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October 2001 - August 2002 |
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| Japan and the Jews
20th Century Japan had a paradoxical relationship with the Jewish world. During the 1904-5 war against Russia, American-Jewish financier, Jacob Schiff, extended a sizeable loan to the Japanese government to help defeat the Tsar’s antisemitic regime. He was celebrated as a hero in Japan. Circumstances changed. In the Russian Civil War of 1919-22, young Japanese military officers were influenced by virulent antisemitic theories of their White Russian allies. After Japan’s1931 invasion of Manchuria, these officers were in elite positions. Believing stereotypical notions that all Jews are wealthy, they tried to induce them to the area as potential sources of innovation and investment. The scheme failed. It was called the Fugu Plan, named after an exquisite but toxic blowfish, symbolic of Japan’s contradictory attitude towards Jews. In Harbin, the alliance between the Japanese occupying army and White Russian fascists coerced Jewish property owners to sell to Japanese interests. In its 1937 offensive against China, Japan occupied Shanghai’s Chinese sectors, extending its long-established base in Chapei, which adjoined Hongkew on the north. In December 1938 the Japanese Government agreed that Jews be treated impartially, like other aliens. Yet by August 1939 it attempted to prevent further entry of European Jewish refugees to Shanghai. |
| Object:
Lender: Notes: |
Bank
notes Pisk, G Paper |
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Envelope Sapir, P (SJM) 1941 Paper From Jakob in Kobe, Japan to his father in Warsaw |
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Japanese plate Jakubowicz, A Ceramic |
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Japanese cup and saucer Jakubowicz, A Ceramic |
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Japanese tea pot Jakubowicz, A c1940s Ceramic From Shanghai |
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Letter from Jewish community of Kobe
Jakubowicz, A 1941 Paper To certify that B. Jakubowicz worked there |
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Postcard Sapir, P (SJM) Paper From father, to Jakob in Kobe, Japan; censored by Nazis |
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