Shanghai to expand Jewish refugee museum

A museum dedicated to Jewish refugees in Shanghai will be expanded and renovated this year.

Photo taken on May 27, 2017 shows the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. [Photo/VCG]

The total area of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum will be expanded to more than 4,000 square meters from 900 square meters currently, said museum curator Chen Jian.

Tens of thousands of Jewish refugees came to Shanghai during the Second World War, and mostly settled in an area in the northern part of the Suzhou River. They escaped Nazi atrocities and established deep friendship with the Chinese people.

Chen said the expansion, expected to be completed by 2020, was an effort to accommodate the rising number of tourists. Since 2008, annual visitor numbers at the museum rose from about 10,000 to 100,000. Last year, local authorities issued a plan to expand the museum.

"Increased exhibition areas will allow more historic records to be displayed, and we will be able to introduce the history of Jewish refugees who took shelter in Shanghai more deeply," Chen said.