Electronic Journal of Central European Studies in Japan, No.3 (October 2017)

Engineers, Entrepreneurs, Emigres: Contribution of Central
Europeans to the Development of Manchuria 1890-1918
Chinyun Lee
Dept. of History, National Chi Nan University, Taiwan

Abstract
Competition between Russian and Japanese imperialists and the hard labor of
Chinese workers put Manchuria on the path toward globalization at the turn of the lastcentury. The construction of railways, opening of mines, and urban building projects
attracted many experts and businessmen. Among them were Austro-Hungarian
subjects who contributed to Manchuria’s economic development through both theapplication of their expertise and the distribution of their products. Czech and Jewish
subjects of the Dual Monarchy were especially active in Manchuria and western
Siberia. Conflicts erupted between the various ethnic groups, but there are no recordsof bloodshed. Although the Jews did not realize their Zionist dream of a Jewish
homeland in Manchuria, their harmonious cultural development in this region
rekindles nostalgia among Manchurian Jews and their descendants.
Keywords: Migration, Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), Zionism, Harbin

Before the mid-nineteenth century Manchuria was backward and sparsely
populated. The miracle of its sudden and rapid development, beginning in that
century's last decade and culminating in 1918, was triggered by two phenomena:competition between Russian and Japanese imperialists, and the hard labor of Chinese
workers. Among the individuals and companies from many nations, that arrived
during this time were subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who contributed toManchuria's economic growth. Drawing on Austrian archives, Chinese archives in
Taipei, and some old newspapers, this paper is an attempt to fill some historical gaps.
Politics was the cause of Manchuria's delayed growth. The Qing Dynasty
originated there, and for Manchus it was a protected living space. Without
governmental management though, such “protection” in effect resulted in economic
stagnation for the region. Starting in 1860 the Qing government gradually began toopen Manchuria up to Chinese settlement. Farmers in other parts of China whoselands had been devastated by flood or drought were granted permission to resettle in
Manchuria. In 1902 all remaining restrictions were lifted for Kirin province, and in1904 for Amur province. The opening of Manchuria to foreigners had begun in 1860,1

『中欧研究』第3号（2017年10月）

and Niuzhuang (牛莊) became the first treaty port there; its opening clearly marks the
beginning of a continuous and sustained rise in the volume of the region’s exports.1
The defeat suffered in the Sino-Japanese war (1894) forced the Qing to recognize
Manchuria’s vulnerability, and to accelerate the rate of the area’s settlement. In 1895
Japan seized Korea, figuratively at Manchuria's front door; two years later, Russia
unveiled plans for railway construction. In September 1896, the Chinese government
and the Russo-Chinese Bank signed an agreement to form a company, to be called theChinese Eastern Railway (CER) Company, to construct a railway crossing Manchuria
from the town of Chita (赤塔), in Russia’s Trans-Baikal Province, to a point on theSouthern Ussuri Railway.2 The CER, completed in 1903, thus cut across Manchuria
from west to east, and linked it to Vladivostok. The South Manchuria Railway (SMR,a term that appeared after the Japanese occupation) linked Harbin to the seaport of
Dalny (大連), thus putting Harbin at the junction of the two railroads. From a small
fishing port on the River Sungari, Harbin grew into a modern city, nicknamed“Manchurian Paris.” Over the years 1907-17 its Russian residents turned it into an“open city.” From the outbreak of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution until 1926, Harbin
was controlled by the White Russian Army. The railway quickly became the "trunkline" between Europe and Asia, and the many contemporary reports introduced it toEurope and the rest of the world.

Map drawer: Claire Chien

While the railway was under construction, the Boxer Rebellion broke out giving
Russia the opportunity to occupy all of Manchuria, from Aigun (璦琿) to Mukden (瀋陽). Tensions with Japan were thus exacerbated, but Japan waited for the completionof the SMR. After the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), both countries quickly
1

Alexander Eckstein, Kang Chao and John Chang, “The Economic Development of Manchuria: theRise of a Frontier Economy,” The Journal of Economic History, 34:1 (1974 March), 239-264.
2 Alexander Hosie, Manchuria: Its People, Resources and Recent History (London: Bethuen & Co.,
1901), 43.

