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9/10
"Shanghai Ghetto" presents a strangely-miraculous true tale of Jewish perseverance in an unlikely Life-sustaining 'paradise' during devastating WWII Epoch.
24 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"whosoever saves a single life = shall be considered to have saved an entire world" the essence of this immortal statement was exemplified by the  'World' created within the little-known  'Shanghai Ghetto' becoming a strangely-miraculous haven-refuge for approximately 20,000 desperate Jews escaping relentless persecution, merciless concentration-camp detention and near certain death at the hands of the Nazis throughout most of Europe, during pitch-black WWII Epoch.

"Shanghai Ghetto" is a vitally important and historically-essential documentary by Dana Janklowicz-Mann and Amir Mann,  narrated by renowned actor Martin Landau (who passed-away only a few months ago).  Presented-documented mainly thru survivor-testimonials by articulate individuals who were children or teenagers during that late-1930s to mid-1940s time-period in Shanghai. 

One of the most ironic aspects of the 'Shanghai Ghetto' is that at the tragic time when most nations of the World turned a blind-eye to Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler's mass-extermination, the 'Shanghai Ghetto' served as an 'under-the-radar' clandestine sanctuary allowing Jews to be covertly 'accepted' with no Visa, or legal documents necessary for entry. Once safely inside these Jews attempted to re-create a small degree of normalcy.

As witnessed in this documentary, the basics of food, medicine, clean-water were scarce for both Jews and the average Chinese citizens living in Shanghai at the time suffering similar shared-hardships together. It is also quite important to note that the Jewish survivors interviewed make it clear they felt little to no degree of anti-Semitism living among the Chinese residents of Shanghai, and that many Jewish children quickly bonded with the Chinese children living in Shanghai.

The most intriguing aspect is that this unlikely enclave of Jewish refuge/sanctuary was not specifically 'planned' or directly-sanctioned by any government.  It seemed to simply 'come-together' thru a miraculous combination of fortuitous unplanned events. Even though imperial-Japan was militarily 'in-charge' of the area which became the 'Shanghai Ghetto' situated in Hongkou District, Japanese administrators surprisingly did not specifically target Jews (i.e. even though allied with Axis-Germany, Japan did not stringently adhere to Nazi plans).

The saddest part of the entire documentary is revealed towards finale, when the Jewish survivors of Shanghai recall soon after the end of WWII, first hearing about the near complete destruction the Holocaust had inflicted on the Jewish populations of Europe i.e. how nearly all their relatives (hailing from Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine/ Russia, et al) had been lost/murdered in the Shoah.  Ultimately reflecting that the 'Shanghai Ghetto' which seemed quite miserable at first glance,  in actuality proved to be a 'paradise' by providing the simple gift of Life.
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