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)