Electronic Journal of Central European Studies in Japan, No.3 (October 2017)

modified their foreign policies, and, by means of three treaties, divided Manchuria
between them. Japan occupied the SMR and the two ports of Dalny and Port Arthur.
Created in 1932 by Japan, the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1935 bought the CERfrom the Soviet Union for 140 million Japanese Yen.
Table 1The Import-Export of Harbin: 1908-19253(Unit: 1000 Haikwan taels)
Year

Imports

Exports

Total

1908

7,315

9,519

16,834

1909

14,584

19,71434,2981910

14,732

21,962

36,694

1911

16,546

26,66043,206

1912

19,77323,99843,771

1913

20,172

18,566

38,7381914

17,947

16,48734,434

1915

13,375

19,96833,343

1916

23,161

32,041

55,202

1917

8,777

30,77539,552

1918

5,224

9,311

14,535

1919

13,017

12,39825,415

1920

8,120

10,23918,359

1921

7,254

20,53527,789

1922

12,09738,34050,437

1923

9,236

33,86043,097

1924

9,439

45,302

54,741

1925

12,82942,541

55,370

The above table indicates progress from 1908 to 1925. Customs protocols between thetwo countries were formally established in 1908, after the opening, in 1907, of thefrontier stations of Suifenho (綏芬河) and Manchouli (滿州里), at either end of the
CER. Statistics of the time were recorded as in the table, although actual trade
involving Manchuria, Russia, and China had been taking place for some time.
Enormous progress occurred in the first two years, followed by some regress in 1918,
the end of World War I, and a resurgence of development after the Soviet Civil War.
3

Hsiao, Liang-lin, China’s Foreign Trade Statistics, 1864-1949 ( Harvard University Press, 1974),
172-173.
3

『中欧研究』第3号（2017年10月）

Arrival of Foreigners Bringing Technology and Business
Vast and isolated, Manchuria aroused the interest of many enterprisingindividuals. In 1893 an Austrian diplomat stationed in Japan asked permission fromthe Chinese government to travel around Manchuria, either as part of a politicalmission or out of personal interest or possibly both.4 Between 1904 and 1918,
Benedek Baráthosi Balog (1870-1945), a Hungarian secondary school principal,
visited Vladivostok and places along the Amur River. Professor Lajos Ligeti, also
from Hungary, was a specialist in Inner Asian linguistics, and spent almost three
years, from 1928 to 1931, in Inner Mongolia and northern Manchuria.5 Professor
Owen Lattimore visited Manchuria in 1928-29, and wrote his famous book,
Manchuria: the Cradle of Conflict (1932) based on his visit.
A number of musicians from Central Europe came to reside in Vladivostok,6 andthere were more in Harbin, some of whom had been recruited from the area around
Königgrätz (present day Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic) and Nechanitz(present-day Nechanice also in Czechia). The musicians, mostly girls between theages of 15 and 17, had followed their parents to Harbin. They had a difficult life,
playing all night in the humblest guesthouses, often exploited by their employers. It isreported that many had to turn to prostitution to survive.7 Musical instruments from
Austria-Hungary also sold well; someone named Jelinek dealt in them in
Vladivostok.8
The opening of Manchuria raised expectations of increased opportunities forAustrian industry and trade. The Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce (Der
Niederösterreichischen Handels- und Gewerbekammer) expressed interest in
Manchuria, and in 1907 attempted to establish a connection with an Austriancompany in Harbin.9 The Russians, who mostly lived along the railway, bought
cheap Austrian jewelry in great quantities, preferring continental products over thosefrom Britain.10 Russian consumers were especially attracted to Austrian luxury
goods.11
Other possible Austrian and Hungarian products in northern Manchuria were
4

