THE JEWISH ISSUE IN RUSSO-JAPANESE CONTENTIONS : MARIA ZAKHAROVA’S FEBRUARY 2021 THREAT SOVIET S/S “ARKTIKA” MAY 1941 RESCUE OF FIFTY JEWISH REFUGEES STRANDED IN VLADIVOSTOK

• Main Author: Zinberg Yakov
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 国士舘大学21世紀アジア学会 2022
• Subjects: 316.88; Russo-Japanese relations | Jewish refugees | Sugihara Chiune | Maria Zakharova | Vladivostok | Jewish Distribution Committee | Transit | Meisinger Plan; The text is based on my presentation at the online international conference “Evacuation; the Soviet Union and the Jews” held in Jerusalem; Israel; on December 21-22; 2021; arktika
• Online Access: https://kokushikan.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=15480; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1410/00015419/; https://kokushikan.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=15480&item_no=1&attribute_id=189&file_no=1

Based on an online international conference presentation, the Research Note introduces the Soviet Union’s decisive involvement in the Jewish refugees’ transit through Japan in 1940-41. The Soviet authorities had initiated and continuously supported the transfer of Jewish refugees through its vast territory. However, the issue of Soviet involvement has not been examined sufficiently so far. The presentation contained a brief review of the Vladivostok transit crisis of March 1941, representing the Soviet authorities’ behaviour. Specifically, it introduced an issue of transfer to Shanghai of the last group of Polish Jewish refugees strained in Vladivostok in April 1941. Presented and briefly discussed are relevant current Russo-Japanese contentions focusing on the Jewish refugees’ migration through the territory of the former USSR.