A Canadian businessman wants to turn Shanghai's former Jewish district, where tens of thousands took refuge during the second world war, into a major commercial and residential development. But while the local government is receptive to the idea, officials have ruled out opening a synagogue as part of a revival of the city's Jewish heritage.
Developer Lan Leventhal has been discussing his vision for an area in the northern Hongkou district with officials for more than two years.
Israeli Consul-General Ilan Maor noted: 'It could be a second Xintiandi,' referring to the upmarket area of restaurants, bars and boutiques in central Shanghai developed by Hong Kong's Shui On Group.
The plan would be a key part of the redevelopment of the north Bund district, one of the massive projects on the drawing board for city administrators. It involves turning a district of decrepit houses, warehouses and piers into a glitzy residential and commercial zone, with cruise ships ferrying foreign tourists up the Huangpu River to the area.
Before and during the second world war, Shanghai was one of the few cities in the world that welcomed European Jews fleeing persecution by the Nazis.
Roughly 30,000 arrived, many settling in the Hongkou district, where they opened businesses and restaurants; Zhoushan Road became known as Little Vienna. In 1943, the Japanese herded most of the city's European Jews into a designated ghetto in the district to be kept under guard. Though many were forced into labour, they escaped the fate of extermination met by many others in Europe. After 1945, they left China to settle elsewhere in the world, taking with them memories of old Shanghai.