Archive of Institute Modern History, Academia Sinica, 01-19-007-01-004, 1893 May 8.
István Sántha, “Hungarian Witnesses of Infrastructure Construction in Manchuria (1877–1931): The
Case of the Eastern Chinese Railway,” Inner Asia, 16 (2014), 152-177.
6 HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 077, Miloslav, 8 Sept 1909, Tientsin.
7 HHStA, Gesandtschartsarchiv Peking 077, “Abschrift eines Berichtes des V. Consul Kobr, Harbin,
17 Juni 1909.
8 HHStA, Gesandtschartsarchiv Peking 077, Bernauer, 16 Sept 1907 Vladivostok.
9 HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 077, Zl. XLVIII, 12 Aug 1907, Tiantsin.
10 AVA China 1909 F1093/Zl 14293, 1909 Mai 26.
11 HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 077, Miloslav, 8 Sept 1909, Tientsin.
5Electronic Journal of Central European Studies in Japan, No.3 (October 2017)

shoes, linen, cloth, chiffon, canvas, covers, various dry goods, metal goods, sailcanvas, wooden furniture, and so on. The more profitable products were paper, woodfree paper, glass containers, crystal and half crystal products, jute sacking, coloredpapers, cigarette papers, women’s confections, machinery, and enamel products.12 A
very practical article, the Austrian scythe, came to Amur province, and was also amajor import item in neighboring Manchuria.13 It became the instrument of choicefor clearing land for settlement.
The Monarchy’s merchants relied in large part on German agents forrepresentation in Manchuria. Austrian export-import firms in Vienna had an urgent
need for information regarding the Manchurian market. For this service, the Consul
Nikolaus Post recommended several Russian and German firms: Kuznitzoff & Co.,
Lazarewitsch, Semenoff, Scheweleff & Co. and Tschuryn & Co., all of which were
Russian, and the German Kunst & Albers, and S. M. Langelüukte. All of these firms
dealt in both wholesale and retail. Tschuryn and Kunst had branches in Vladivostok
and other major cities in Russia and Northeast Asia.14
An alternative option for Austro-Hungarian companies wishing to access the
Manchurian market was via Warsaw and Moscow. An Austrian merchant, Hermann
Kobritz, chose this way to expand his business.15 After the completion of the TransSiberian railway, most firms reached Harbin indirectly with the help of agents in
Warsaw and Moscow.16 Only a very small portion of Austrian goods came directlyfrom Vienna. An example of one of few Austrian firms that expanded its business into
Manchuria on its own was Rauch Bernhard, which exported wine, spirits, canned
goods, coffee, oil, and chocolate, to Russia through its branch in Odessa.17
Austria appears to have had a closer relationship with the Russian Far East thanwith European Russia. Some Austrians had established their businesses in thesouthern part of Manchuria moving their operations to the north after the RussoJapanese War. The market in northern Manchuria had a special interest in Austrian
products. Moreover, there was no serious competition from English and North
American firms because they had concentrated their efforts on conquering the market
in southern Manchuria, where the Japanese had promptly and exclusively developed
their commercial activities. Around 1907 Karl Bernauer, the Austro-Hungarianconsul , reported that very few subjects of the Monarchy were living in southern
Manchuria.18
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

ÖMO, 1909:11, 114-117,Charbin; AVA China 1909 F1093/Zl14293, 1909 Mai 26.
ÖMO: 1900:5, 49-58, N. Post, “Handels- und Geschäftverhältnisse in Ostasien.”
ÖMO: 1900:5, 49-58, N. Post, “Handels- und Geschäftverhältnisse in Ostasien.”
HHStA, AR 8/108, Konsularsitze 1880-1918 Charbin.
ÖMO, 1909:11, 114-117, "Charbin.”Compass Finanzielles Jahrbuch für Österreich-Ungarn 1913, Band III/2, 2306. (Wien: 1912)
HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 077, Zl. XLVIII, 12 Aug 1907, Tiantsin.
5

