Nina Budman and Larry Ungerman were so moved by their recent trip to Shanghai’s Hong Kou District they felt inspired to contribute to the Journey of Hope Project. The creation of this website and the sign-in computer stations are a result of their vision and generous donation.

Hongkou, which lies northeast of Suzhou Creek, was the main asylum for Jewish refugees during the late 1930s and early 1940s. From 1937 to 1941, nearly 20,000 Jews fled Germany and Austria to Shanghai. The ghetto, part of the Tilanqiao neighbourhood, in an area now called the North Bund, was home to nearly 30,000 Jews during World War II. A community thrived and more than 400 children were born there.

Today, after nearly six decades after the end of the war Shanghai is rousing itself to protect the area, whose memory is still held dear by those who received sanctuary there. Over the next five years, the Shanghai district will be restored and revived, one of only 12 official heritage sites in this city of 18 million inhabitants.

Plans to house the Journey of Hope in a state-of-the-art museum are presently underway. It is our hope that together we can build a permanent legacy for the Jewish community in China, to ensure that future generations come to know and understand this extraordinary story of compassion and survival.