Stories of Escape During WWII: Jewish Refugees Survived via the Eastern Route Through Asia

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Stories of Escape During WWII: Jewish Refugees Survived via the Eastern Route Through Asia

Presenter: Mark Halpern

Thousands of Jews fled war-torn Europe by traveling eastward via Japan and/or Shanghai. I will trace the very interesting journeys of survival of four refugees from Europe to safe harbor in the United States – two in the New York area and two in the Los Angeles area. Two refugees were from Poland, one from Lithuania, and one from Bulgaria.

Most Jewish genealogists know about the exploits of Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul in Lithuania who issued transit visas to over 2000 Jewish refugees. Only one of these four refugees used a Sugihara visa. All the stories are compelling and worthy of documentaries. Along with providing their interesting narratives, I will share many of the research sources and practices used to document their journeys.

Bio: In his professional career, Mark worked for an International Company for 32 years including overseas assignments in Denmark, Hong Kong and Japan. In 1996, while on business in Poland, Mark visited Bialystok, his mother's birthplace. Upon his return home, Mark dove down the rabbit hole searching his Galician and Polish roots. Now retired, Mark works with JRI–Poland, JewishGen, IAJGS, and Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia (JGASGP) helping others research their roots. Mark is on the Board and Executive Group of JRI-Poland, is the founder of BIALYGen, the Bialystok area Jewish Genealogy group, and is the past President and current Program Chair for JGASGP.

Mark is a member of the Program Committee for the virtual 2026 IAJGS Conference in Philadelphia. He has chaired the program committees for the 2009, 2013, and 2024 Conferences, served as advance coordinator for the 2018 Warsaw Conference, and served on the Program Committees for the 2018, 2021, and 2022 Conferences.

Mark was honored in 2018 with the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award.