『中欧研究』第3号（2017年10月）

Another case is that of Wenzel Ruziska (Ružicka), who built a brewery in
Liaoyang (遼陽) in 1903. It was destroyed during the Russo-Japanese War, withlosses totaling 20,780 rubles. When he put in a claim for damages, the Japanese
government turned it down stating: “The War Department is of the opinion that theJapanese army cannot be held responsible for the damage, but that the buildings
which have since been repaired and expanded at great expense will be transferred tohim if he will defray the costs.”19 Trade between Austria and southern Manchuria
progressed very slowly. There were no Habsburg firms in Niuzhang, and imports
from Austria were insignificant.20
However, life under Russian authority was not always easy. In 1909, an Austrianby the name of Victor Heller, who for three years had an office in Russian-controlled
Harbin, was told by the Russian police that he could not continue to maintain his
office without a carte blanche. He went to the Central Railway Authority, where he
was told to pay 15,000 rubles as a deposit. He suspected that this deposit would
ultimately be confiscated, as was the common Russian practice. Money was not a
problem, however, because at that time in Harbin a merchant could count on annual
returns of 25 to 30 percent on capital invested. Such demands by the Russian police
for payments of 5,000 rubles had a tendency to become regular and came to be seen
as a kind of high annual tax.21 The shakedown of merchants by the police is at once
an example of the difficult life, as well as ease of making a profit in this new frontier.

Austro-Hungarians as Conduits of Technology
The Dual Monarchy’s engineers participated in the construction of the great
railway. For example, Jenő Cholnoky, a Hungarian professor of geography, was hired
as an inspector by a French mining company, and in 1898 spent more than threemonths in Manchuria inspecting silver and gold mines. József Geleta, also a
Hungarian, took part in the repair of telegraph lines and the construction of a power
station to provide electricity for the city of Urga (present-day Ulaanbaatar). As a FirstWorld War prisoner, Geleta was exiled by the Russians to southern Siberia, from
where, in 1919, he escaped through Uriangkhai (Tuva) to Mongolia. Károly Gubányi(1867-1935), electrical engineer from 1898 to 1903, left vivid descriptions of therailway construction process, with its recurring breakdowns, epidemics, physicalexhaustion and starvation of workers. Lack of professional expertise even led
19
20
21

HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 089, Wenzel Ruziska. Japanese Legation Peking Jan 9, 1908
HHStA, AR F8/242 Tientsin, 11 May 1905, Bernauer.
HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 065, Harbin.

Electronic Journal of Central European Studies in Japan, No.3 (October 2017)

Gubányi to ask one of his friends, a fellow engineer, to come from Hungary to
Manchuria for several months to assist with the construction of a tunnel. Gubányi
turned his experiences into a novel, The Graves in Mukden, a story set in 1904.22 In
Vladivostok two Hungarian engineers designed a tunnel on the Siberian railway, inwhich 30 Czech workers also took part; in this case, however, they all lived
comfortably.23 Not all railway workers were laborers; some served as railway
company staff.24 Another Hungarian, A.M. Szentgali, worked as an engineer andsupervisor for an American trading company, Clarkson & Co., which operated an ironmine in Olga-Buch, a coal mine in Novaja Nadyeshda, and a granite quarry on Askold
Island.25
Manchuria’s abundant supply of wheat encouraged several Austro-Hungarians tofound breweries. Apart from Wenzel Ruziska, another brewery technician from what
is now the Czech Republic was Urban Joseph Vyacheslavowicz who was active inin Harbin from 1905 to 1913, when he married and moved to Suifenhe where hecontinued to work in beer production until 1940. Though he lost his job that year, heremained in China for ten years after the end of World War II, working for a breweryin Harbin. Although he spent much of his life in Manchuria, Vyacheslavowicz sent
his four children back to Czechoslovakia.26
Skoda, the Czech company, with a branch office in Harbin, cooperated with theRussians, and took part in railway construction. They helped build the CER,
providing everything from railroad bridges to cranes, elevators, and hydraulicpresses.27

The Chinese Never Throw Stones at Jews
The Monarchy’s merchants were interested in the Balkans, India, and Russia, butless so in China. It is very strange that so many of its people should have been activein Manchuria and western Siberia. According to Qing customs records, at the end of1906 there were only 236 Austrians in the whole of China; it is possible that by 1910

