Consul Feng Shan Ho.jpg

Feng Shan Ho

Biography of Dr. Feng Shan Ho

Consul General Feng Shan Ho

Prepared by Eric Saul and Manli Ho
Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats Project



“Visas!  We began to live visas day and night.  When we were awake, we were obsessed by visas.  We talked about them all the time.  Exit visas.  Transit visas.  Entrance visas.  Where could we go?  During the day we tried to get the proper documents, approvals, stamps.  At night, in bed, we tossed about and dreamed about long lines, officials, visas.  Visas.”

- Austrian visa recipient



Introduction

This document was originally prepared in 1999 by Eric Saul, Executive Director of the Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats Project, and Manli Ho, the daughter of Ambassador Ho.  The Visas for Life Project was founded in 1994 for the purposes of documenting and honoring diplomats who rescued Jews and other refugees during the Holocaust, 1933-1945. 

The Visas for Life Project discovered the work of Dr. Ho through an obituary that was written by Manli Ho and published in the Sacramento Bee.  After reading the obituary, Eric Saul contact Manli Ho, who was living in San Francisco.  Manli Ho indicated that she knew nothing about her father’s rescue activities, other than that he had mentioned them in his memoir, My Forty Years as a Diplomat, which was published in Chinese in 1990.  Research on Dr. Ho’s rescue activities was conducted by the Visas for Life Project in cooperation with Manli Ho, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Yad Vashem, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and other institutions.  A thorough, years-long search was conducted to find Jewish visa recipients who were helped by Dr. Ho.  Numerous international archives were consulted.  In these archives we found numerous original visas issued to Jewish survivors.  We also found numerous references to the “Chinese consulate in Vienna” in various historic sources.  Dr. Ho was rarely, if ever, mentioned by name. 

Ho mentioned that he worked with church and Jewish charitable organizations, and we have discovered that he had worked with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (The Joint) representatives as well as the Af-Al-Pi immigrant organization, among others.

After compiling all the information and testimonies, we submitted the nomination for Dr. Ho and it was carefully examined by Dr. Mordecai Paldiel and the Department of the Righteous personnel and committee at the Yad Vashem Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority (now known as Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center).  Yad Vashem consulted a number of experts on rescue, including Dr. David Kranzler, in regard to Dr. Ho’s rescue activities.  Dr. Israel Singer, then the director of the World Jewish Congress, verified that his father, Dr. Julius Kuhl, and Recha Sternbuch had worked with Dr. Ho in the rescue of Jews through Switzerland.  In addition, Yad Vashem contacted the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry to see if they could find records of Dr. Ho’s rescue activity during the period of the Holocaust.  It turned out that there was a demerit in his personnel record, which was related to his issuing visas. 

Dr. Ho met the criteria for recognition as Righteous Among the Nations on July 7, 2000.

On January 23, 2001, I accompanied Manli Ho and her brother, Monto Ho, to the official ceremony in Jerusalem honoring Dr. Ho as Righteous Among the Nations.

The Visas for Life Project subsequently created a number of traveling exhibits specifically on the rescue activities of Dr. Feng Shan Ho.  A special showing of the exhibit was opened in both Beijing and in Ho’s hometown in China for his 100th birthday in 2001. 

Subsequently, Dr. Ho has been honored in numerous programs internationally. 

In 2015, the Republic of China (Taiwan) honored Dr. Ho.

Subsequent research has determined that there were several other Chinese diplomats issuing life-saving visas to Jews throughout Europe.  These Chinese diplomats were located in Hamburg, Marseilles, and Milan.  Examples of these visas have been found in numerous archives, and testimony by survivors who were aided by these diplomats confirms these rescue accounts.

This document includes the documentary evidence that we collected on Dr. Ho, including testimony by survivors and excerpts from Dr. Ho’s memoirs in English.


Dr. Feng Shan Ho,* Consul General of China in Vienna, 1938-40

Dr. Feng Shan Ho was among the early diplomats to save Jews during the Holocaust.  Ho issued numerous visas to Jews seeking to escape Austria after the Anschluss of 1938.  These visas enabled thousands of Jewish refugees to reach safe haven in North and South America, Cuba, the Philippines, Palestine and Shanghai.  Many Jews were released from Nazi concentration camps on the strength of Chinese visas.  Ho initially issued the life-saving visas on the authority of an order from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  In addition, Kong Xian-Xi, Director of the Executive Yuan (equivalent to a prime minister or chief executive of a government) openly sympathized with Jews.  Later, however, Dr. Ho’s direct supervisor, Chen Chieh, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, ordered him to desist.  Nonetheless, Dr. Ho continued issuing the visas, despite this pressure.  A reprimand from his superiors was found in his personnel file in the Foreign Ministry records after the war.  Many of these visas were to rescue and relief organizations all over Europe.  In particular, Ho issued visas to Recha Sternbuch, who was operating out of Switzerland.  Ho issued hundreds of visas to Sternbuch.  Ho also issued visas to the Af-Al-Pi (“Despite Everything”) Perl transport.  The Director of the Kulturgemeinde (Jewish Community Center) in Vienna, Dr. Joseph Löwenherz, encouraged Jews to immigrate to Palestine.  Ho provided many visas to representatives of the Kulturgemeinde.  After the war, he continued a 40-year diplomatic career in the Mideast and Latin America.  Ambassador Ho died in San Francisco in September 1997 at age 96.  Dr. Ho was awarded the status of Righteous Among the Nations by the state of Israel in October 2000.  Dr. Ho has been honored internationally for his rescue efforts. 

