|
|
||
|
|
An Exhibition of Dr. Feng Shan Ho By Ralph Harpuder It is still not understood by a few Shanghailanders who came to Shanghai without visas where the notion was derived that visas were required to immigrate to Shanghai when that city was an open port. The question evolved perhaps on account that Shanghai in 1938 was not legally within any sovereign power’s jurisdiction; therefore absence of passport controls in Shanghai was often mistakenly described as the “non-requirement of visas”. Some have also asked why we celebrate Dr. Feng Shan Ho at the U.S. Capital Building, and the basis on which he was awarded the title “Righteous Among the Nations" by the Israel organization, Yad Vashem in 2001. The answers to those questions will become clearer later in the report. It was only very recently that we have learned the truth about the humanitarian work of Dr. Feng Shan Ho who was the Chinese Consul General in Vienna between 1937 through 1940, and who during his tenure witnessed firsthand the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria by Nazi Germany in March 1938. It was through long and careful studies by Yad Vashem including an archival collection of testimonies* (see note below this paragraph), and perhaps more important a ten year investigation by his daughter, Manli, that gradually unveiled a bigger and clearer picture of how Dr. Ho saved many Jews from the Holocaust in spite of orders by his superiors who wanted to maintain a good relationship with the Germans. Those facts, not known until after his death in 1997 led Yad Vashem award the title “Righteous Among the Nations” to Dr. Ho. “My parents and I owe our lives to the courageous actions of a complete stranger, Dr. Feng Shan Ho, the Chinese Consul in Vienna. He risked his life and his career to help us escape the Nazis and the fate which befell other members of my family who perished in the Holocaust “. (Hedy Durlester) “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... “Ady Lagstein Bluds) Before we continue, let us first explain a little about the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad of which the Shanghailanders are a crucial part of the story the Commission wants to have told. The Commission, created by an act of Congress in 1979 by it’s chief founder, Rabbi Zvi Kestenbaum, is not well known, yet has become an important federal agency for family historians. The initial goal of the organization was to encourage the preservation of documents, memorials, and cemeteries in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. Martin B. Gold, a partner in Covington & Burling’s Washington office, and one of the country’s leading experts on congressional procedures assisted Dr. Ho’s daughter, Manli, a former reporter with the Boston Globe newspaper, in helping unravel her father's humanitarian actions. Mr. Gold stated the following about Dr. Ho which he learned later after careful studies: “He did not seek publicity, nor did he seek compensation. It was enough for him to know that he had done the right thing,” said Mr. Martin Gold, the organizer from the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. In 2006, Mr. Gold was appointed to serve on the Commission by President Bush. After having been refused visas in 1938 by other foreign consulates in Vienna, Jews found help from the Chinese Consul General. Against the orders of his superiors, already stated above, Dr. Ho issued a large quantity of rescue documents, including to those that were on their way or have already arrived at Nazi concentration camps in Dachau and Buchenwald. This act of courage by Dr. Ho granting those documents to desperate Jews wanting to leave Austria became a prerequisite to leave Austria and to enter another country. This fact became clearer when emigration at the time was made permissible either by proof of a visa or a boat ticket. An example was my stepfather, Victor Stummer who was able to leave Austria because of a boat ticket on the Conte Verde that his sister sent him to Dachau for Shanghai. Many also used those documents to enter other countries. Essentially the Chinese visas were used to obtain transit visas from countries like Italy which required proof of an end destination. The Exhibit On May 19-23, 2008 the Feng Shan Ho exhibition, “On the Wings of the Phoenix” with historic documents derived from Dr. Ho; photographs of the 1938 Kristallnacht, and the persecution of Jews during the late 30’s, were on display in the Russell Rotunda in the Senate building. It was developed by the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad with the help of Martin Gold, and as expected Dr. Ho’s daughter, Manli Ho. (See photos of this report.) A Congressional Reception was held on May 21 in the Mansfield Room at the U.S. Capital Building. A wide buffet with sumptuous delicacies with an open bar contributed to this memorable reception.
Special Guests and Dignitaries :
Zhou Wenzhong,
Chinese Ambassador to the United States, lauded Dr. Ho’s courage at the
reception, and heroic actions that saved thousands of lives. Mr. Zhou
Wenzhong was accompanied by members of the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
Prof. Pan Guang, Dean of Center of Jewish Studies Margaret Friga, Some Jews are celebrated in China for the help that they gave in the struggle against the Japanese. And this brings us to another guest at the reception, Ms. Ann-Margaret (Rosenfeld) Frija, a true niece of the famous Jacob Rosenfeld who came as a refugee and served in the Chinese Army ten years, attaining the rank of a general.They found his grave in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, Pan Guang said at the reception. Now, according to Ms. Friga,” every Chinese leader that goes to Israel places a flower at the grave.” And Rosenfeld’s memory is kept alive in China. “There is a Rosenfeld Hospital named in his honor”, Pan Guang said.
Sherry Hyman,
The American Jewish Distribution Committee (JDC), among many other
humanitarian relief efforts organized among countless of other things a
relief program in Shanghai for more than 20,000 Jewish refugees. After
Pearl Harbor, JDC channeled aid to Jews in occupied Europe and Shanghai
through connections its Swiss office had established with neutral
embassies and the International Red Cross. Thanks to Ms. Hyman, Director
of Archives & Records of JDC, who also came to the reception to honor
former Consul Ho, the documents can be available for further research.
The Chinese press
corps – Xinhua News
Agency, CCTV, and Phoenix satellite TV, China News Service, and
China Times.
Additional facts
about Dr.
Feng Shan Ho: In 1935, Ho Feng Shan started his diplomatic career within the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of China. His first job was in Turkey. He was appointed First Secretary at the Chinese legation in Vienna in 1937, and when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 and the legation was turned into a consulate, he was assigned the post as Consul-General. The rest is history. A framed calligraphy of a poem written by Dr. Ho was presented to Mr. Martin Gold by Dr. Feng Shan Ho's daughter, Manli, during the reception at the U.S. capital in May of this year, 2008
|
|
|
|
|
|