Diplomat remembered for rescuing Jews from Holocaust

A Chinese diplomat who helped shelter Jews during the Holocaust was honored at a seminar in Long Island, New York on Sunday.

Unknown Heroes: Chinese Rescuers During the Holocaust was held at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove, New York.

Hundreds of descendants and families of Holocaust survivors attended the seminar.

An exhibition to commemorate Ho Feng Shan (1901-1997), the Chinese diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Europe, was held at the center concurrently.

The exhibition was the result of decades of research and documentation into the humanitarian actions of the Chinese diplomat rescuer by his daughter Ho Manli.

The exhibit was created for the United States Senate Rotunda in May 2008, where Ho was recognized by the Senate with a resolution to honor his humanitarian work.

The collection presents the story of Ho and the families he helped during the prelude to Nazi Germany's genocide against Europe's Jews. It contains personal photographs and documents collected from the Ho family and families of survivors along with archival photos.

Posted to Vienna, Ho witnessed the persecution and reign of terror that followed the Anschluss, or union of Germany and Austria, in March 1938.

For nearly two years, he helped thousands of Jews escape certain death by issuing visas to Shanghai.

Yet he remained completely unknown, even to the people he saved, until after his death in 1997.

Ho was never reunited with any of the people he had helped or knew what had become of them. During his life, he neither sought nor received recognition for his deeds, which came to light only after his death.

In 2000, the state of Israel bestowed the title of Righteous Among the Nations, one of its highest honors, on Ho "for his humanitarian courage" in the rescue of Austria's Jews.

Talking about why he was willing to help the Austria's Jews when others would not, Ho said, "On seeing the Jews so doomed, I thought it only natural to feel compassion and to want to help. From the standpoint of humanity, that is the way it should be."

"I believe Feng Shan Ho was a man of principle and compassion. His actions were all the more noble because he acted against the instructions of his superiors. For this I wish to express to him and to his family my sincere and heartfelt thanks," said Ady Lagstein Bluds, who with her four siblings left Vienna using Shanghai visas for France, where Ady and her husband later made their way to the US. None of the siblings went to Shanghai.

Contact the writer at xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com