Abraham Kaufman
Encyclopedia
Dr. Abraham Josevich Kaufman (Абрам Иосифович Кауфман, b. November 22, 1885 – d. March 25, 1971) was a Russian-born medical doctor, community organizer and Zionist
who helped protect some tens of thousands of Jews seeking safe-haven in East Asia
from Nazi atrocities during World War II
.
As a consequence of his contacts with Japanese authorities during World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War
, he was kidnapped, arrested and imprisoned by Soviet
authorities immediately after the war, and was interned in a Soviet Gulag penal labor camp
from 1945 to 1956. Israel
i authorities subsequently worked to expedite his immigration to Israel
, where he was able to resume his medical practice.
, then part of the Russian Empire
). He was a great grandson of Zalman Shneerson
, who founded the Chabad
movement. Kaufman graduated from a traditional Gymnasium Institute
(secondary school) in Perm
(Перм), Russia, in 1903, where he became interested in Zionism. He then studied medicine from 1904 at the University of Bern, Switzerland, graduating and returning to Russia in 1908 or 1909.
Kaufman became an ardent Zionist, and while working in Prem after completing his medical degree he devoted all his spare time to supporting the movement, working under Dr. E. V. Chlenov (Е.В.Членов) in the Moscow
region. He toured a number of cities lecturing on the Zionism
, and supervised the Hovavei Zion (хавевей-цион) organization, which was headed by his father Yosef.
, China in 1912, and quickly became the community shtatlan (organizer), active in many Jewish organizations. In 1914 he helped organize the EKOPO society (Jewish Committee for the Help of War Victims) to assist some 200,000 World War I refugees with shelter, food and medical care. In 1919 he became a Zionist leader in the Harbin
Jewish community, and of Manchuria
(called Manchukuo
when it was occupied by Imperial Japan) more widely, in the 1930s. He became an integral part of the cultural organizations of Harbin Jewry. Between 1919–1945 he was variously:
He was also the head of the Far Eastern Jewish Council (FEJ – Национального Совета) which he helped found, and also the Vaad Haleumi (Ваад-Галеуми), both founded in 1937 with the encouragement of Japanese officials such as Norihiro Yasue
.Tokayer. pp.55–56.
Colonel Yasue and General Kiichirō Higuchi, the engineers of the later-named "Fugu Plan
", Kaufman organized three large conferences of the Far Eastern Jewish Council, which brought together Jews from across East Asia, and successfully appealed for his organization to be accepted under the umbrella of the World Jewish Congress
. Through these conferences, he worked to encourage Jews from other parts of the region, and the world, to think of Manchukuo
as a safe-haven for Jews, reassuring them, as his Japanese friends had assured him, that the Japanese were not anti-Semitic
, nor inclined to be racially discriminatory against Jews.
In May 1939, Kaufman was invited on an official visit to Tokyo
, where he visited many of the ministries of the Japanese government, met with a number of officials, and became one of the few foreigners to be honored with an imperial award. He used this opportunity to express to the government officials with whom he met the desires, needs and attitudes of the Jews of Manchukuo, and was reassured of the non-discriminatory attitude of the Japanese government. He formally thanked Prime Minister
Nobuyuki Abe for the prejudice-free protection offered Jews in East Asia by the Japanese authorities, and suggested that the global Jewish community would be grateful should Japan create a safe haven in East Asia, and that in return the Jewish communities of East Asia would support Imperial Japan's vision for a new order in East Asia
.
By 1942, a great number of Jews had sought refuge in Japan from Eastern Europe, settling in Kobe
before being moved to the Shanghai ghetto
in China. As early as 1941, the local Gestapo
chief Josef Meisinger (The Butcher of Warsaw) visited the ghetto, and proposed plans to exterminate its Jewish population
. Kaufman, through his influence and contacts in the Japanese government, prevailed upon Tokyo to prevent Meisinger's plans being carried out. Ultimately, Kaufman succeeded and Meisinger's schemes were rejected by Tokyo, but not before the doctor along with seven other Jewish community leaders were arrested, imprisoned, and maltreated by the Kempeitai
(Japanese military police) as traitors for accusing Japan of plotting genocide
. All but one of the community leaders were released days or weeks after their arrests.
Following his release, Kaufman returned to Harbin, and to his activities with the Far Eastern Jewish Council, which included raising substantial donations to the severely impoverished Jewish community in Shanghai.
declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria
, overrunning Harbin. To celebrate the end of the war a short time later on August 21, the Soviets held a formal reception to which they invited the many minority leaders of the city, including Dr. Kaufman. The Soviets then kidnapped him along with two of his colleagues, Anatoly Grigorevich Orlovsky (Анатоли Григорьевич Орловски), and Moses Gdalievich Zimin (Моисее Гдальевич Зимин)). They were subsequently arrested by the Soviet Red Army on charges of collaboration with foreign forces. Kaufman's former college roommate had been another notable Zionist, Chaim Weizman, and a passport to Palestine
was immediately issued for the doctor, but the Soviets refused to release him.
