Exil Shanghai

In eloquent, detailed, equal parts humorous, moving and pensive fashion, six German, Austrian and Russian Jews give an account of how they emigrated to and lived in Shanghai in the 30s and 40s, which until 1942 was one of the last places of refuge for Jews fleeing National Socialism. Yet the different stories of exile and flight relating to Jewish life in Shanghai end up stretching out across a period of almost 100 years: from the first wave of immigration to the Chinese port in the middle of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War. As the different testimonies seem to enter into dialogue with one another, a fascinating, verbal/non-verbal exchange is created between the past evoked by words and the images of contemporary Shanghai, a cityscape in constant upheaval. (mg)