Many affluent German Jews emigrated during the early Nazi years. Less fortunate Jews gained an escape route to the east after Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression treaty in August of 1939. Those who preferred not to become Soviet citizens traveled across Siberia to China. Shanghai, the most cosmopolitan city in the Far East, became a natural haven for German Jews seeking refuge abroad, because no visas were required to enter or to reside there.

Below, top: In August of 1936 the Königsbergers of Frankfurt notified a relative that their belongings were packed and they would set sail soon to New York.

Flown by airship Hindenburg: Post card postage 15 pfennigs plus 50 pfennigs air mail surcharge.

Below, bottom: An October 2, 1939, post card from Wartenburg, East Prussia, German Jewish family to friends and family members who had fled to Shanghai.

Königsberg censor's handstamp used only from September 6 to mid-November 1939, coinciding with the German conquest and subjugation of Poland. next >>