David Jokerst

David Jokerst Doctoral Candidate   E-Mail: djokerst@gmx.de

Doctoral Project

"We were given freedom and lost faith." Jewish Communities and Jewish Identities in China, 1842–1939

While Jews were prosecuted and expulsed in 19^th and 20^th century Europe, their co-religionists encountered a safe haven for Jewish life in the Far East. In modern China, prejudice was scarce, and no domestic antisemitism was prevalent. When the first Jews arrived in the middle of the 19^th century, the Chinese markets were rife with opportunity after Great Britain had enforced the opening of several treaty ports to outside trade. Jewish merchants and businessmen followed in the footsteps of British imperialism and founded commercial bases in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Harbin, and other Chinese cities. Their communities prospered and their influence grew until they were once again scattered across the world as the Second World War and, subsequently, China’s civil war drew to a close.

This research project will investigate Jewish identities and social relations within Jewish communities in Modern China regarding factors of assimilation, acculturation, and alienation in Chinese and European environments in the treaty ports. Local and inter-regional networks of trade, of social and cultural exchange and of authority are of particular interest. Moreover, the project aims to contextualize the daily experiences of individual community members, particularly those of the largely “invisible” Jewish women and poorer co-religionists of the famous magnates and businessmen.

Research Interests

• History of the Jewish Diaspora
• History of Modern China
• Social History, Race, Class and Gender
• History of German-Polish Relations
• History of Nationalism

Employment

• July 2019 – March 2023
  Research Assistant to Prof. Dr Sabine Dabringhaus,
  Professorship for East Asian History, Department of History,
  Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany
• October 2021 - July 2022
  Tutoring & Mentoring History Students & Propädeutikum Neueste Geschichte,
  Department of History,
  Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany

Education

• Since April 2023
  Doctor of Philosophy in Modern History,
  Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany
• October 2019 - January 2023
  Master of Education in History and English,
  Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany
• September 2017 - January 2018
  Erasmus Exchange Semester
  University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
• October 2015 - September 2019
  Bachelor of Arts in History and English,
  Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany

Scholarships and Grants

• Since April 2024
  Doctoral Scholarship granted by Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Scholarship Fund (ELES)

Seminars and Workshops