The Jews Rewrote The Export History Of Fur Products In Tianjin.

The second part of the Jewish photo exhibition in Tianjin takes the Jewish economic activities as the main content, and gives it the name "the business road is above the hump." Li Ke Ke The photograph on the camel is enlarged as a map. At the beginning of the last century, there were mainly five kinds of export commodities in Tianjin port: cotton, grain, medicinal materials, straw braids and fur. The import and export of fur and fur products occupy a large share in the throughput of Tianjin port. By the beginning of 30s, the export volume of livestock products in Tianjin has accounted for 60% of the country's total volume, ranking the first among all ports in the country. Behind this huge share of the export trade is the bustling figure of Tianjin Jewish merchants.

　　 Tianjin Jews Most of them have Russian background. fur trade There is a certain source of trade networks in the United States and Europe, so the companies they run are mainly engaged in fur trade. At the height of fur business, Tianjin Jews had more than 100 businesses specializing in this business.

Among the Jewish businessmen who came to fur trade earlier in Tianjin, Solomon Bikhovskiy was a forerunner. In 1909, he traveled from Belarus to Siberia via Ulan Bator. He was one of the first Europeans to purchase furs directly from hunters in Mongolia. He sold fur directly to Europe and the United States instead of middlemen. Later, he established a business in Harbin, namely, the hodfsky brothers and the SK company. The company is a partnership between him and his brothers. His two brothers, Yoda and Gregory, and their brother-in-law, SK, are partners. In 1919, Solomon brought his wife and children to Tianjin to set up a branch office. One of his sons, Martin, now lives in the United States. Martin has a letter written with official documents than Hofs Ki brothers and SK company. It's a letter about the blessing of marriage. I wish the ske a daughter's wedding. The letter was written in Hebrew in July 1, 1922. It can be seen from the letterhead's rise that the company's business includes the import and export trade of fur related products. It also indicates that a Russian Chinese tobacco factory under the company is located in Shenyang, its branches are located in New York, Tianjin, Shenyang and Urumqi, and has offices in Hailar and Manchuria. The company's contacts are all over Siberia and Northern China.

The trail of the Jewish fur business acquisition came from North China, northwest and northeast to Mongolia, and purchased fur from the vast inland area. It was exported to Tianjin in a raw material way, then exported to Europe and the United States, and then imported woolen products from England and Russia. At that time, the origin of fur was mainly in northern Hebei, Northeast China and Mongolia. Out of Tianjin, to the north, or to Zhangjiakou, or to the ancient North mouth, the main means of transportation outside the mouth are camels. The Jewish merchants bought fur from the countryside and hired a camel team. The leather goods were carried by the camels into the customs and then transported to Tianjin. They could be exported for a short period of time, and then shipped to Tianjin via the port of Hong Kong.

How slow the camel's walk is. On the top of the hump, the Jewish businessman sits on the hump. In the boundless wasteland, when hunting wind and wind and dew, there are robbers and haunts. The business road of Tianjin Jews rises on the hump.

Epstein gave me two old photographs. In 1920s, a group of Jewish teenagers held the masquerade ball, the top hat of the boy's head and the bright gleam of the girl's gown. Each person's face was full of joy. The group photo after the dance will set the good time in memory forever. Another photo was taken in 1932 on the Inner Mongolia prairie. A Jewish youth rode on a tall camel with a simple shelter for the farmers and herdsmen, a wooden wheel car and a motorised camel. The bleak wind on the grasslands swept across the cheeks of youth. In the face of the camera, the young man opened his suit, his left hand on the crotch, his right hand holding the bridle, and his face was full of a cheerful smile - a pair of bold and heroic looks.

The two photos of the old couple stood on the long table for a long time, and then smiled, pointing to a boy standing in the middle of the third row of the group photo, and pointing to the young man on the hump, he said to me, "he is Ben Rivako, my friend. When he grew up, he became a diligent businessman and engaged in fur business.

It is hard to know how Rivako grew from a simple and quiet teenager to a smiling, hardworking, optimistic and confident fur merchant in nearly 10 years. But Rivako's way of life is the way of life for many Jewish boys in Tianjin. They spent the happy childhood of playing together with the children of the neighborhood in the common alleys and streets of the city, and then entered the Jewish school in Tianjin to complete a standard and complete education from primary school to middle school. Wealthy Jewish families will send their children to British schools or American schools in Tianjin to receive English education so that they can go to the United States for further studies in the future, but most children do not have the opportunity to enter university gates. After graduation from high school, they will take advantage of the various ties of the Jewish community to find a job. A large number of them enter the business world, engage in various trades and engage in fur trade. Therefore, from the masquerade to the hump of the caravan is almost the only way for Tianjin Jewish boys. In the one hundred years since the Jews in Tianjin, the towering hump has carried at least 3 generations of Jewish businessmen. The first generation, the father and the younger generation changed the course of things, while the Tianjin Jewish merchants sat on the hump.