Refers to a historical district in Shanghai established in 1863 under the jurisdiction of Western foreign powers. The British established a presence within the city of Shanghai to facilitate trade in the 19th century. They were later joined by other countries, including the U.S., France, Italy, Denmark and Germany. A treaty with the Chinese government established a self-governing International Settlement at Shanghai. Because of its status as a free port under international administration, Shanghai—and the International Settlement specifically–became a destination for many Jewish refugees from the late 1930s until the city fell under Japanese control in 1941.
Victory over Japan Day, or V-J Day, marks the unconditional surrender of Imperial Japan and the end of World War II on August 15, 1945.
Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day, marks the end of fighting against Nazi Germany in Western Europe. Germany officially surrendered to the Allies at Reims, France on May 7, 1945. A second surrender ceremony was held with Soviet representatives in Berlin on May 9, 1945. V-E Day is commemorated on May 8, the day British prime Minister Winston Churchill publicly announced the Allied victory.
For several weeks in February-March 1943, non-Jewish family members of Jews detained during the Fabrikaktion (Factory Action) roundup of February 27, 1943 protested outside a building at Rosenstrasse 2-4 in Berlin. Their demonstation, one of the only public protests against the treatment of the Jews in Germany under the Nazis, continued until March 6 when many of the detained were freed.
In February 1943 the Gestapo conducted a roundup of German Jews for deportation to Auschwitz. Most Jews remaining in Germany at that time were performing forced labor in factories supporting the war effort. In Berlin, the "Factory Action" [Fabrikaktion] spurred the Rosenstrasse Demonstration, when non-Jewish family members of detainees gathered outside of the building at Rosenstrasse 2 to demand the release of their Jewish relatives.
