Remembering WWII: Israeli consulate in Shanghai holds annual holocaust memorial

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Europe

02:45

For Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Israeli consulate in Shanghai held a memorial for the approximately six million Jews who perished during World War Two. But when it comes to the genocide, not many people know about the role Shanghai played for Jewish refugees in one of the saddest chapters in human history. CGTN's Xu Mengqi has the story.

A memorial commemorating the 6 million lives lost during the Holocaust. A genocide that wiped out nearly a third of the world's Jewish population. But for Israelis, there's something else they are remembering.

DR. EYAL PROPPER, CONSUL GENERAL ISRAELI CONSULATE IN SHANGHAI "It's very symbolic to have this in Shanghai, because Shanghai was a city that in the time of persecution, in the time of evil, of terror, of occupation, gave shelter to more than 20,000 Jews."

That history is documented in the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, and today among its visitors you can still find those who lived that part of history themselves.

NOEMI DALIDAKIS, AUSTRALIAN FORMER JEWISH REFUGEE IN SHANGHAI "There was nowhere else really on the planet, that would take refugees, people who had no papers, other than Shanghai."

Dalidakis, now 79 years old, was born in Shanghai in the tumultuous years of World War II Despite frequent air raids, her six-and-a-half-year childhood here was one filled with good memories.

NOEMI DALIDAKIS, AUSTRALIAN FORMER JEWISH REFUGEE IN SHANGHAI "My mom was a lady of leisure, she used to go and visit friends. My grandma used to cook. Really as children, we were protected from anything that was unpleasant."

XU MENGQI SHANGHAI "Inside these overcrowded houses in Shanghai's Hongkou district, Jewish refugees were once sheltered from the cruelty of the Holocaust, but here they also witnessed atrocities of Fascism, as Japanese soldiers willfully killed local Chinese civilians."

PETER WITTING & MARION SEGAL FORMER JEWISH REFUGEES IN SHANGHAI "See, there was an open field near the house where we were living. There were executions taking place there by the Japanese. People, the Chinese, just chop their heads off. For no reason. Terrible."

Noemi has visited Shanghai a few times, but this time around, she has brought more of her family.

NOEMI DALIDAKIS, AUSTRALIAN FORMER JEWISH REFUGEE IN SHANGHAI "I've been wanting to show my family, as I said last year, my son and other 3 Australian grandchildren came. It's very important for them to know their roots."

In the words of the Israeli consul general in Shanghai, it's "to remember, and never forget".

XMQ, CGTN, Shanghai.