22

István Sántha, “Hungarian Witnesses of Infrastructure Construction in Manchuria (1877–1931):
The Case of the Eastern Chinese Railway,” Inner Asia, 16 (2014) 152-177.
23 HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 077, Manchuria. Vladivostok.
24 HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 077, “Abschrift eines Berichtes des V. Consul Kobr, Harbin,
17 Juni 1909.
25 HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 077, Bernauer, 16 Sept 1907 Vladivostok.
26 Shi, Fan (石方), etc, The History of Russian Overseas in Harbin (《哈爾濱俄僑史》), (Harbin,
He-lung-jiang pub., 2003), 218-220.
27 Bakešova, Ivana, Československo - Čina: 1918-1949 (Rakovnik: self print, 1997), 80.
7

『中欧研究』第3号（2017年10月）

up to 600 Austro-Hungarian subjects were in Harbin.28 Others went to eastern
Siberia, especially Vladivostok. About 150 Austrians (the overwhelming majority ofwhom were Czech) were distributed among Vladivostok, Ussuriysk (Nikolsk),
Pugachev (Nikolajevsk), Chabarowsk (Khabarovsk), Blagowestschensk(Blagoveshchenske), the island of Sakhalin, and so on. Diligent and prudent, a goodnumber of these Czech subjects of the Dual Monarchy became quite prosperous. The
inhabitants of these miniature Czech colonies maintained close ties with their home
towns, and their relatives often came to visit. The Czechs had untroubled relations
with the Russians, and their hard work won them the respect and recognition of
Russian authorities.29
Are these demographic numbers trustworthy? I think they are. I would think thatmany of those identified as Czechs were Jews. It was in this period that Russian Jews
were being deported to Manchuria and Siberia. Jewish soldiers settled in Harbin
instead of going home after the Russo-Japanese War. More arrived after the outbreakof the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution. Following the Russian Jews,
other Jews arrived from various countries. They quickly became the middle class of
this area.
Although figures vary, the Harbin Jewish population reportedly topped 20,000 at
its peak in the 1920s. There were two major synagogues, the Main or “Old”
Synagogue and the New Synagogue. The Jewish community also established alibrary, a Talmud Torah, an elementary and a secondary school, a cemetery, awomen’s charitable organization, a soup kitchen, a home for the aged and a Jewish
hospital, which treated both Jews and non-Jews.
Jews were furriers, bankers, bakers, shopkeepers, restaurateurs, teachers andpeople of letters and the arts. They owned coal mines, lumber mills, breweries andcandy factories. The Jewish-owned Hotel Moderne boasted a restaurant, a cinema,a billiard room, a bar and a barber shop. Because of its ornate, European-inspiredarchitecture, Harbin became known as the “Oriental St. Petersburg” and the “Parisof the Orient”. Its rich cultural life led to the nickname “City of Music.” Between
1918 and 1930, about 20 Jewish newspapers and periodicals were published in
Harbin. All but one – the Yiddish Der Vayter Mizrekh (The Far East) - were in
Russian.30
28

HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 088, Manchuria, No 270/10, Shanghai, Jan 27 1910. North
Daily News recorded that “The foreign population of Harbin has increased by leaps and bounds during
the last few years, and at present consists, in round numbers, of 19600 Russians, 800 Japanese, 600
Austrians, 250 Greeks, 160 Germans, 18 Frenchmen, 17 Americans, 8 British, 6 Italians and 4
Swedes.”29 HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 077, Manchuria. Vladivostok.
30
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/harbin/index.htm, Aug. 16, 2017.

