,360 --> 01:02:32,960 And by the third day, sure enough, he came. 934 01:02:33,080 --> 01:02:36,640 He knew immediately what we intended to do. 935 01:02:36,880 --> 01:02:40,320 And what we intended to do was truly kill the man. 936 01:02:41,960 --> 01:02:45,320 We marched him back to our camp and to our surprise ... 937 01:02:45,480 --> 01:02:48,960 we entered and the "Heimpolizei", 938 01:02:51,040 --> 01:02:53,640 the camp police quote unquote ... 939 01:02:54,480 --> 01:02:55,800 were furious. 940 01:02:56,520 --> 01:02:59,360 People gathered and said, this is undignified for us ... 941 01:02:59,520 --> 01:03:02,720 to bring the man in there for whatever reason. 942 01:03:03,200 --> 01:03:06,680 And immediately made us turn around and take him back out. 943 01:03:07,320 --> 01:03:10,800 We went out in the street with him and took him over in the field, 944 01:03:10,920 --> 01:03:12,560 in a bombed out field, 945 01:03:13,280 --> 01:03:14,880 and were going to kill him. 946 01:03:15,480 --> 01:03:18,680 We knocked him around quite seriously. 947 01:03:18,840 --> 01:03:21,240 He would fall down and stand up again, 948 01:03:21,400 --> 01:03:24,000 come to attention and look you straight in the face ... 949 01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:26,960 without any expression whatsoever on his face. 950 01:03:27,160 --> 01:03:29,120 And when you face a person like that, 951 01:03:29,400 --> 01:03:32,080 even thought he may be your worst enemy or you're, 952 01:03:33,200 --> 01:03:37,040 the type of person that you just want to kill, 953 01:03:37,440 --> 01:03:40,320 you can't. I can't. We couldn't. 954 01:03:41,200 --> 01:03:42,840 Perhaps if I had a gun, 955 01:03:43,240 --> 01:03:46,800 I might have at the beginning that we had him. 956 01:03:47,040 --> 01:03:49,600 But we had a knife. That's all we had. 957 01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:51,760 And we simply turned him loose. 958 01:03:53,760 --> 01:03:56,960 To this day, I asks myself, 959 01:03:57,680 --> 01:03:59,800 what takes place in a person's mind ... 960 01:03:59,960 --> 01:04:02,240 after all the hate I had for the man, 961 01:04:02,400 --> 01:04:06,160 after all the things I wanted to do to him. 962 01:04:06,320 --> 01:04:09,880 And then having the opportunity to do it and not being able to do it. 963 01:04:10,040 --> 01:04:13,880 And yet, today in the back of my mind I'm so glad I didn't. 964 01:04:15,520 --> 01:04:16,880 I'm so glad I didn't. 965 01:04:17,480 --> 01:04:21,400 To kill a human being is not the thing to do even ... 966 01:04:22,200 --> 01:04:23,640 if you hate him. 967 01:04:29,680 --> 01:04:31,600 We didn't know about the Holocaust, 968 01:04:31,760 --> 01:04:33,880 until on some buildings, 969 01:04:34,040 --> 01:04:36,480 sheets of paper was printed, names appeared ... 970 01:04:36,640 --> 01:04:40,720 and everybody started looking and trying to find names of relatives. 971 01:04:40,880 --> 01:04:43,680 And then the news finally filtered out, 972 01:04:43,720 --> 01:04:46,320 but we didn't really have the full extent for a while ... 973 01:04:46,720 --> 01:04:49,160 what had happened. We didn't know about Auschwitz. 974 01:04:49,640 --> 01:04:52,440 We knew there were some camps, 975 01:04:53,000 --> 01:04:55,080 where Jews were killed. 976 01:04:55,880 --> 01:04:59,240 And I started searching for my father, 977 01:04:59,400 --> 01:05:02,880 my sister, of course, never found out to this day ... 978 01:05:03,120 --> 01:05:04,480 what had happened to them. 979 01:05:06,480 --> 01:05:10,200 After the war, I got a letter from my mother, it was really ... 980 01:05:10,800 --> 01:05:13,480 devastating, in which she related that she was ... 981 01:05:13,600 --> 01:05:16,200 abandoned by two of her best friends. 982 01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:20,800 She was very unhappy and started philosophizing ... 983 01:05:20,960 --> 01:05:25,760 about the fate of the Jews over all the last 2000 years and ... 984 01:05:26,280 --> 01:05:29,600 nobody will come to our help. She cannot understand ... 985 01:05:29,760 --> 01:05:33,560 that the British and Americans would not do anything to help, 986 01:05:33,760 --> 01:05:36,800 and people disappeared and were killed and tortured. 