A Little Tour At The Smart Museum Shanghai

The Smart Museum was formerlly the Ohel Moshe Synagogue for Jewish people who fled to Shanghai from Nazi' s vast massacre on Jews in Europe during the WWII!!!
This synagogue was built in 1907 and moved to this location in Hongkou District by some Russian Jews while they were in Shanghai in 1927!!! It served as the religious place for Jews during that difficult time!!! And it was restored to its original look by the effort done by the local government in 1928!!!

Step into this museum, you will be encountered by the stone carving imaging in typical Jewish people!!!
Enter in the synagogue from the side door, there is, on your right, the shrine of a carpet designed by a Jew on which the Islam words read, from right to the left, "May every Islam believer can find protection and salvation in every Connor of the world!!!" And the vines that intwine on the two pillars of the arch mean the Islam people grow and prosper with the Islam God!!!

On the third floor of this synagogue is set as the show room for some wel-known figures then in various fields, such as medical, aviation, etc.

Step out, you can see the outlook of this building.

A brief timetable of the Persecution on Jews:
1933
Nazi came in power in Germany and began the Persecution against Jews!!!

1935. 9
The Nazi promulgated the Nuremberg Law to deprive the citizenship of Jews.

1938. 7
At the Evian Conference, none of the 32 participating states was willing to open its doors to Jewish refugees. And Kristallnacht, "The Night of Broken Glass", followed on November 9th in the same year.

1938-1940
Dr. Hi Fengshan, Chinese Consul General in Venna Austria issued large numbers of "life saving visas" to Jewish refugees.

1941. 12
The Pacific War broke out.

1933-1941
At least 18,000 Jewish refugees flies to Shanghai to seek shelter.

1941. 12-1942. 1
The Nazi convened a conference to coordinate the "Final Solution" and six concentration camps, such as Auschwitz Concentration Camp, to massacre Jews were established.

1942. 7
The Meisinger Plan, or the "Final Solution" in Shanghai was put forward.

1943. 2. 18
The Japanese authorities proclaimed the "Designated Area For Stateless Refugees".

1945. 8. 15
Japan declared serend thus ending the WWII,  and the Jewish people were leaving Shanghai.

In the room behind the statue of No Fengshan, there is the words from Consul General of the Czech Republic in Shanghai to gratitude the efforts done by local people!!!

In the following rooms, there exhibit the daily life and stuffs of Jewish people living in Shanghai.

Here comes the image of this building then.

Their western life style gravely influenced local Shanghai people.
They were not only surrived but also thrived in painting, music and literature, and medicine and business area.

The area of Stateless Refugees was called "Ghetto"!!!

An area named as the "Little Vienna" in the TiLanQiao, Hongkou District was where most Jews did their business of bakeries, cafes, restaurant.
And there is the operating Cafe Atlanta in the yard in this museum!!!

Take me under your wings, 

Be mother and sister to me.

Make your lap be a shelter for my head,

A nest for my desolate prayers.

At twilight,  the time of compassion,

Lean down and I will reveal to you

a secret of my sorrows;

They say there is your in the world,

Where is my youth?

Another mystery I will confess to you:

My soul is signed by flame;

They say there is love in the world,

Where is Love?

The stars lied to me,

There was a dream-but it too is past;

Now I have nothing in the world,

Not a thing.

Take me under your wings,

Be mother and sister to me,

Be your lap a shelter to my head,

A nest for my desolate prayers.

                                                                                ---Chaim Nochman Bialik

                                                                                 Take Me Under Your Wings