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In 1968 Tokayer moved from Brooklyn to Tokyo to take up the position of rabbi of the Jewish communit...
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In 1968 Tokayer moved from Brooklyn to Tokyo to take up the position of rabbi of the Jewish community of Japan. There he began recording the stories of his congregants who had been refugees in Shanghai and China during World War II. Eventually he was shown a bound set of pre-war Foreign Ministry documents that led to a little-known tale: As Nazi Germany's allies, the Japanese--believing the Jews had access to enormous resources and influence--came up with a plan to create a semi- autonomous Jewish state in Manchuria, and encouraged thousands of Jewish refugees to enter Shanghai and Kobe. Tokayer's narrative, originally published in 1979, follows the journey of a Jewish group across Stalin's Russia to their Asian refuge. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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