From: The Forward (a Jewish publication)

… At the top of the Shanghai social pyramid were the Baghdadi / Sephardic Jews who had established businesses in Shanghai since the 1840’s. They played an active role in financing various programs for the refugees. Entire educational and cultural activities, theaters, arts, music, sports and schools were supported by the Sephardic Jews. Numerically they were in the minority, only about 700 members, but they were the largest benefactors to the refugee community. They also constituted one-third of the 99 members of the Shanghai stock exchange.

In their footsteps came the White Russians, including many Ashkenazi Jews who had fled the Communist Revolution in 1917. They were the “lucky” ones as the League of Nations issued them “Nansen Passports” recognized by most nations, granting the holders certain rights within the members of the League of Nations. In addition, the French Concession issued travel cards to the Russian emigres. No such passport or travel cards were issued to European refugees. The Russian expats capitalized on their status by opening pawn shops side by side with “Chinese moneylenders” and preyed on the refugees who had few belongings and no money. …

Below this social hierarchy were the native Chinese who did all the menial work. In the eyes of the white men, the Chinese were inferior and were there to serve and do the manual labor. …

The European refugees faced a social stigma that was detrimental to the white community. In Shanghai the da bizi “Big Nose,” (as the Chinese called the “white men”) did no manual labour, only “coolies” (the term white men used for the Chinese) did manual labor.

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