The S.S. Scharnhorst slowly entered Shanghai Harbour while many of the passengers stood on deck watching their approach into the harbor. The smell and sight of human refuse in the river was overwhelming.

Further down the Yangtse towards land hundreds of sampans (little sail boats) crowded in on the Scharnhorst with their crews yelling up to the passengers in a language the passengers did not understand. [...] read online...


Writer's Desk: Rest in Peace, Uncle Jackie
Personal Reflection on the Passing of Lt Gen JFR Jacob
by Jael Silliman

On 13 January 2016, Lieutenant General JFR Jacob passed away at the age of 93 in Delhi. Living as I do in Calcutta, I was unable to get to Delhi in time for my granduncle Jackie’s funeral. I eagerly read all the eulogies in the press and online, and was heartened by how tributes poured in from India and abroad. His military service to the nation, his governorship of Goa and Punjab, and his impeccable character were widely acclaimed. [...] [read online...]


The Walter Kaufmann Story
The Exile Who Invented All-India Radio’s Signature Tune
by Shalva Weil

In March 1995, I was honoured to be invited by the Max Mueller Bhavan in New Delhi to a symposium entitled “Central European Jewish Emigration to India 1933-1945”. The proceedings of this symposium were published afterwards in a book edited by Profs. Anil Bhatti and Johannes H. Voigt and entitled “Jewish Exiles in India 1933-1945”. I myself lectured on the way Indian Jews received the European Jewish refugees in India […] [read online...]


The Jews of Bollywood
How Jews Established the World’s Largest Film Industry
by Navras Jaat Aafreedi

This is the story of the rise and fall of Jews in the world’s largest film industry. Bollywood produces a thousand films annually, three times more than Hollywood does, in twenty different languages, which are seen by three billion people across the world.

Few realise that Jews played as important a role in Bollywood as they did in Hollywood, even if the roles differed in nature. Almost all of India’s earliest female stars were Jewish.[…] [read online...]


A Journey of a Thousand Miles
The Start of My Shanghai Bob’s Story
by Faith Beckerman Goldman

It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Robert Goldman’s last step and breathe were at the age of 54 in 1994. At that time, I wasn’t sure I would ever breathe or step again, but I made a vow to share the story of my Robert, my late husband, with the encouragement of family and friends. But what started out as a vow to tell Robert’s story– one of more than 18,000 Jews who called Shanghai home during the 1940’s and 50’s […] [read online...]


A Look at Hong Kong’s Military Cemeteries
An Effort to Record Lost Jewish History

Inside Hong Kong’s Ohel Leah Synagogue is a white marble plaque that bears the words “Roll of Honour: In Memory of those members of the Jewish Community who lost their lives in the defence of Hong Kong 1941 -1915”. Those memorialised were all members of the permanent Jewish community of Hong Kong and they served along with many other members of the community. […]
[read online...]