A Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) greeting card. Sorle and Shalomis Gorfinkel presented this card to their parents on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah 5704, the Jewish New Year 1943. The Gorfinkel family was part of the Mir Yeshiva community in Shanghai.
Sorle and Shalomis Gorfinkel presented this card to their parents on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah 5704, the Jewish New Year 1943. The Gorfinkel family was part of the Mir Yeshiva community in Shanghai.
Goblets used in Shanghai by the Caspary family for blessings (Kiddush) over wine on the Sabbath or Jewish holidays. The Orthodox Casparys ran a kosher restaurant frequented by yeshiva students from Poland. [From the USHMM special exhibition Flight and Rescue.]
A page from the Mishneh Torah, one of many texts reprinted in Shanghai during the war. Yeshiva students spent part of each day listening to teachers lecture on the Talmud, the collection of ancient Rabbinic writings and commentaries composed of the Mishnah and the Gemara that form the basis of religious authority in Judaism. During the rest of the day, students paired up to review selections from the lecture. [From the USHMM special exhibition Flight and Rescue.]
Special pass issued to rabbinical student Moshe Zupnik. Yeshiva students had to obtain special passes from Japanese authorities to leave the "designated area" in order to continue their studies at the Beth Aharon Synagogue, which was located outside the zone. [From the USHMM special exhibition Flight and Rescue.]
Special pass issued to rabbinical student Chaim Gorfinkel. Yeshiva students had to obtain special passes from Japanese authorities to leave the "designated area" in order to continue their studies at the Beth Aharon Synagogue, which was located outside the zone. [From the USHMM special exhibition Flight and Rescue.]
Established in 1815, the Mir Yeshiva gained renown as a leading institution for Torah study. By the 1930s, this rabbinical academy attracted scholars from all over the world.
When the town of Mir fell to the Soviets in 1939, the students knew that their religious studies would be forbidden. Mir was one of the first yeshivas to depart for Vilna. Most students left on October 15, 1939, reaching Vilna legally before the border was sealed. They found temporary accommodations in the building of the Rameillas Yeshiva, where space was so limited that they slept curled up on their suitcases. Eventually they located adequate, if cramped, quarters in Vilna.
In early 1941, seizing an opportunity to continue their escape, the rabbis and students of the Mir Yeshiva traveled as a group across the Soviet Union to Japan and then to Shanghai, where members spent the war years. Mir emerged as the only eastern European yeshiva to survive the Holocaust intact.
Author(s):
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC
Critical Thinking Questions
Learn about yeshivas in Europe before the war.
Learn about the history of the Jewish community in your country.
Consider the importance of educational institutions to a community. What is the impact if they are lost or destroyed?
How can educational institutions (whether religious or secular) be protected? How are they protected, if at all, in your country?
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