With German President Johannes Rau in Hongkew

by Pan Guang

In the afternoon of September 14, 2003, German President Johannes Rau and the First Lady of the Germany made a "Return to History" tour to the former Hongkew (now Hongkou) Ghetto in Shanghai. It is known to all that before and during World War II, Hongkou was a heaven for some 20,000 Jews who sought refuge from Hitler's Germany and German occupied areas. Therefore, German President's visit to Hongkou is of great significance. Entrusted by Shanghai Mayor, I had the great honour of accompanying President & Mrs. Rau's tour.

The First Lady in Ohel Moshe Synagogue

Just past 5.00 pm, Christina Rau arrived in the former Ohel Moshe Synagogue (now The Museum for Jewish Refugees in Shanghai) at the Changyang Road. We found communication easy with each other as the First Lady can speak English very well. At the very beginning, I accompanied her to visit former synagogue's service hall on the first floor where everything had been rehabilitated to its original appearance. Beside the hall lies an exhibition room displaying paintings and calligraphies, photos and scripture in memory of holocaust victims in Shanghai. During her tour, she made professional comments frequently on exhibited articles, as she was well versed in plastic arts molding. Then we came to the photo exhibition of Jewish refugees in Shanghai on the third floor, which displayed (the story of those) Jews who sought refuge in Shanghai, especially in Hongkou District, where they shared weal and woe with the Chinese people during wartime. When looking at these pictures, the First Lady wore an imposing expression, while she frequently raised questions, such as:" How could Jewish refugees be accustomed to the lives in Hongkou?" " How about their relationship with Chinese people?" Having opened windows, she looked into the distant old dwellings on Zhoushan Road, Changyang Road and Huoshan Road, and told the German ladies who accompanied her that this was the home of Jewish refugees from the Central Europe including Germany. After that, we came to the restored sleeping garret on the fourth floor, where interior decoration is 1930s' style and all furniture had been used by the refugees and collected recently from the Chinese residents in Hongkou. Having placed themselves in this ten square meter room, the German guests seemed to have returned back to the war period 60 years ago.

Meeting the President

Just at that time when I accompanied the First Lady to go downstairs, the President's motorcade arrived at the gate of the Ohel Moses Synagogue. We witnessed a high-spirited president alight from his car though he had already experienced his busiest activities. Accompanied by the Vice Mayor of Shanghai, Mr. Jiang Sixian, President Rau came to the main hall and sat down. Then the leader of Hongkou District made a brief introduction to the new development in Hongkou. After him, I described the story about Jewish refugees in Hongkou. This was formal diplomatic activity, different from the reception of the First Lady, so my introduction was given in Chinese and then translated into German, although President could speak English fluently. Because of limited time, I quickened the speed of my introduction, while the Chief German Interpreter of Chinese, F.M. Dr. Yangrong, translated my words into German. The President and all German VIPs listened attentively to my introduction while frequently nodding their heads.

Due to the time limitation, I could not make more of an introduction. Luckily, my book entitled Jews in China, which made detailed description of how Jews sought refuge in Shanghai, had just been translated into German, and I was greatly honored to present my book to the President. On hearing this, President Rau stood up to receive my book, shake my hand, and express his hearty thanks...Later he wrote a moving inscription in the guestbook.

A Conversation in their Car

Next the President went to Huoshan Park located at Huoshan Road to pay his respects to Monument in Memory of Jewish Refugees in Shanghai. The President and First Lady warmly invited me to go with them in their deluxe car. The First Lady said," we can talk more in the car, because of time shortage today". When our car was passing through the former Jewish settlement along the Zhoushan Road, I told the President that Mr. Michael Blumenthal had lived in No 59. The President replied that "He is a good friend of mine, now he is Director of Jewish Museum in Berlin." [Blumenthal escaped to Shanghai from Berlin with his family when he was 8 years old in 1939, and spent the most arduous years of war in Hongkou, and then migrated to the US. During the Carter Administration, 1977-81, he was Secretary of Finance (1977-79). In 1999, he was named by the German government as Director of the Berlin Jewish Museum.]

The topic of our conversation turned to Berlin Holocaust Museum. President Rau said that there were divergent views over the construction of the Berlin Holocaust Museum but that the majority of German people supported the construction of this Museum, which demonstrated their determination of never forgetting the history. I mentioned to the President that I would be going to Germany to participate an international conference on the Jews of China and the President said he knew about the conference and would send a congratulatory message. As expected, at the opening ceremony of the conference, held at University of Mainz in Germersheim, the conference chair, Prof. Peter Kupfer, read out the letter of congratulations in which President Rau mentioned his visit to Hongkou and pointed out the significance of research projects on Jewish refugees in Shanghai.

In Front of the Monument

When our car arrived at the Huoshan Park, I accompanied President Rau to the Monument for Jewish Refugees in Shanghai and gave a brief introduction of the history of the ghetto… noting that Huoshan Park was located in the heart of this "Designated Area for Stateless Refugees". In April 1994, in order to commemorate this unforgettable history, the Shanghai Municipal Government and Hongkou District Government built this monument. On hearing my remarks, the President's face wore a solemn and respectful expression. He stated that we must never forget the Nazis' crimes, marched forward two steps, and stood very straight in front of the Monument for two minutes.

Taking History as a Mirror

After the tour, President Rau and the First Lady were full of zest to meet with the masses outside of the Huoshan Park. While shaking hands with them, President Rau shouted "Thank you! Thank you!" In my opinion, he not only was thanking them for the enthusiastic welcome to the German guests extended by Hongkou people, but also for the great assistance given by them to the Central European Jewish refugees during wartime.

This reminded me of an inscription written by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder when I had the honor of escorting him for his visit to Ohel Rachel Synagogue in Shanghai in November 1999. He wrote in the distinguished visitor's book: "A poet once wrote 'death is an envoy coming from Germany'. We know that many persecutees found a haven in Shanghai. We never forget this history. Today, we are here to show our appreciation and praise to those who provided every possible relief for the persecutees." Now, President Rau again showed clearly to the whole world with his own behavior that German people will imprint these historical lessons in their minds from generation to generation, like Chinese always say: " taking history as a mirror."