Writers Tricks of the Trade Volume 6 Issue 2 | Page 15

Life Stories
Ester Benjamin Shifren, is an author, artist, musician, and dynamic international
speaker. In 2005, in England, she was featured in the BBC1 program, We’ll Meet Again, and was a
guest speaker for two weeks at the Imperial War Museum.

GROWING UP JEWISH IN SHANGHAI
ESTER BENJAMIN SHIFREN
ESTER BENJAMIN SHIFREN
AUTHOR

How I loved growing up in China! My childhood memories, both good and
bad, haunt me to this day, even though I have lived in several countries
since I left that unusual starting point. This story is about my Shanghai.
I was the 4th generation of my paternal family born in China. In the early 1840's my
great-great grandparents travelled from India on a vessel to reach the shores of
Chinkiang, in Kiangsu Province. In 1917 my Persian maternal grandfather, a Rabbi, took
up a multi-tasking post in Shanghai, and was later followed by his family.
Known as “The Paris of the East,” Shanghai had no visa requirement, and attracted
many adventurers. My father spoke fluent Chinese—we loved the language, and
enjoyed the people. We lived and loved it all—it was our life.

Her book, Hiding in a Cave
of Trunks: A Prominent
Jewish Family's Century in
Shanghai and Internment
in a WWII POW Camp,
covers all aspects of her
family’ s century-long
sojourn in China, and also
details the culture and
tribulations of the colorful,
multi-ethnic groups who
lived in “The Paris of the
East."

When a young child, I thought everyone in the world lived an equally exciting life
and had Amahs waiting on them hand and foot. We were free to move around without
fear, to see dancing monkeys in the street, or watch cross-legged Chinese spiritual men
beating on little wooden boxes we called Tok boxes, which evoked the most profound
pounding of my heart. We often found Jos sticks burning in our garden together with
other little offerings.
At my ever-so-British school, I was frequently called upon to talk about Chinese
customs. The British, always “going home” to Britain, were generally aloof and unaware
of goings-on in the Chinese community. I spoke about the fanfare of funeral
processions, and how bamboo scaffolds were erected outside buildings when someone
died, so the body, leaving through a window rather than the entrance, didn’t inflict bad
jos on the dwelling.

My father’s family enjoyed great wealth and lived in a massive house serviced
by twelve servants. They owned prize-winning racehorses and regularly attended
races, which were popular with the chic, cosmopolitan population of Shanghai. My
parents were always socially busy, spending time at community events, parties,
Y.M.C.A sports, and the racecourse, where they sometimes concluded business
deals on a handshake. They also had many Chinese friends and business associates.
Then, when I was five years old, everything changed. My parents were withdrawn
and whispering a lot secretively. They were also busy packing kitbags with jam,
salami, canned fish and other foods, as well as clothing and numerous other items.
Were we going on vacation? On a picnic? It was puzzling…

WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE

PAGE 5

MARCH - APRIL 2016