For 24 hours starting at sunset on May 1, Israel will observe Yom Hashoah, or the Holocaust Remembrance Day – a national memorial for the approximately six million Jews who perished during World War Two.

On Monday evening, the Israeli consulate in Shanghai held its own memorial.

But when it comes to the infamous Holocaust, not many are familiar with the role Shanghai played for Jewish refugees.

"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," said Dr. Eyal Propper, the consul general of Israel in Shanghai, adding that they have been holding ceremonies in the city for the past five years.

In fact, 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.

There, on Friday, I met Noemi Dalidakis by chance. She was born in Shanghai in 1940, one year after her parents fled from Germany to the city. And luckily I had about an hour to learn about her family's story before the 79-year-old granny had to leave to catch her plane back to Australia.

"Is this news for you, Jewish Shanghai?" Before we started the interview, Noemi asked me.

I told her yes.

"That's amazing. Somebody learned about it in New York in 1951, and they made a movie called Port of Last Resort. There was nowhere else really on the planet, that would take refugees, people who had no papers, other than Shanghai."

History told us, in 1943, the Japanese who had occupied the city established a "designated area for stateless refugees" and forced all Jews into the one-square-mile area in Hongkou District, which later became known as the Ghetto.

But Noemi wouldn't call it a Ghetto. Despite having to put brown paper around the light fittings at night so as to avoid being a target by air raids, Noemi said she and her younger sister never felt insecure as children. Her father was able to get a job and feed the family, and her grandma even learned to make cheesecakes on the primal Chinese stove.

"Really as children, we were protected from anything that was unpleasant."

It might be the last time for Noemi to visit Shanghai, due to the health conditions of her husband. This time around, she brought more of her family.

"If they hadn't taken my grandparents, my mom wouldn't have been born. None of us would be here. So we're very grateful," said Marina, Noemi's daughter.