A delegation of the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) are on
a tour of China to gain a better understanding of the role China
played in protecting Jews during World War II as well discussing
Sino-Jewish relations.
Established in 1913 with a mandate "to stop the defamation of
Jewish people" and "to secure justice and fair treatment to all
citizens alike" ADL is one of the premier civil rights and human
relations agencies in the US.
At the invitation of the Chinese People's Association for
Friendship with Foreign Countries it has sent a 25-member
leadership delegation to visit six Chinese cities including two
cities with a reputation for protecting Jews during the
war—Shanghai and Harbin.
Abraham Foxman, ADL's national director who heads the
delegation, said they were impressed with what the Chinese
government had done to preserve the remnants of the history of
Jewish people in China.
"In many other places of the world where Jews have lived
everything was wiped out as if it never existed. But what we saw in
Harbin was a conscious effort to preserve the memories," he said
when talking with China Daily yesterday.
"We went to the newly rebuilt Jewish New Synagogue in Harbin and
the cemetery which has about 600 Jewish graves. It is clean and
well-preserved."
He said China had written a very special page on morality and
respect for other peoples. "China is one of few countries in the
world that do not have anti-Semitism. Not only that it has also
been a refuge for Jews."
He recalled that when Jews fled persecution in Russia in the
1910s they found a refuge in Harbin and they built a community.
When Nazism almost destroyed the Jewish people China again
provided a haven in Shanghai for thousands of Jews who went there
for safety. "We're here learning the details of that period,"
Foxman said.
He said Jewish and Chinese people were similar in many ways. "We
share values on history, family, education and respect for the
elderly. Both countries are suffering from ignorance and
misinformation so we can learn from each other about how to respond
to such prejudice."
Foxman said when the delegation met a number of top Chinese
officials, including Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing and State Council Information Office Minister Cai Wu,
they offered their help in the future to be a bridge of
understanding between China and the US.
The ADL is also planning to republish the album, which records
the history of Jews in Harbin and distribute it in the US. It’s
also planned to take an exhibition of Jews in Harbin around the US
and organise a student exchange program with the aim of bringing
Chinese students to the US to interact with Jewish students.
American students would also visit Harbin and Shanghai.
The delegates arrived in Beijing last Friday and have visited
Harbin and the ancient city of Xi'an, capital of
Shaanxi Province. They will leave for Shanghai today and head
for Hong Kong and Macao after the Shanghai trip.
(China Daily March 24, 2006)