"When I visited the museum, I saw that they did not have many books. I was looking for a place to store my collection of books so I thought maybe it would be useful here as there are many students and Jewish people," said Wick, who likes to collect books about Jewish history, politics, economy, and culture.

"I also thought that this gesture would be my way of saying thank you to Shanghai for saving me and my family," he added.

The collection of books began their journey from London to Shanghai in July 2019. Free Trade Zone Art, the company that helped Wick with his shipment, had to make four trips to his home to collect the books.

Due to the Chinese New Year and the epidemic, the books only entered the bonded warehouse of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone in late February this year.