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'''Simon Kaspé''' (1909–1933) was a Russian [[Jew]]ish resident of [[Harbin]], [[Manchuria]] who was kidnapped, ransomed, tortured, and murdered by a gang of fascist criminals under the influence of exiled [[White movement|White Russian]] leader [[Konstantin Rodzaevsky]].<ref name="Shanghai 1992">Strangers always: a Jewish family in wartime Shanghai' by Rena Krasno. Published by Pacific View Press, 1992. {{ISBN|1-881896-02-1}},</ref><ref name="my_china">MY CHINA: Jewish Life in the Orient 1900-1950 by Yaacov Liberman. Gefen Publishing House, Ltd.</ref> The halfhearted investigation into his disappearance and death by the Japanese authorities, who were courting the White Russian community as local enforcers and fomenting their [[anticommunism]], sparked [[anti-Japanese sentiment]] among the Jewish community of [[Manchukuo]] and the flight of nearly 70% of the Jews of Harbin.<ref>Dubois, Thomas David, Rule of Law in a Brave New Empire: Legal Rhetoric and Practice in Manchukuo. Law and History Review 26.2 (2008): 48 pars. 1 May 2009</ref><ref name=fugu>Tokayer, Marvin and Mary Schwartz. ''The Fugu Plan''. New York: Weatherhill Inc., 1979. pp53-55.</ref>

Kaspé was the son of Joseph Kaspé, owner of Harbin's Hôtel Moderne along with most of the city's cinemas and theaters. Joseph Kaspé fled persecution in Russia, moving to Harbin in 1907. Originally [[stateless person|stateless]], he obtained French citizenship for his family. Simon Kaspé grew up in Harbin, regularly traveled to France to study at the [[Conservatoire de Paris|Paris Conservatory]], and was an accomplished [[pianist]].<ref name=fugu/>

== Kidnapping and murder ==

In August 1933, Simon Kaspé, home from the Conservatory for summer vacation, was kidnapped as he returned from an outing with his girlfriend. His attackers approached from behind, seized him, and took him to a site some {{convert|36|mi|km}} west of the city.<ref name=fugu/>

The next day, Joseph Kaspé received a ransom note demanding $100,000. He contacted the local French consul, which convinced him to delay paying the ransom and promised to cooperate with the Japanese authorities' search. A month later, he received half a bloody ear but was again advised against paying.<ref name=fugu/> Simon Kaspé's corpse was found by the police on December 3. The kidnappers had starved and beaten him, cut off his ears, ripped off his fingernails, and forced him to keep his head in a dark, cold hole in the ground as temperatures dropped to 20 and 30 degrees below zero. He was executed by a gunshot to the head.<ref name=fugu/>

== Aftermath ==
Thousands of protesters from many communities attended Kaspé's funeral. While it has been said that Harbin was a "paradise in the twenties,"<ref name=fugu/> the Japanese occupation and the presence of 100,000-200,000 White Russian émigrés brought civilian crime lords.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021|reason=One incident of kidnapping does not indicate a widespread phenomenon.}} Protests by the Jewish communities of Harbin and [[Shanghai]] to Japanese vice-foreign minister [[Shigemitsu Mamoru]] had no effect.

The kidnappers were arrested but released the following day. After their convictions, the Chinese judge was brought up on charges of treason. The kidnappers were retried, found guilty, and sentenced to 15–20 years in prison. Several weeks later, Rodzaevsky successfully pled for their release by claiming the plot, which was devised by his top lieutenant Martinoff, was only motivated by a "patriotic" agenda.<ref name=fugu/><ref name="my_china" />

By the mid-1930s, Harbin's Jewish population dropped by half because of economic depression and events relating to Kaspé's murder.<ref name="Shanghai 1992"/> These residents moved to Shanghai, other Chinese cities not under Japanese control, or even back to the [[Soviet Union]], despite the fact that many had come to China fleeing persecution there.<ref name=fugu/>

== References ==
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[[Category:1933 deaths]]
[[Category:People murdered in China]]
[[Category:Chinese Jews]]
[[Category:Jewish Japanese history]]
[[Category:Musicians from Harbin]]
[[Category:People from Manchukuo]]
[[Category:Chinese pianists]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian pianists]]
[[Category:20th-century Chinese musicians]]
[[Category:Chinese people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Harbin]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of France]]
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian Jews]]