Far East Cities Hold Many Opportunities for Exiled Doctors

The Jewish bodies in the Far East are being inundated with inquiries from Europe as to the possibilities of settling Jewish refugees from Germany there. In general these possibilities are limited, but in certain professions the prospects are good.

The first of these is the medical profession. Owing to climatic conditions, bad sanitary arrangements and the low cultural level of the native populations, the European colonies in the Far East need a great amount of medical attention, and there is a distinct dearth of good European doctors and surgeons. By ‘good’ is meant not only great professional skill, but also a certain amount of idealism and human feeling — two qualities in which most of the local practitioners are sadly lacking. Given these qualities, a certain number of refugee doctors could easily establish themselves in the various centres of the Far East — Harbin, Peiping, Tientsin, Shanghai, etc. The great respect in which German scientists are held in the Far East would assure German Jewish doctors of custom. It might even be possible for a group of them to start a private hospital or nursing home in one of the large centres.

Gradually, too, European methods and developments in the field of medicine are penetrating the upper and middle classes of the Chinese population. Here, too, there are great possibilities. It must not be thought that these possibilities, in the beginning at any rate, are unlimited. But a few dozen German Jewish doctors could pave the way for a considerably larger number in the future. These remarks apply chiefly to China and Manchuria, to a much less extent to Singapore, Manila and the East Indies, which could only absorb a relatively small number of doctors. In Japan, there are no prospects at all.

Another sphere in which considerable opportunities exist is that of Music. There is a pronounced shortage of music teachers all over the Far East. This is, relatively, a very well paid profession, and a few dozen good musicians could easily make a good career in the large centres both of China and of Japan.

There are also considerable possibilities in various branches of industry. Particularly chemists and chemical engineers could find good positions, especially in Manchuria, which is a country with enormous natural resources in need of development. There are many factories which are badly in need of specialists and experts in various fields, such as leather, dies and electricity. Many commodities that are at present imported from Germany could be produced locally.