A Jewish Far-East Safe Heaven

THE SHORES OF THR SONGHUA RIVER A Jewish Far-East Safe Heaven

Historically, Jewish people have constantly confronted tremendous upheaval and endured many tragic events.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the growing modern city of Harbin offered a new home to tens of thousands of Jews who had been drifting in various parts of the world. Many Jews were drawn to this new city by the Songhua river and in the 1920s the Harbin's Jewish community became the largest in the Far East.

The Jewish presence in Harbin lasted nearly a century. This period began when the first Jewish from Russia, Mr. Beltsel, arrived in Harbin in 1899, and  ended in 1985, when Mr.Agre, the last of Jews living in Harbin, passed away. At it's height, the Jewish population in Harbin numbered over 20,000.The Jewish community built synagogue, hospitals,  and libraries. Many of it's members founded banks and ran large industrial and commercial enterprises. Harbin's Jews also also formed religious organizations, a women's charitable enterprises. Harbin's Jews also formed religious organizations, a women's charitable association, a society to aid the poor, and set up a home for the aged. Taken together, the institutions created by the Harbin Jewish community was a fully developed social system in itself. At the same time, this community maintained close ties with other communities of the Jewish diaspora through the publication of papers and journals that gave voice to the political view points of the community while disseminating Jewish culture.

Jews through the diaspora had long struggled for a Jewish homeland , and those in Harbin were no exception. Many in Harbin took part in the Zionist movement. The Harbin Jewish Society for Migration to Palestine was formerly established in June of 1912, and in April of 1917 it was renamed the Harbin Zionist Organization. By 1919, Harbin had become such a significant Jewish religious and political center that in March of that year the Assembly of Zionist Organization in the Far East took place in the city. In 1929, an revision is the Zionist group Betar, the New Zionist Youth Organization, was formed.

The inhabitants of Harbin, endowed with a hospitality and kindness unique to them, warmly accepted the Jews into their midst. In return, Jews who came here fell deeply in love with the land and the people of city. Harbin became a paradise for Jews who found here a Far East home.

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