Arthur Rothstein exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Florida – FIU

In April 1946, prominent American photojournalist Arthur Rothstein took twenty-two photos that captured the living conditions of Jewish refugees in the Chinese city of Shanghai. Rothstein’s photos, commissioned by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), were taken seven months after the Pacific War had ended. They are a unique visual testimony to the sanctuary given to eighteen thousand Central European Jews during the period of World War II and the Shoah. The photographs present the experiences of the refugees and the story the still little-known “Shanghai Ghetto” through the eyes of a seasoned documentary photographer. These refugees—Jews from Austria, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary—found a haven in Shanghai at a time when, with rare exception, the entire world was refusing to accept Jews. Rothstein’s pictures give us extraordinary insight into the historical role of the photographer in the service of international organizations, and into the importance of photojournalism in zones of conflict and humanitarian crisis.