987 01:05:37,280 --> 01:05:39,960 I never realized that it was that bad. 988 01:05:40,160 --> 01:05:42,960 I was fully confident that she would survive. 989 01:05:43,840 --> 01:05:46,360 The thought that my mother would perish ... 990 01:05:46,680 --> 01:05:49,560 and wind up in Auschwitz, it never occurred to me. 991 01:05:49,680 --> 01:05:51,520 First of all, I didn't know about these camps. 992 01:05:51,960 --> 01:05:54,920 I was after all a newspaper man. I knew more than most people. 993 01:05:55,040 --> 01:05:57,080 But the rumors were always flying around. 994 01:05:57,200 --> 01:06:00,640 I know the Jews were transported to the East, 995 01:06:00,800 --> 01:06:03,960 that the conditions got worse and worse. 996 01:06:04,120 --> 01:06:08,400 But I had no idea that they went so far as ... 997 01:06:08,520 --> 01:06:11,440 to have factories where they would burn them and kill them ... 998 01:06:11,600 --> 01:06:13,480 by the carloads and by the millions. 999 01:06:13,760 --> 01:06:15,880 That, I had no idea. 1000 01:06:27,800 --> 01:06:32,000 Shanghai Journal, January 20, 1946 1001 01:06:33,160 --> 01:06:35,040 A. J. Storfer 1002 01:06:35,400 --> 01:06:37,960 Shanghai has not yet forgotten him. 1003 01:06:38,880 --> 01:06:40,480 He came out with the "Gelbe Post" ... 1004 01:06:40,600 --> 01:06:43,680 and won, with one stroke, everyone for him, 1005 01:06:44,080 --> 01:06:45,960 who in that time of dying culture, 1006 01:06:46,080 --> 01:06:48,760 was seeking the sun of spiritual cheer, 1007 01:06:48,920 --> 01:06:51,120 the shimmer of the sharpened word, 1008 01:06:51,240 --> 01:06:53,480 the warmth of a deep soul. 1009 01:06:53,920 --> 01:06:58,400 One week before the outbreak of the Pacific War he traveled away. 1010 01:06:59,080 --> 01:07:01,960 Now we come to learn of his early death. 1011 01:07:03,360 --> 01:07:06,120 I came to know him in the year 1920 ... 1012 01:07:06,280 --> 01:07:10,160 at the Viennese Cafe Central, at that time the literary cafe. 1013 01:07:11,800 --> 01:07:13,560 We sailed together to Shanghai ... 1014 01:07:14,000 --> 01:07:15,920 after he lived for the last 2 months ... 1015 01:07:16,040 --> 01:07:17,920 with me in my Viennese room. 1016 01:07:20,600 --> 01:07:23,640 Brother, how do you like it on the other side? 1017 01:07:25,200 --> 01:07:26,800 Do you have a room with a desk ... 1018 01:07:26,960 --> 01:07:29,320 and a table lamp reserved for me? 1019 01:07:30,160 --> 01:07:31,400 La France 1020 01:07:46,960 --> 01:07:49,960 The British fleet came into the harbor. 1021 01:07:50,480 --> 01:07:52,520 The American 7th Fleet came in, 1022 01:07:52,880 --> 01:07:56,880 bringing hundreds and hundreds of GIs in. 1023 01:07:57,520 --> 01:07:59,680 And the word came down, 1024 01:07:59,840 --> 01:08:03,760 that the armed services will hire civilians for certain jobs. 1025 01:08:04,360 --> 01:08:05,400 The money was excellent. 1026 01:08:05,560 --> 01:08:10,280 We made as much as 170 US-Dollar a month, 1027 01:08:10,560 --> 01:08:14,600 which, when we exchanged it, was buckets full of money. 1028 01:08:15,440 --> 01:08:17,600 And things just happened so quickly ... 1029 01:08:17,960 --> 01:08:20,680 that we spent the money as fast and foolishly ... 1030 01:08:20,840 --> 01:08:22,200 as it came in. 1031 01:08:23,240 --> 01:08:26,640 I had suits made tailor-made, shoes made custom, 1032 01:08:26,800 --> 01:08:28,960 shirts tailor made. 1033 01:08:29,080 --> 01:08:32,720 There was nothing that I could not buy and did. 1034 01:09:05,480 --> 01:09:06,720 My dear friends, 1035 01:09:07,520 --> 01:09:11,480 In these times we went through the hardest years of our lives, 1036 01:09:11,600 --> 01:09:14,720 which despite everything, I would not have wanted to miss. 1037 01:09:15,840 --> 01:09:19,520 As international and interesting as life has been in China, 1038 01:09:19,640 --> 01:09:21,800 it will be nowhere in the world again. 1039 01:09:22,520 --> 01:09:25,360 Now the wildest inflation in the country rules, 1040 01:09:25,480 --> 01:09:28,320 along with a certain hatred for foreigners. 1041 01:09:28,880 --> 01:09:32,360 China is ready for Communism and I fear very much ... 