Electronic Journal of Central European Studies in Japan, No.3 (October 2017)

Without a doubt, the Jewish merchants proved their commercial ability in thisnew land. The export of Manchurian soybean was credited to Roman Moiseevich
Kabalkin, who had been active as a grain trader in European Russia. Lev Shmulevich
Skidel’skii accumulated his wealth from lumber, and occupied the position of the only
millionaire in Manchuria.31 It is hard to imagine that no less than seven banks -Harbin Russo-Chinese Bank (1896), Harbin American Credit Bank (1927), the French
International Bank (1917), Harbin Jewish Bank, the Jewish People’s Bank (1923), theFar-Eastern Jewish Commercial Bank, and the American International Insurance
Company (1925) -- could have had enough business and provided services to this newcity.32
I did not find any Austro-Hungarian Jewish tycoons in Manchuria, but anAustrian Jewish physician was commemorated by the Chinese. Jakob Rosenfield(1903-1952) came directly to Shanghai in 1939, as soon as he was released fromconcentration camp. In the Second World War, China was the only visa-free country
for Jews. Rosenfeld served with the Communist forces as a field doctor, then,worked in Harbin as the head of the medical unit of the First Army in 1946-48, andparticipated in the Chinese Civil War. In 1949, he was with Communist forces when
they took Beijing. In the same year, he left China to search for his relatives inAustria. He died in Israel from a heart attack.33 A Jewish native of Austria, Ruth
Weiss (1908-2006,魏璐詩) graduated from the University of Vienna, and arrived in
Shanghai in 1933. The rest of her century long life was spent entirely in China
except for the year 1946, when she worked at the United Nations in New York. It issaid that under the influence of Sun Yat-sen’s wife, Soong Ching-ling (宋慶齡), shedevoted herself to the Chinese Communist movement through education, journalism,
and translation work. She was active in Sichuan (四川) during the Second World
War, and hid Communist friends in her house. It is not known whether she sufferedduring the Cultural Revolution. Her efforts were recognized by the Communist
Party, and she was buried in the same cemetery as Soong Ching-ling (宋慶齡).34
Living in a region with a Jewish population of 20,000, many Jews were attracted
to the idea of establishing a Jewish homeland in Manchuria. Other options for Zionists
seeking to build a Jewish state were Palestine, Uganda, Angola, Morocco, andCanada.35 Dr. Abraham I. Kaufman (1885-1971) led the Zionists, as well as a

31

Wolff, David, To the Harbin Station: the Liberal Alternative in Russian Manchuria, 1898-1914(Stanford Univ. Press, 1999), 99.
32
Qu Wei(曲偉), Li Shuxiao (李述笑) ed., The Jews in Harbin (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic
Press, 2006), 53-55.
33 Qu Wei, Li Shuxiao ed., The Jews in Harbin, 132-137.
34
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%AD%8F%E7%92%90%E8%AF%97, 2017 Aug 24.
35 Wolff, David, To the Harbin Station: the Liberal Alternative in Russian Manchuria, 79.
9

『中欧研究』第3号（2017年10月）

women’s association and youth organizations.36 A Russian-born doctor, Kaufman,
moved to Harbin in 1912. During the First World War, he helped 200,000 refugees.
From 1919 he actively led the Zionist movement in Harbin’s Jewish community, inwhich capacity he maintained close ties with the Japanese authorities. As aconsequence, Kaufman was arrested and interned in a Soviet Gulag from 1945 to
1956. Zionist dreams of a Jewish state in Manchuria, were never realized.
Again, the railway played an important role after the First World War, which
Japan entered in August 1914. In Manchuria, Germans and Austrians gradually
migrated to the area of the SMR from Harbin and Vladivostok, preparing for the next
retreat. The Japanese authorities were kind to them.37 In August 1917 the Chinese
Government declared war on Germany. The war ended the next year. The German
Red Cross and the Hungarian government asked permission to send 30,000 POWs to
Vladivostok through Harbin.38 Another occasion on which the trunk railway wasused was when 7,118 Austrian and German POWs in Vladivostok were to be sent toShanghai by the CER; the Beijing Government asked for financial help from
Holland.39 When they finally got there, several of them preferred to stay and live inShanghai instead of going home.40 Hungarian architect László Ede Hudec, forexample, successfully developed his career in Shanghai. It was a very confusing
situation: when the ships in Shanghai were full, Austrians and Germans residing in
Manchuria were asked to go home through Vladivostok.41 In 1919 the Chinese
government considered sending the Monarchy’s Jews home as China’s enemies.
Several Habsburg Jews, born in Romania, declined to be returned, and preferred tostay in Tianjin, out of fear for their lives.42 Twenty-nine Yugoslav soldiers, though,who were trapped in Manchuria, were allowed to stay in Tianjin temporarily.43
Before the war they had all been Habsburg subjects; after it they changed theirnational identity to Czechoslovak, Yugoslav, and Romanian as the Empire had ceased
to exist,
A true story illustrates the sad situation. Before the war Bruno Stransky, an acting
consular agent in Harbin, worked for the Austro-Russian Trade Company, with a
Russian boss. When war broke out, the suddenness of his departure from Harbin
prevented him from liquidating his business, and for several months he and his wife
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43

