The Raoul Wallenbergs Of China – Central European Diasporas And Jewish Refugee Relief In Republican-Era Shanghai [ZOOM Online Event]

On October 22, I had the honor to present my research on some of the most interesting post-Habsburg Central European lives in Republican China. Those who tuned in the Royal Asiatic Society’s Shanghai Branch’s Zoom event were introduced to the fascinating political backdrop and personal stories of Jewish emigrants fleeing Hitler’s Third Reich to Shanghai and their locally settled benefactors: the Austrians, the Czechoslovaks, and the Hungarians.

The audience heard about ex-Austro-Hungarian soldiers’ experiences fleeing Russian prison camps to China and how they impacted Jewish refugees’ lives a generation later. How middle-class philanthropists Paul Komor and Eduard Kann helped Jewish refugees through the “International Committee” and how world-famous dermatologist Frederick Reiss founded the Shanghai Emigrants’ Hospital and the first national leprosarium in China. I presented their stories against the backdrop of Sino-European diplomatic relations, the global and Sino-Japanese wars, and the diaspora’s internal quarrels, to illustrate the significant role of the former Habsburg Empire in creating the Shanghai that became “the only safe haven” for countless refugees.

It was a great experience to talk to and receive thoughtful questions from a global audience from New York to Europe to Asia. Three continents, just like in the life stories of those Post-Habsburg Central Europeans, whose lives I had the chance to present on. Hopefully, a full video of the talk will be available, which I hope I’ll be able to share soon!