By 1942 , a great number of Jews had sought refuge in Japan from Eastern Europe , settling in Kobe before being moved to the Shanghai Ghetto in China . As early as 1941 , the local Gestapo chief Josef Meisinger ( '' The Butcher of Warsaw '' ) visited the ghetto , and proposed plans to exterminate its Jewish population . Kaufman , through his influence and contacts in the Japanese government , prevailed upon Tokyo to prevent Meisinger 's plans being carried out . Ultimately , Kaufman succeeded and Meisinger 's schemes were rejected by Tokyo , but not before the doctor along with seven other Jewish community leaders were arrested , imprisoned , and maltreated by the '' Kempeitai '' ( Japanese military police ) as traitors for accusing Japan of plotting genocide . All but one of the community leaders were released days or weeks after their arrests
exterminate its Jewish population
The Holocaust
Abraham Kaufman