OJM hosts experts on Jews of China
By Jewish Review
The Oregon Jewish Museum will host a panel discussion on the Jews of China on Dec. 9 in conjunction with its current exhibit, “Ludwig Salzer: Man of Letters. From Exile in Shanghai to Life in the United States.”
A panel discussion featuring Professor Steve Hochstadt and Rabbi Anson Laytner will be at the OJM at 3 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 9. Admission is $3; free for members.
The exhibit “Ludwig Salzer: Man of Letters,” describes the experience of Jewish refugees who fled Hitler’s Europe for Shanghai. In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum is holding a panel discussion with two scholars who will discuss Jewish presence in China throughout the centuries as well as the specific experience of exile in Shanghai during the 1930s and 1940s.
Hochstadt is professor of modern European history at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill. His research has focused on migration in Germany and on the Holocaust, specifically on Jewish refugees to Shanghai. His book “Mobility and Modernity: Migration in Germany 1820-1989” (University of Michigan Press, 1999) won the Allan Sharlin Prize of the SSHA.
He also published “Sources of the Holocaust,” an annotated collection of Holocaust documents. Some of his interviews with Jews who went to Shanghai are published as “Shanghai-Geschichten: Die jüdische Flucht nach China,” 2007. Hochstadt interviewed Ludwig Salzer in 1999 and will focus his remarks on Salzer’s experience.
Rabbi Anson Laytner is the executive director of the Seattle chapter of the American Jewish Committee. Laytner serves as president of the Sino-Judaic Institute and edits its journal “Points East.” He also is an adjunct professor with Seattle University’s Dept. of Theology and Religious Studies.
Previously, Laytner served as the executive director of Multifaith Works and headed the Seattle Jewish Federation’s Community Relations Council. Laytner is the author of “Arguing with God,” co-author of “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity,” and more than 70 articles on subjects ranging from Jewish theology to the Arab-Israel conflict to the Chinese Jews. Laytner will talk about the history of the Jews of China.
“Ludwig Salzer: Man of Letters” is on exibit through Jan. 20. Museum hours are Tuesday-Friday 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and Sunday 1-4 p.m. The museum in located at 310 NW David St., and can be reached at 503-226-3600.