The Jewish community organizers were taken to the Soviet Union, where Kaufman was imprisoned in a Gulag labor camp
for 11 years. Zimin would die during his imprisonment in the Soviet penal labor camp that he was interned in.
, Kazakhstan
(Караганде, Казахстан), and on March 25, 1961 emigrated to Israel
. He was joined by his son Theodore (Teddy) Kaufman, who would later hold a high position in the Israeli government. Dr. Kaufman spent the remainder of his life practicing medicine, specializing in pediatrics
under the Histadrut
in Israel, and was buried there after he died in Tel Aviv
in 1971.
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
who helped protect some tens of thousands of Jews seeking safe-haven in East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
from Nazi atrocities during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
As a consequence of his contacts with Japanese authorities during World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, he was kidnapped, arrested and imprisoned by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
authorities immediately after the war, and was interned in a Soviet Gulag penal labor camp
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
from 1945 to 1956. Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i authorities subsequently worked to expedite his immigration to Israel
Law of Return
The Law of Return is Israeli legislation, passed on 5 July 1950, that gives Jews the right of return and settlement in Israel and gain citizenship...
, where he was able to resume his medical practice.
Early life
Abraham Kaufman was born to Yosef Zalmonovich Kaufman in 1885 in Megilne (Мглине), a tiny Jewish village near Chernigov (ex-Chernihovsky Region –– бывшей Черниговской губернии) in the UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
). He was a great grandson of Zalman Shneerson
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi , also known as the Baal HaTanya, , was an Orthodox Rabbi, and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi, Imperial Russia...
, who founded the Chabad
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
movement. Kaufman graduated from a traditional Gymnasium Institute
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
(secondary school) in Perm
Perm
Perm is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. From 1940 to 1957 it was named Molotov ....
(Перм), Russia, in 1903, where he became interested in Zionism. He then studied medicine from 1904 at the University of Bern, Switzerland, graduating and returning to Russia in 1908 or 1909.
Kaufman became an ardent Zionist, and while working in Prem after completing his medical degree he devoted all his spare time to supporting the movement, working under Dr. E. V. Chlenov (Е.В.Членов) in the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
region. He toured a number of cities lecturing on the Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
, and supervised the Hovavei Zion (хавевей-цион) organization, which was headed by his father Yosef.
Move to China
Kaufman emigrated to HarbinHarbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
, China in 1912, and quickly became the community shtatlan (organizer), active in many Jewish organizations. In 1914 he helped organize the EKOPO society (Jewish Committee for the Help of War Victims) to assist some 200,000 World War I refugees with shelter, food and medical care. In 1919 he became a Zionist leader in the Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
Jewish community, and of Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
(called Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
when it was occupied by Imperial Japan) more widely, in the 1930s. He became an integral part of the cultural organizations of Harbin Jewry. Between 1919–1945 he was variously:
- medical director of the Jewish hospital of Harbin
- chairman of the Harbin's Jewish community
- chairman of the Jewish National FundJewish National FundThe Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
and Keren HayesodKeren HayesodKeren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal is the central fundraising organization for Israel, with operations in 45 countries. The work of Keren Hayesod is carried out in accordance with the Keren Hayesod Law, 5716-1956, passed by the Knesset in January 1956...
Zionist fundraising organizations - board member of the World Zionist OrganizationWorld Zionist OrganizationThe World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland...
and the Jewish Agency - chairman of the Jewish Zionist organization of China
- president of the Hebrew Association of Harbin
- chief editor of the Evreiskaya Zhizn ("Jewish Life" – Еврейская жизнь) weekly Russian magazine (1921–1943)
- chairman of the National Council of the Jews of Eastern Asia (Far East) in 1937
He was also the head of the Far Eastern Jewish Council (FEJ – Национального Совета) which he helped found, and also the Vaad Haleumi (Ваад-Галеуми), both founded in 1937 with the encouragement of Japanese officials such as Norihiro Yasue
Norihiro Yasue
Colonel Norihiro Yasue was an Imperial Japanese Army officer who played a crucial role in the so-called Fugu Plan, in which Jews were rescued from Europe and brought to Japanese-occupied territories during World War II. Believing strongly in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, he was known as one...
.Tokayer. pp.55–56.
Activities during the Holocaust
Befriended by Imperial Japanese ArmyImperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
Colonel Yasue and General Kiichirō Higuchi, the engineers of the later-named "Fugu Plan
Fugu Plan
The Jewish settlement in Imperial Japan involved the movement of Jews to and through Japan to its occupied areas of China shortly prior to and during World War II, coinciding with the Second Sino-Japanese War...
", Kaufman organized three large conferences of the Far Eastern Jewish Council, which brought together Jews from across East Asia, and successfully appealed for his organization to be accepted under the umbrella of the World Jewish Congress
World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations...
. Through these conferences, he worked to encourage Jews from other parts of the region, and the world, to think of Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
as a safe-haven for Jews, reassuring them, as his Japanese friends had assured him, that the Japanese were not anti-Semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, nor inclined to be racially discriminatory against Jews.
