Shanghai Refuge: A Memoir of the World War II Jewish Ghetto Paperback –by Ernest G. Heppner (University of Nebraska Press)

The 18,000 Jews who fled to Shanghai were confined by Japanese forces to an area one mile square. Heppner describes the daily struggle to survive: overcrowding and disease, the underground world of criminals, hunger, heat, and humidity. Nevertheless, Heppner was self-reliant, energetic, and clever, and this first documented nonfiction account by a survivor is a tribute to human endurance.

This is a  fascinating and moving memoir that begins with [Heppner’s] childhood in Nazi Germany and moves briskly from one compelling scene to the next.The author describes in detail the sights and sounds of his adopted environment, the mingling of Jews and many nationalities, the choking stench and the humidity, the decadent, exotic underworld of criminals and beggars, the terror of air raids and Japanese guards, the rampant poverty and disease. The general tone, however, is positive, even inspiring, and behind all the experiences lurks a sense of adventure and simple good luck. This is an n important addition to the historical record of World War II, an autobiography of a remarkable man’s formative years, and a testimony to the power of community and human perseverance.

Ernest G. Heppner’s Shanghai Refuge fills in the fragments of this little-known Jewish community. His story is an odd mixture of defiance, courage, endurance and survival. His experience [is] fascinating. Heppner's descriptions  ring true and carry conviction, especially when he recalls in evocative detail his day-to-day experiences in Nazi Germany. Similarly, his recollection of Shanghai, with its small, telling details of privations, indignities, anxieties, and horrors make maximum impact—from the rat in the bakery that he lifted up by its tail to the carnage following an American air raid.