Although Marek Halter’s novel “La juive de Shanghai” (The jewish girl of Shanghai) has been published since 2002, I avoided reading it because of its original cover. The publisher’s choice of putting a Vietnamese lady in Ao dai over a book about jews in Shanghai was really weird, on the border of insulting. This shows a lack of understanding about Asia, which is regrettable for a book about Shanghai.The cover has now been changed.
Despite the title, only a small part of the book takes places in Shanghai. It tells the story of a Jewish lady from Warsaw, that is becoming the star of Berlin haute couture in the 1930s. As nazis extend their anti-semitic laws and actions, she must relocate back to Warsaw. The family later goes to Kaunas in Lithuenia in 1939, where the Japanese Consul gives them the visa to be able to leave. They take the train through USSR all the way to Japan, and finally take refuge in Shanghai.
Although the story had long been forgotten, many people have by now heard about the 18.000 Central European jews that took refuge in Shanghai during WW2. Most came to Shanghai on ships from Genova with Llyod Triestino, some being given a visa by Chinese Consul General in Vienna, Dr Feng Shan Ho / 何鳳山. A smaller number from Poland got a visa from Japanese Consul General in Kaunas Chiune Sugihara and went on the transsiberia train through USSR. After reaching Japan, many of them were transferred to Shanghai by the Japanese government.
Thanks to Marek Halter’s background, the book is fantastic at making us revive the atmosphere the life of Jews in Germany and in Poland before WW2. It was way for me to understand about the background of Polish jewish lady Stéphanie Rosenthal before she went to live in France and then China in the early 20th century, with her Chinese husband. It also tells the story of people trying to leave Europe at any cost to save their live. The pace of the book is fast and easy to read, while historically correct. The parts before Shanghai are highly enjoyable.
The last part of the book is focused on describing the life of Jews in the Shanghai designated area, as defined by the Japanese occupation government. Actual historical facts are used, like the role of Victor Sassoon as well as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Company (JDC) and its managers Laura Margolis and Manny Siegel. The atmosphere seems right, thought the story is less active in this part and many themes mentioned remain underused. The includes the fights between Japanese collaborators and nationalists spies, seen in 2007 movie “Lust Caution” and many Chinese movies and TV series.
There are also number of historical and cultural mistakes, making the story less believable. With a semi tropical climate, it is extremely rare to see “roofs covered with snow” in Shanghai, even in winter. This is meant to be Beijing. Similarly, the character cannot be eating “nems” in Shanghai, they are part of Vietnamese cuisine, not Chinese. This is a very common mistake by French people, who often eat Chinese food at restaurants actually run by Vietnamese. The action is happening in the “Concession”, but which one? The International settlement or the French concession? The difference would impact the story heavily. Street names are mostly made up, when maps of Old Shanghai are widely available, and many other details are weird or wrong. A “Sassoon cigar company” that is mentioned never existed. One of the character takes refuge in Taipei on a flight that made no sense and did no exist in 1941. With some more historical research, this part would surely have been more believable.
All in all, this is a good book, but the title is somewhat misleading and the part happening in Shanghai does not feel as interesting as the rest. Other novels about the Shanghai jewish refugees have been published, such as French book “Shanghai la juive“. There are also many movies and biographies that tells this story in a more accurate way.
The book was published in French. Publisher’s website indicates an English version but I am not sure if it has been published yet.
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