In May 1939, Kaufman was invited on an official visit to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, where he visited many of the ministries of the Japanese government, met with a number of officials, and became one of the few foreigners to be honored with an imperial award. He used this opportunity to express to the government officials with whom he met the desires, needs and attitudes of the Jews of Manchukuo, and was reassured of the non-discriminatory attitude of the Japanese government. He formally thanked Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...
Nobuyuki Abe for the prejudice-free protection offered Jews in East Asia by the Japanese authorities, and suggested that the global Jewish community would be grateful should Japan create a safe haven in East Asia, and that in return the Jewish communities of East Asia would support Imperial Japan's vision for a new order in East Asia
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was a concept created and promulgated during the Shōwa era by the government and military of the Empire of Japan. It represented the desire to create a self-sufficient "bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers"...
.
By 1942, a great number of Jews had sought refuge in Japan from Eastern Europe, settling in Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
before being moved to the Shanghai ghetto
Shanghai ghetto
The Shanghai ghetto, formally known as the , was an area of approximately one square mile in the Hongkou District of Japanese-occupied Shanghai, to which about 20,000 Jewish refugees were relocated by the Japanese-issued Proclamation Concerning Restriction of Residence and Business of Stateless...
in China. As early as 1941, the local Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
chief Josef Meisinger (The Butcher of Warsaw) visited the ghetto, and proposed plans to exterminate its Jewish population
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. Kaufman, through his influence and contacts in the Japanese government, prevailed upon Tokyo to prevent Meisinger's plans being carried out. Ultimately, Kaufman succeeded and Meisinger's schemes were rejected by Tokyo, but not before the doctor along with seven other Jewish community leaders were arrested, imprisoned, and maltreated by the Kempeitai
Kempeitai
The was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but a French-style gendarmerie...
(Japanese military police) as traitors for accusing Japan of plotting genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
. All but one of the community leaders were released days or weeks after their arrests.
Following his release, Kaufman returned to Harbin, and to his activities with the Far Eastern Jewish Council, which included raising substantial donations to the severely impoverished Jewish community in Shanghai.
Post–war arrest by the Soviets
In 1945, just days before the end of World War II, the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, overrunning Harbin. To celebrate the end of the war a short time later on August 21, the Soviets held a formal reception to which they invited the many minority leaders of the city, including Dr. Kaufman. The Soviets then kidnapped him along with two of his colleagues, Anatoly Grigorevich Orlovsky (Анатоли Григорьевич Орловски), and Moses Gdalievich Zimin (Моисее Гдальевич Зимин)). They were subsequently arrested by the Soviet Red Army on charges of collaboration with foreign forces. Kaufman's former college roommate had been another notable Zionist, Chaim Weizman, and a passport to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
was immediately issued for the doctor, but the Soviets refused to release him.
The Jewish community organizers were taken to the Soviet Union, where Kaufman was imprisoned in a Gulag labor camp
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
for 11 years. Zimin would die during his imprisonment in the Soviet penal labor camp that he was interned in.
Emigration to Israel
After Kaufman's release from the Gulag system in 1956, he moved to KaragandaKaraganda
Karagandy , more commonly known by its Russian name Karaganda, , is the capital of Karagandy Province in Kazakhstan. It is the fourth most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty , Astana and Shymkent, with a population of 471,800 . In the 1940s up to 70% of the city's inhabitants were ethnic...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
(Караганде, Казахстан), and on March 25, 1961 emigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He was joined by his son Theodore (Teddy) Kaufman, who would later hold a high position in the Israeli government. Dr. Kaufman spent the remainder of his life practicing medicine, specializing in pediatrics
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
under the Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
in Israel, and was buried there after he died in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
in 1971.
Family
Kaufman's wife also matriculated in medicine at the University of Bern. Kaufman’s son Theodore became president of Association of Former Jewish Residents of China, and also the Israel-China Friendship Society. He and Heilongjinang Academy of Social Sciences Professor Qu Wei co-wrote “The Homesick Feeling of the Harbin Jews”. Theodore’s wife, Rasha Segerman, studied at the Shanghai Jewish School in her youth.See also
- East Asian Jews
- Hakko IchiuHakko ichiuwas a Japanese political slogan that became popular from the Second Sino-Japanese War to World War II, and was popularized in a speech by Prime Minister of Japan Fumimaro Konoe on January 8, 1940.-Outline:...
- History of the Jews in JapanHistory of the Jews in JapanThe history of the Jews in Japan is well documented in modern times with various traditions relating to much earlier eras.-Status of Jews in Japan:...
- History of Jews in KobeHistory of Jews in Kobe-Jews and Kobe: is a port city in the Kansai region of Japan on the main island of Honshū. An important city throughout Japanese history, Kobe also has a significant Jewish history. Already housing a modest Jewish community by the start of World War II, Kobe existed as a safe haven for thousands of...
- Jewish settlement in Imperial Japan
- Shanghai GhettoShanghai ghettoThe Shanghai ghetto, formally known as the , was an area of approximately one square mile in the Hongkou District of Japanese-occupied Shanghai, to which about 20,000 Jewish refugees were relocated by the Japanese-issued Proclamation Concerning Restriction of Residence and Business of Stateless...
, organized by the Japanese Government during World War II