The Shanghai Ghetto and how it came to receive thousands of European Jewish refugees in the 1930s “is one of the great stories of the World War II/Holocaust era,” writes Haimann. “This letter represents a small testimony to this important story in history— sent from the United States to Jewish refugees Mr. & Mrs. Gutmann in Japanese-occupied Shanghai.” The Hongkew district off of Chaoufoong Road was the epicenter of where these Jewish refugees lived until the war’s end. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other military operations in Asia, communication between the outside world became almost non-existent.