The issue of the transfer of financial resources for Polish Jews – war refugees in Shanghai

The activity of the Polish government-in-exile

Abstract

In the autumn of 1941, the Polish diplomatic post in Japan was liquidated. Polish ambassador Tadeusz Romer was evacuated along with the embassy’s staff to Shanghai, where he received diplomatic status for the purpose of a special mission. Along with Romer, a group of Polish-Jewish refugees arrived in the Japanese-occupied city, seeking refuge after they had fled Poland through Wilno and the Soviet Union. They joined the Polish residents who had settled in Shanghai before the war. The community under Romer’s protection numbered 975 people. His service, along with the support provided by the Polish government-in-exile, enabled the organization of the daily lives of the refugees, whose situation was vastly different from that of other foreigners in the city – the so-called “stateless refugees.” This aid involved the organization of the financial resources necessary for funding canteens, committees representing various interests of the refugees, schools and printing offices. Romer’s efforts secured the transfer of funds from London to Shanghai through diplomatic posts in Bern and Kuybyshev, with the help of the Red Cross. The present article aims to examine the methods used for acquiring the means for the daily existence of the Polish community in Shanghai in the years 1941–1945.