An Old Jewish Man’s Affection to Shanghai

When 92 year old Ma Zida arrives at Shanghai, he will always take a stroll on the roads in Tilanqiao Community, such as Zhoushan Road, Huoshan Road and Changyang Road. Since the 1980s, he has been to Shanghai for six times to visit his old residence and old neighbors. He has deep affection to Shanghai. He said, “It is those memories that have brought me to Shanghai again and again. I would have been burnt to ashes if I didn’t meet my neighbors in Shanghai, and it would be impossible for me to visit this glamorous city nowadays. ”
Ma Zida is the Chinese name of Gary Matzdorff. His predestined tie with Shanghai could be traced back to 1939. In that year, the 18 year-old Gary Matzdorff fled to Shanghai with his parents and grandmother to escape from the Nazi massacre of Jewish people.

His First Love with a Girl in Shanghai
Ma Zida has spent 10 years in Shanghai. He has many sweet memories in this city, including his first love with a Chinese girl.
He will always remember how he met Miss Wang on a Friday afternoon in 1940. At that time, he would go to a ball with his friends on the rooftop garden of Yong’an Department Store on every Friday. It is on that Friday that he saw two young Chinese girls walking into the dance hall, and fell in love with one of them. He didn’t know whether she could speak English or not, but he still took courage to attract her attention. He took a piece of tissue paper, wrote down “May I talk to you for a moment and have dinner with you?” in English on it, and asked a waiter to give it to her. When he got back the piece of paper, he saw an “OK” written in English.
At that time, no one was allowed to dance with a stranger in a dance hall, and Ma Zida voluntarily paid the bill for the two Chinese girls, and met them in the elevator. They introduced themselves to each other, and Ma Zida knew that the girl’s surname is Wang. She graduated from the American School in Shanghai, and opened a shop selling top-grade table cloth and Belgian lace near Yong’an Department Store with Miss Chen, her good friend.
Since then, Ma Zida began to date Miss Wang. However, she disappeared suddenly six months later. Miss Wang’s brother told Ma Zida that his sister ran away with an American sailor, who claimed that he was doing petroleum business in Texas.
Ma Zida ran into Miss Wang on a street several weeks later. Miss Wang told him that the American sailor cheated her. His so-called “petroleum business” is merely a gas station. She has broken up with this American sailor and she wants to make it up with him. However, Ma Zida refused to be reconciled with her, because he was hurt so much in this relationship. “My mother likes her very much. If she didn’t run away with the American sailor, I would have married her. I don’t know where she is now, and whether I have the chance to see her again,” said him.
In 1947, Ma Zida married Marianne Terner, a girl from Vienna of Austria, in Ohel Moishe Synagogue. A ball was held in Roy Rooftop Garden to celebrate the young couple’s wedding.

Even Now, He Can Still Speak Shanghai Dialect.
To survive in Shanghai, young Ma Zida hopped from job to job. He worked as the manager of a leather-ware company, a cook or a driver, and made friends with many Chinese people.
When he was working for a company, he became a good friend with a Chinese young man named Tony. Tony is a Shanghainese with a cheerful personality. The two young men would often stroll down the street together. Ma Zida would often ask Tony to teach him Shanghai dialect, and gradually, he can speak fluent Shanghai dialect. He would often practice his Shanghai dialect by bargaining with street vendors.
Ma Zida and his family left Shanghai in 1949 and settled down in San Francisco. Whenever he meets a Chinese in the United States, he would always ask them whether they came from Shanghai. If the answer is positive, he would speak to them in Shanghai dialect.
Even now, Ma Zida can still speak Shanghai dialect. He would often say in old-style Shanghai dialect, “I’m from Shanghai. Shanghai is my home.”

A Chinese Godson
Because of his deep affection to Shanghai, Ma Zida made friend with a young man from Shanghai after leaving this city for so many years.
In 1982, Ma Zida came back to Shanghai for the first time since he left China in 1949. One day, he was walking on the crossroad of Changyang Road and Zhoushan Road with his son, trying to find out his old residence. A young man crossed the road and said to them, “Can I help you? Do you get lost in this place?” Ma Zida told him in Shanghai dialect, “My home is here.” The young man was surprised to hear a foreigner speaking Shanghai dialect, and he volunteered to lead the way for Ma Zida and his son to visit Tilanqiao Community. The young man’s name is Chen Zhenhong. Since then, he became a good friend and the “Chinese godson” of Ma Zida.
Many years later, Chen Zhenhong became a student of University of California with the help of Ma Zida. Many people were surprised at Ma Zida’s decision to give financial assistance to this Chinese young man, but Ma Zida told them that he was “repaying an obligation to Shanghai people who gave a helping hand to Jewish people”.
Later, Chen Zhenhong became a computer engineer. He got married and settled down in the United States. To express his gratefulness to Mr. Matzdorff, he added “Gary” in his son’s name.
 

He Hopes to Meet His Old Neighbors and Friends in Shanghai
Ma Zida never forgets his old friends and neighbors in Shanghai. In order to find them, he has been back to Shanghai for six times. He clearly knows that many of them have passed away, but he still seeks help from the local media, hoping to see them again after so many years.
In recent years, Chen Jian, Curator of Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, has received many elderly Jewish people who came to Shanghai to seek their old residence and neighbors. Ma Zida’s experience is particularly unique in his eyes. “His experience is a perfect story, and is rarely seen in others. He was welcomed and protected by Shanghai people, and later, he expressed his gratitude to Shanghai by giving helps to a Chinese student. His relationship with Shanghai is like a perfect round circle,” said Chen Jian.
(By: Wan Yan)