Europe and the Soviet Union
W. Michael Blumenthal: From Nazi Germany, by way of Shanghai to American Diplomacy
Escaped Nazi Germany to wartime Shanghai, reached America as a refugee, and rose to senior economic posts at State.
- Fled
- Nazi Germany, by way of Shanghai
- Status
- Refugee
- Arrived in the U.S.
- 1947
- Service
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs (Kennedy administration)
- Region
- Europe and the Soviet Union
W. Michael Blumenthal's Jewish family escaped Nazi Germany to Shanghai, one of the few places that still accepted Jewish refugees, and lived there through the war. He came to the United States after the war as a refugee.
Under President Kennedy he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs. He later became Secretary of the Treasury.
Read the history behind this story on the Nazi Germany and Austria page, or browse all the diplomats.