Ezra Glass, from China to Israel

 

A frequent correspondent asks us how reliable are the stories of Ezra Glass being in Shanghai an d becoming the local chess champion there during the second world war. Another correspondent, Herbert Halsegger, supplied us with the following cutting, from the Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, March 17th, 1949, p. A-6. 

In it we learn the Glass was travelling to Israel from China, with a group of another 191 Jewish DPs ("Displaced Persons," i.e., refugees) from China, en route to Israel. The article notes Glass taught them to play chess during the long journey. It is noted he was champion of Austria "and of the far east" before the war.