How few words saved Jews in Shanghai
In World War II, there were Jewish refugees in the Japanese city of Kobe and also in the Japanese-controlled city of Shanghai. These refugees had taken refuge here owing to the soft stance of Japanese authorities who despite being German allies, were more accommodating of the Jewish populace fleeing Europe.
After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, all refugee passage in and out of these cities ended. The safety of the Jewish population of these cities was now at risk. Hitler in the Wannsee Conference in Berlin had formalized the plan to annihilate Jews worldwide. The Nazi officials wanted Japan to extend the decision to the areas under its control and exterminate all Jews through death camps, medical experiments, or mass drownings at Sea.
Yet, the Japanese government resisted these pressures from Hitler in early 1942 and further on till the end of the war. However, Hitler sent his infamous General to Japan known for the mass execution of the Jews to convince the Japanese government to start off the process of killing the Jew refugees.
The Japanese government was a little uncertain and wanted to give a chance to the Jewish community to present their case. Hence the high-ranking officials of the Japanese army told the Jewish refugees to send 2 leaders to present their case before any decision could be arrived at. The community decided to send 2 Rabbis to represent their case. One of these Rabbis was Rabbi Shimon Kalisch who was a virtuoso at studying human workings and social psychology.
When these rabbis were asked a question as to why Germans hated Jews so much, Rabbi Shimon Kalisch gave a calm and composed reply, “Because, we are Asians, like you”.
His reply most likely became an important factor in Japanese officials deciding not to exterminate the Jewish population contrary to the desires of Hitler. The reply was a short but powerful one. It enticed the emotions of Unity, the emotion associated with ‘We’- belonging to a tribe. The reply saved thousands of lives and Rabbi knew exactly what to say at the right time.
This feeling of belonging to a clan, a tribe is inherent to human nature. Man has always been a social animal and relied on his group for protection from wild beasts and gathering food for survival. So, the feeling of commonality is a deep-rooted emotion that guides the actions of humans.
We, humans, tend to feel a sense of comradery with the people who share a trait with us. This trait could be similarity in facial features, religion, nationality, race, gender, political affiliation, or anything that makes you alike to the person.
If you happen to find a person from your locality you automatically develop a likability for the person and are willing to help him/her even beyond what is rationally feasible for you. This bias follows through to all profiles: village, town, state, nation, caste, class, religion, alma mater, beliefs, interests, and any category you can think of.
So, if you want to tap this principle to your favor, find out a commonality with the person you are trying to influence. If you can get it across subtly, it can create an instant likability in another person’s mind for you. This principle is known as 'Unity bias' in social psychology.
However, this principle of developing a liking for the function of commonality works against people in institutional setups. Often, people favor their peers who have a common background. There is ample bias in organizations on the basis of language, caste, regionalism, and religion.
Recently, I spoke to a friend from Punjab who is a police officer in Maharashtra. He told that a company executive reached out for a personal favor in his office. On the visitor slip the person mentioned his name and the name of his hometown which was right next to my friend’s hometown. My friend admitted that he could not say No to a guy from his home state despite his busy schedule. Probably the executive knew the working of this bias beforehand and did some groundwork to look at the profile of my friend before seeking out help at his office.
It goes without saying that the principle may not work in all situations. Smart people can see through the intentions of someone trying to strike a chord through direct references to a commonality. It is better to set a repertoire prior to applying this principle so that it doesn’t come out as an effort. Had Rabbi Shimon Kalisch opened up the conversation with Japanese officials by saying out loud that we are brothers as we are Asians, it would have lost its power. He waited for the right moment to implant the unity bias in the minds of the Japanese.
