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[Tianjin/Tientsin, China] : ARTICLES OF THE RUSSIAN COMMERCIAL ASSOCIATION OF TIENTSIN [ASSOCIATION COPY BELONGING TO COMMUNITY LEADER LEO GERSHEVITCH]

Tientsin: No Publisher (The Association, printed by “Zanie”), 1935?

No Date (1935?)1st edition. Original publisher’s printed paper wrappers, 12mo, [16] pages. Cover Title is simply “The Russian Commercial Association of Tientsin.” Copy belonging to Leo Gershevitch (Gershevitch Bros. are listed at rear as a member firm), President of the Tientsin Jewish Hebrew Association, The Tientsin Zionist Organization, The Tientsin Jewish Union, the Tientsin Hebrew school, the Culture Club 'Kunst, ’ and other Jewish organizations in Tientsin, with his Yiddish stamp on cover. Includes a list of 32 members at rear (a mix of what appear to be Jewish and non-Jewish names) as well as 18 member firms (18 firms listed, including Gershvitch Bros.) Date is based on Russian edition from 1935, which lists the same members. Up until 1904 only ten Jewish families lived in Tientsin. In 1906 the Jews established the Tientsin Jewish Union which rendered various religious services. Side by side with this union the Tientsin Hebrew Association was active in the city and took care of welfare needs such as soup kitchens, hospitals, homes for the elderly, etc. The 1917 Russian Revolution fueled the rapid growth of the city's Jewish population with many Jewish immigrants from Russia, and “in 1920 the community was formally named The Hebrew Association of Tientsin (THA) [The organization named here in this charter booklet]. In this context the community built a synagogue, engaged a Rabbi and a Shochet, and provided full religious services. Committees for Eretz Israel affairs and hospitals were set up. A singular feature of the community was the establishment of the Benevolent Society in 1920, whose aim was to assist Jews in need and help them settle into their new environment.” Tianjin soon became the third largest Jewish community in China, after Shanghai and Harbin. In 1935, the number of Jewish people in Tianjin reached 3,500. Though most Jews left the city after the 1949 Chinese Revolution. (sinojudaic.org/tianjin), large numbers of Jewish refugees had been streaming to Tianjin before and during World War II, with the city occupied by the Japanese from July 1937 to August 1945. For more on the Tianjin/Tiensin Jewish community, see also https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/harbin/Growing_Up_in_Tientsin_Chapter_22. pdf. A similar booklet for a Jewish organization in Tianjin–but from a less important date–sold at auction in 2023 for $875 (with commission). SUBJECT(S): Jews -- China -- Tientsin -- History -- Societies, etc. OCLC lists no copies anywhere, and we could find no copies via a google search. Perhaps a unique surviving example. Some toning to cover, otherwise Very Good+ Condition, a beautiful copy of this exceedingly rare title (Holo2-160-14)

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