Polish Jewish Refugees: Flight and Rescue through Japan, 1940-1941

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34096/hyg.n5.14061
Keywords: Second World War, Refugee Assistance Committee, Vilna, Kobe, Argentina

Abstract

In order to analyze the escape route through the Far East that took place between mid-1940 and mid-1941, this study examines the flight of Polish Jews and researches the emotions and solidarity connected with these journeys. To this end, it analyzes the case of two young people from Kobryn (formerly Poland, currently Belarus), who left Poland for Lithuania, then Russia, and, through Japan, finally managed to reach Argentina, the Latin American country that received the largest amount of Jewish refugees from Nazism. Furthermore, it explores the voices of those who constituted a key organization: the Committee for Assistance to Refugees, established in the Japanese port city of Kobe.

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Author Biography

Vanesa Teitelbaum, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina
Vanesa Teitelbaum holds a PhD in History (El Colegio de México, Mexico) and is a Researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), based at ISES (CONICET/UNT). Her most recent line of research deals with the trajectories of Jewish refugees during the Second World War. Her publications include El viaje de Nejome. Refugiados judíos en la Segunda Guerra Mundial (Tren en Movimiento, 2022), Entre el control y la movilización. Trabajo, honor y solidaridades artesanales en la ciudad de México a mediados del siglo XIX (El Colegio de México, 2008) and Las comunidades de inmigrantes en Tucumán: mundo asociativo, fiestas y trabajo (Imago Mundi, 2017).

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Published
2024-01-03
How to Cite
Teitelbaum, V. (2024). Polish Jewish Refugees: Flight and Rescue through Japan, 1940-1941. Historia & Guerra, (5), 137-160. https://doi.org/10.34096/hyg.n5.14061
Issue
No 5 (2024): Enero-Junio
Section
Articles

Copyright (c) 2024 Vanesa Teitelbaum

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