Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum occupies the former Ohel Moshe Synagogue at 62 Changyang Road, in the Tilanqiao part of Hongkou. It is a ticketed museum, open Tuesday to Sunday, about the Jewish refugees who lived in this district in the 1930s and 1940s.

The congregation behind the synagogue was founded in 1907 by Russian Jews in Shanghai. The building itself dates to 1927, and the museum says it was funded by money pooled among Russian Jewish residents. It is a three-storey building with grey brick walls and a red-brick pointed roof. The museum describes it as one of two surviving synagogue sites in Shanghai.

After the congregation left, the building was used for other, non-religious purposes, including a factory and office use. In 2007 the museum was established around the former synagogue, which was restored to its original appearance using the original drawings. The synagogue was recognised as a Shanghai Outstanding Historical Building in the mid-2000s (the museum says 2005, while Wikipedia gives 2004) and became a Shanghai municipal protected site in 2014.

The museum has grown since. A name wall unveiled in September 2014 listed 13,732 refugees. An expansion completed in December 2020 brought the museum to more than 4,000 square metres, with nearly 1,000 items, and the museum now says its name wall carries 18,578 names.

For a visit, the museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 09:00 to 17:00, with ticket sales ending at 16:00, and is closed on Mondays. Adult tickets are CNY 20, student tickets CNY 10 and senior tickets CNY 15. Tickets are issued against real names, so bring valid ID. The museum lists free Chinese-language guided tours at 10:00 and 14:00, depending on visitor numbers. Public-holiday hours are announced separately, so check the museum’s own page before going.