Around twelve hundred new ARRIVALS stream into Shanghai, making the harbour a bustling place. Among them are rabbinical students from Poland who, wearing skullcaps, appear pale, shabby, exhausted and confused. Some Chassidim are dressed in traditional dark pants and caftans, their heads covered by black hats.
A RABBI leads his students toward a line of waiting trucks where Hans, Anna, Mark and other volunteers are ready for transporting these newcomers.
MARK
Look, those yeshiva students, they're so young, but look so melancholy.
ANNA
Yes, they must have experienced much hardships and setbacks, migrating from one place to another.
HANS/ANNA/MARK
Hello, welcome, welcome.
RABBI
Thank you. Thank you very much. We're transplanted from the Polish city of Mir.
HANS
So, these are Mirrer Yeshiva students. How was your journey?
RABBI
Very long and tedious. We escaped from Poland just ahead of the German invasion. We arrived in Lithuania, thinking it was a safe place for us. But soon we realized we were wrong since the Germans would capture Lithuania as well, and, moreover, the Russian Red Army was so hostile and anti-religious that we felt it threatened our existence.
MARK
So you had to flee Lithuania.
RABBI
Yes, just before the Nazis overran it. In desperation, we had no choice but to seek shelter in Shanghai.
MARK
So, you travelled east via the Soviet Union.
RABBI
Yes, with transit visas. We crossed Siberia by train, and finally reached Vladivostok.
ANNA
Where?
MARK
(to Anna)
Vladivostok, a Russian port, in the Far East.
RABBI
From there, we boarded a Japanese ship to Kobe. Then, we're deported from Kobe to Shanghai.
MARK
Well, now you've finally resettled.
RABBI
I hope the students will be safe and continue their studies here.
ANNA
Thank God, you will. Now, twelve hundred more lives have been saved.
HANS
Come on, let's get on the trucks. This way please.
Anna and other volunteers steer the new refugees and load them onto the trucks. Hans and Mark are in the driver's seats, ready to transport the newcomers to Hongkow.
INT. MAIN HALL -- SYNAGOGUE -- HONGKOW -- DAY
Mark, Hans and the four musicians remove seats from the main hall and set up cots for the new refugees, who will temporarily reside in the Synagogue. Emilia, Anna and Rose serve food and coffee. The four musicians play Jewish music to cheer up the new refugees.
EXT. COURTYARD -- SYNAGOGUE -- DAY
Dr. Behr and a couple of NURSES examine the newcomers with stethoscope and prescribe for them.
EXT. HARBOR -- INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENT -- NIGHT
SUPEROVER: DECEMBER 7, 1941
Japanese SOLDIERS in Hongkow open fire on American and British NAVY SHIPS anchored in the Harbor near the International Settlement. Ships sink. SAILORS and CREWMEN are detained.
EXT. STREETS -- HONGKOW -- NIGHT
Thunderous explosions light up the night, rattling buildings and waking up people. Frightened people look outside through windows.
EXT. STREETS -- BUND -- DAY
Japanese troops march on the streets of Shanghai. Hans buys a copy of the SHANGHAI JEWISH CHRONICLE.
The HEADLINE reads: JAPANESE ACTIONS AFTER PEARL HARBOR.
HANS (O.S.)
(reading)
The Japanese authorities declared victory at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese army marched across Hongkow, taking control of the International Settlement and the French concession. The whole Shanghai is now under Japanese rule.
On the streets, Japanese soldiers strut around to round up Americans, British citizens and other Allied nationals.
U.S., U.K. and French flags are ripped from buildings and red Sun flags of Japan flutter ubiquitously.
Crowds of people read Japanese proclamations and decrees pasted on walls across the city.
INT. JAIL -- DAY
The Japanese soldiers bustle about, with bayonets fixed to their rifles, imprisoning the British and American civilians, as well as sailors and crewmen from the sunken navy ships.
Red armbands encircle the prisoners' upper arms. AMERICAN CITIZENS wear the sort adorned with the Stars and Stripes; BRITISH CITIZENS wear the sort identified with the Union Jack. They are roughly pushed into the squalid cells.
(CONTINUING)