http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/harbin/index.htm, Aug, 16, 2017.
Shen-jing Times (盛京時報) September 17, 1914.
Archive of Institute Modern History, Academia Sinica, 03-36-113-03-003, 1920 Sept. 24.
Archive of Institute Modern History, Academia Sinica, 03-36-113-03-029, 1920 Nov 15
Archive of Institute Modern History, Academia Sinica, 03-36-051-03-027, 1918 April 6
Archive of Institute Modern History, Academia Sinica, 03-36-107-03-094, 1920 June 17
Archive of Institute Modern History, Academia Sinica, 03-36-070-01-015, 1919 Feb. 26
Archive of Institute Modern History, Academia Sinica, 03-36-107-03-49, 1920 March 12

Electronic Journal of Central European Studies in Japan, No.3 (October 2017)

had to live on whatever cash he had. The Hilfsvereine in Tianjin granted him a
subsidy to travel to Shanghai, and his wife received one month’s living expenses,
making a total of $338. Stransky had no property in Europe, and later received $50
from the Hilfsvereine in Shanghai.44

Conclusion
Despite Qing China’s protection, Manchuria was unable to resist the trend of
globalization by its two imperialist neighbors. With the railway construction, theManchurian economy quickly matured. In that process many people, from various
countries, were attracted, summoned, or deported to Manchuria. Technicians, bankers,
entrepreneurs, and Chinese coolies labored, explored, and invested in this land.
Austro-Hungarian subjects made contributions at this time. The Czech people wereclose to Manchuria and Siberia; Czech legions even cooperated with the White Army,controlling the Trans-Siberian Railway. Conflicts indeed erupted between different
ethnic groups, but no incidents involving bloodshed are recorded. On this frontier, theJewish community nurtured a harmonious cultural development; some Jews came tosee Manchuria as a possible location of Jewish homeland, but their dreams, now thesubject of nostalgia, were never realized.

44

HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 108, Bruno Stransky, 27 May 1916.
11

『中欧研究』第3号（2017年10月）

Primary Resources:
Archive of Institute Modern History, Academia Sinica, 01-19-007-01-004, 1893 May
8; 03-36-051-03-027, 1918 April 6; 03-36-070-01-015, 1919 Feb. 26; 03-36-107-0349, 1920 March 12; 03-36-107-03-094, 1920 June 17; 03-36-113-03-003, 1920
Sept.24; 03-36-113-03-029, 1920 Nov 15;.
AVA (Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv China) China 1909 F1093/Zl 14293, 1909 Mai
26.
HHStA (Haus- Hof- und Staatsarvhiv), Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 065, Harbin.
HHStA, Gesandtschartsarchiv Peking 077, Bernauer, 16 Sept 1907 Vladivostok; Zl.
XLVIII, 12 Aug 1907, Tiantsin; Wenzel Ruziska. Japanese Legation Peking Jan 9,1908; “Abschrift eines Berichtes des V. Consul Kobr, Harbin, 17 Juni 1909; Miloslav,
8 Sept 1909, Tientsin; Manchuria. Vladivostok, “Handels- und Geschäftverhältnisse
in Ostasien”; 1909:11, 114-117, "Charbin.”
HHStA, AR 8/108, Konsularsitze 1880-1918 Charbin.
HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 088, Manchuria, No 270/10, Shanghai, Jan 27
1910.
HHStA, Gesandtschaftsarchiv Peking 108, Bruno Stransky, 27 May 1916.
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