[Ho, Feng Shan. Forty Years of My Diplomatic Life. (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1991). / Ho Feng-Shan, translated and edited by Monto Ho. My Forty Years as a Diplomat. (Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing, 2010), pp. 45-49. / Friedenson, Joseph, and David Kranzler, forward by Julius Kuhl. Heroine of Rescue: The Incredible Story of Recha Sternbuch Who Saved Thousands from the Holocaust. (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, 1984). / Perl, William R. The Four-Front War: From the Holocaust to the Promised Land. (New York: Crown Publishers, 1978), pp. 42-43. / Heppner, Ernest G. Shanghai Refuge: A Memoir of the World War II Jewish Ghetto (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. / Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust (New York: Macmillan, 1990). / Paldiel, Mordecai. Diplomat Heroes of the Holocaust. (Jersey City, NJ: KTAV Publishing, 2007), pp. 27-35, 218.]


The Fall of Austria

Austria had been a republic for 18 years before Nazi Germany annexed it in 1938. The Austrian economy had suffered continuous crises from 1930 onwards. With the Nazis rising to power in Germany, the influence of Austria’s Nazi party was boosted and Austrian anti-Semitism erupted in anti-Jewish riots. In May 1932, the Christian Socialist Party formed a government with Englebert Dollfuss as chancellor. Dollfuss took steps to curtail anti-Semitism by outlawing discrimination against Jews in housing and jobs. In June 1933, he outlawed the Austrian Nazi Party, but it continued to operate illegally. At the time, Hitler had solidified his control of Germany and was pushing for the annexation of Austria. On July 25, 1934, the Austrian Nazis occupied the parliament building and murdered Dollfuss.

His successor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, was pressured by the Germans into twelve concessions, which included lifting the ban on the Austrian Nazi Party and the placement of pro-Nazi ministers in key positions. In one final desperate move on March 9, 1938, Schussnigg called for a plebescite on Austrian independence for March 13.  Hitler demanded that the plebescite be postponed and Schussnigg’s resignation. On March 12, German troops crossed into Austria. Two days later, Hitler paraded triumphantly through Vienna. On April 10, Hitler held his own plebescite and 99.73 percent of Austrians voted in favor of the annexation (Anschluss).[1]   

Feng Shan Ho was posted as first secretary to the Chinese legation in Vienna in the spring of 1937, a year prior to the annexation. It was the same year that  Japan invaded China.  Fresh from a posting in Turkey, Ho was from Hunan. Both in temperament and background, Ho was well suited to the foreign service.  A scholar in Chinese, he was fluent in both English and German. As a doctoral student in Germany, Ho had heard of Vienna as the cultural hub of Europe and was eager to go.

The Chinese legation in Vienna was headed by Tung Degang, a Hubei native who spoke French but no German. Because of his mastery of German, Ho was active in local cultural and intellectual circles and was in great demand as a speaker on Chinese culture and customs. He had a wide-ranging circle of friends in Vienna, especially among the intelligentsia, many of whom were Jewish. Following the Japanese invasion, Ho also delivered many speeches on the Sino-Japanese conflict, and made front page news speaking before  the Austrian parliament. He wrote a book “China Verteidigt Sich” (China Defends Itself), and regularly debated the Japanese chancellor in local newspapers.[2]

At the time, Vienna had the third largest Jewish community in Europe, and nine-tenths of Austrian Jews lived in the city. It was a cultural and intellectual hub, and although Jews made up less than 10 percent of its population, they dominated artistic and academic spheres. Because of intermarriage, conversions and low birthrates, the Jews of Vienna seemed to be assimilated into the society at large. But it was only skin deep as Austrian anti-Semitism remained just below the surface, waiting to erupt.[3]

Following the annexation, all foreign embassies and legations in Austria were closed.  Consulates were established in their stead,  reporting to their respective embassies in Berlin. Tung was transferred to Turkey, and Ho got orders to dissolve the legation and to set up a consulate general. It would be in the same building at 3 Beethoven Platz. In May, 1938, Ho was appointed the Chinese Consul General in Vienna. The former legation staff was reduced to Ho, who was in charge of the consulate, and one subordinate, a vice consul named Chou Chiyang, who handled the clerical paperwork.[4]