1042 01:09:32,480 --> 01:09:34,360 that they will win the upper hand. 1043 01:09:35,120 --> 01:09:39,160 The educated Chinese regret that everything has come to this point. 1044 01:09:40,040 --> 01:09:42,960 The foreigners are, for the most part, leaving their country ... 1045 01:09:43,120 --> 01:09:44,800 and the Chinese know exactly how much ... 1046 01:09:44,920 --> 01:09:46,800 they need them for business. 1047 01:09:47,480 --> 01:09:49,800 We thought when we came to China that we could teach ... 1048 01:09:49,920 --> 01:09:52,120 business skills to the Chinese, 1049 01:09:52,480 --> 01:09:55,160 but in reality we have learned from them. 1050 01:09:57,000 --> 01:09:58,640 Yours, Annie Witting 1051 01:10:04,960 --> 01:10:07,960 Unfortunately, in retrospect ... 1052 01:10:08,080 --> 01:10:11,600 the colonial life had a lot of attractions. 1053 01:10:12,200 --> 01:10:14,000 But it wasn't to be that way, 1054 01:10:14,120 --> 01:10:18,320 because Mao Tse-tung came and we had made up our minds ... 1055 01:10:18,720 --> 01:10:23,280 to go to the United States if we could get our papers, 1056 01:10:23,520 --> 01:10:26,960 and the quota came through and we got our papers, 1057 01:10:27,080 --> 01:10:29,960 and there was no question that we would leave. 1058 01:10:38,280 --> 01:10:40,600 Finally we got word that ... 1059 01:10:40,720 --> 01:10:44,480 we would be on a General Gordon, American Troop Transport. 1060 01:10:45,240 --> 01:10:46,440 And word got around ... 1061 01:10:46,640 --> 01:10:49,120 very fast, not that Ernest and Illo ... 1062 01:10:49,520 --> 01:10:50,760 are going to America: 1063 01:10:50,880 --> 01:10:52,720 "Illo and Ernie are going home". 1064 01:10:53,520 --> 01:10:56,200 And that's the way we felt about it. We are going home. 1065 01:11:03,440 --> 01:11:06,040 Rumors came out that the occupation forces ... 1066 01:11:06,200 --> 01:11:08,800 will soon be withdrawn ... 1067 01:11:09,200 --> 01:11:12,880 and I figured that it's time to emigrate ... 1068 01:11:13,400 --> 01:11:17,240 and got a visa, and went to the United States. 1069 01:11:17,840 --> 01:11:21,000 I grew up, so to speak, in hard knocks, 1070 01:11:21,440 --> 01:11:24,240 was in no position to go to school and catch up. 1071 01:11:24,480 --> 01:11:27,400 And the more I look at it today, 1072 01:11:27,680 --> 01:11:30,080 the more I say to myself: I would have possibly ... 1073 01:11:30,200 --> 01:11:32,320 been able to take much much more. 1074 01:11:33,400 --> 01:11:34,720 The bad ... 1075 01:11:36,400 --> 01:11:38,320 is buried by the good. 1076 01:11:39,080 --> 01:11:42,160 I became a very cosmopolitan person. 1077 01:11:42,440 --> 01:11:44,560 You were not considered a Jew. 1078 01:11:44,600 --> 01:11:46,960 You were German, French, Italian. 1079 01:11:47,080 --> 01:11:50,360 And they all did business together, lived together. 1080 01:11:50,800 --> 01:11:53,360 It was hard to believe that how we got there ... 1081 01:11:53,520 --> 01:11:55,880 and we, at the end of the world, 1082 01:11:56,040 --> 01:12:00,000 and to an area totally unknown and foreign to us. 1083 01:12:00,440 --> 01:12:06,040 And Shanghai will never cease to be a memory of 1084 01:12:06,160 --> 01:12:08,640 amazement that there was such a place. 1085 01:12:18,080 --> 01:12:19,840 May 1947 1086 01:12:20,880 --> 01:12:22,960 All my dear friends, 1087 01:12:24,000 --> 01:12:27,200 Is this all a dream or indeed reality? 1088 01:12:28,520 --> 01:12:33,640 It has been four days since we have been underway and indeed on the high sea, 1089 01:12:33,760 --> 01:12:35,800 withdrawing more and more from China, 1090 01:12:35,920 --> 01:12:38,280 for our new home, Australia. 1091 01:12:39,760 --> 01:12:41,840 Around us the endless sea. 1092 01:12:42,760 --> 01:12:45,920 We see flying fish and sometimes even sharks. 1093 01:12:47,720 --> 01:12:49,400 The sea is steel blue, 1094 01:12:50,200 --> 01:12:52,680 the top of the waves shine brilliantly. 1095 01:12:53,760 --> 01:12:56,120 One comes to feel again like a human being, 1096 01:12:56,320 --> 01:12:57,920 and no longer a refugee. 1097 01:12:59,480 --> 01:13:01,760 Yours, Annie Witting 1098 01:15:44,040 --> 01:15:46,200 Untertitel: TITRA-Wien