ABSTRACT
Harbin was founded in 1898 by Russian workers laying the lines of the Chinese Eastern Railway across Manchuria. Among their suppliers was a handful of Jews, who were encouraged to settle in Manchuria by the Russian authorities. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and the ensuing Civil War in Russia caused a flood of Russian and Jewish refugees to seek a safe haven in Manchuria. On September 18th, 1931, two Japanese officers from the Army General Staff's Second Section staged an explosion along the rail tracks outside Mukden in southern Manchuria, thus creating a pretext for Japanese units of the Kwantung Army to take over all of Manchuria. Dr. Abraham Kaufman, the leader of the Jewish Community in Harbin, extended a cautious welcome to the Japanese forces. He owned a large jewellery store, a theatre chain and Harbin's largest hotel – Hotel Moderne.
