Shanghai (AsiaNews) – Lan Leventhal, a Canadian businessman, is making a deal with the Chinese government to give new life to Shanghai's old Jewish quarter, located in the city's northern district of Hongkou.

The project involves the reconstruction and embellishment of the district's old structures, in addition to new constructions, designed for commercial use. The plan's goal is to revitalize one of the few centers that provided asylum to European Jewish refugees, who fled persecutions tied to the Second World War.

In fact, more than 30,000 Jews immigrated to Shanghai from 1937 to 1941 and in 1943 the quarter's Zhoushan Road was known as Little Vienna.

The government appears to support the project, even if it will not permit the opening of synagogues inside the designated Jewish area, since the Jewish faith is not a state recognized religion.

Israel's Consul General, Ilan Maor, said: "It might well turn out to be another Xintiandi," referring to the city's downtown area filled with restaurants, bars and shops developed by Hong Kong's Shui On Group.

He added, "Look how many people visit the Jewish ghetto in Prague, despite there not being many Jews residents there. Shanghai is proud of the role it played during the war, when it took in these refugees.  There are some wealthy Jewish families living in the city, like the Sassoons, who give financial support to city management. Jews are not a burden to Shanghai."

At any rate, the government does not intend to yield to the synagogue issue. Jews in China are tolerated only to the point that they live their faith discretely and without involving the Chinese people. 

To open up synagogues would be dangerous sign of giving in. Diplomatic leaders hold that the government does not what to create any risky precedents for religious matters. (VFP)

 

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