Shanghai launched a Jewish refugee database today to record the history of Jewish refugees in Shanghai during World War II, Labor Daily reported today.

The Israeli Consulate General and the government of Hongkou District, where most Jewish refugees lived during the period, jointly set up the project. Shanghai accepted about 30,000 Jews who escaped from Nazi-controlled Germany between 1933 and 1941. Shanghai acted as a shelter for about 25,000 Jews during World War II.

Information including names, gender, hometowns and employment history of the refugees are open to the public and is available at the city's memorial hall for Jewish refugees.

The database now covers about 600 Jewish people while Chinese historians are seeking to add more people to the database.

Most of the information is being retrieved from the city's archives, information from Jewish communities and foreign governments via the Israeli Consulate General and responses to advertisements issued by Jewish communities. Some information is coming from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and foreign research institutions, said Chen Jian, the head of the Jewish memorial hall.

The database is on the third floor of the Moses Synagogue on Changyang Road, Hongkou District.

(Shanghai Daily June 6, 2008)