prosperity surrounded by war zones — attracting some 400,000 Chinese refugees in 4 years. Tensions within the city led to a wave of assassinations against Chinese officials who worked with the Japanese authorities: during January and February, 1939, 16 pro-Japanese officials and businessmen were assassinated by Chinese resistance organizations. With the beginning of the Pacific War, the foreign concessions too were occupied by Japan on 8 December 1941. Shanghai suffered less than many other cities during World War II, and the Japanese occupiers attempted to maintain many aspects of life as they had been before. The Shanghai Race Club reopened soon after the occupation and continued to host races throughout the war, even after most British and American Shanghai residents were interned. The races continued as late as August, 1945. During World War II, the extraterritoriality of the foreign concessions provided a haven for visa-less European refugees. It was, along with Francoist Spain, the only location in the world unconditionally open to Jews at the time. However, under pressure from their ally Nazi Germany, the Japanese removed the Jews in late 1941 to what became known as the Shanghai ghetto, where hunger and infectious diseases such as dysentery became rife. The foreign population rose from 35,000 in 1936 to 150,000 in 1942 (Jewish immigration was 20000-25000 from 1933 to 1941). The Japanese were still harsher on belligerent nationals: Britons, Americans and the Dutch. These slowly lost their privileges and had to wear lettersB, A, or Nwhen walking in public places; their villas were turned into brothels and gambling houses., and they were finally interned in concentration camps, notably Lunghua Civilian Assembly Center, in 1943. The whole of Shanghai remained under Japanese occupation until the surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945. End of the Foreign Concessions Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese ended all foreign concessions in Shanghai except for the French. This state of affairs was conceded by an Anglo-Chinese Friendship Treaty in 1943. The French themselves ceded their privileges in 1946 following the end of World War II. Tightened Communist rule (1949–1980s) Communist Transition Towards the end of the Chinese Civil War on May 27, 1949, Shanghai came under Communist control. Although the Republic of China Army vowed to make the city "China's Stalingrad" and the local population supported the Kuomintang, it surrendered to Chen Yi's People's Liberation Army forces with minimal resistance. One of the