With the German takeover, Austrian anti-Semitism erupted in full force. Ho recalled: “At this time, the anti-Jewish campaign intensified. Many Jewish owned properties and shops were ransacked by the Nazis and their owners deported to concentration camps.” The persecution of Jews was brutal and public. Austrian persecution of Jews was so fierce and brutal that it became a model for the Germans.[5]

In his book "Nazi Germany and the Jews," Saul Friedlander wrote of that period immediately after the Anschluss:

“The persecution in Austria, particularly in Vienna, outpaced that in the Reich.  Public humiliation was more blatant and sadistic; expropriation better organized, forced emigration more rapid. The Austrians - their country renamed Ostmark... seemed more avid for anti-Jewish action than the citizens of what now became the old Reich. Violence had already started before the Wehrmacht crossed the border, despite officials efforts to curb its most chaotic and moblike aspects, it lasted for several weeks. The populace relished the public shows of degradation; countless crooks from all walks of life, either wearing party uniforms or merely improvised swastika armbands, applied threats and extortion on the grandest scale: Money, jewelry, furniture, cars, apartments, and businesses were grabbed from their terrified Jewish owners.”[6]

“A Liberal Policy”

Less than a month after the annexation, the first Austrian Jews were deported to Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps. They were told that if they emigrated from Austria immediately, they would be released.[7] Many Austrian Jews wanted to emigrate to the United States, but the US had long ago filled its Austrian quota. The US also required an affidavit guaranteeing financial sponsorship. Those who wished to go to Palestine found that Britain, under pressure from the Arabs, had severely reduced the quota for Jewish emigrants.[8] The plight of Austrian Jews was further exacerbated by the July 13 resolution of the Evian Conference, which made it evident that none of the 32 participating states was willing to open its doors to Jewish emigrants.[9]

Vienna became the center for emigration of Austrian Jews.[10] All the  foreign consulates in the city were besieged by desperate Jews day after day, but most did not offer help. Among them, was the British consulate which posted a sign saying no visas would be issued; the French consulate would not accept visa applications. The Swiss demanded that Jews should be identified by a “J” stamped on their passports in order to bar them from crossing the border.[11]

Ho recalled: “Since the annexation of Austria by Germany, the persecution of the Jews by Hitler’s ‘devils’  became increasingly fierce. The fate of Austrian Jews was tragic, persecution a daily occurrence. There were American religious and charitable organizations which were urgently trying to save the Jews. I secretly kept in close contact with these organizations. I spared no effort in using any means possible. Innumerable Jews were thus saved.”[12]

Ho wrote in his memoirs:  “The attitude of the Chinese government concerning visas for Jews was not consistent, and problems arose because of this.  We had received the order from the Ministry of foreign affairs that we should accept the application of the Jews for visas and that we should be tolerant of them.  Furthermore, Director Kong Xiang-xi openly showed sympathy for the Jews, and even spoke of opening the island of Hainan for their refuge.  (Kong was director of the Executive Yuan, which is the equivalent of the chief executive of the government or Prime Minister.)”[13]

Having been turned down by other consulates, Jews were coming to the Chinese Consulate, which issued them visas to Shanghai, China. Shanghai and its harbor was under Japanese occupation and a visa was not necessarily required for entry. But a visa, as proof of emigration, was necessary for Jews to be able to leave Austria. Ho knew that the Chinese visas would provide a way for Jews to escape to other parts of the world, including Palestine, the United States and Canada.

The United States was the most desired destination for Austrian Jews.  At the time, the US had a limited quota and it was difficult for immigrants to obtain a visa.  Desperate Jewish refugees turned to foreign consulates for destination visas and, with the exception of the Chinese consulate, few were cooperative with Austrian Jews seeking to escape.

After the Anschluss, Hedy Durlester’s father, Fritz Heiduschka, was arrested, as were many Jewish heads of household. His wife Margarete, obtained a visa from the Chinese Consulate in Vienna and presented it to the Nazi authorities. He was released within hours. The family, using Chinese visas, escaped from Austria and found shelter in Manila, the Philippine Islands.[14]

The families of those who were rounded up, imprisoned and sent to concentration camps by the Nazis could  show the Chinese visa as proof of emigration and secure their release. One such family was that of Eric Goldstaub. A 17-year-old Viennese Jew, whose father owned a successful sewing accessories business, Goldstaub had spent months visiting 50 consulates in Vienna, trying without success to secure visas for himself and family members after the Anschluss. He eventually went to the Chinese Consulate, and on July 20, 1938, obtained 20 visas for himself and his extended family. On the strength of these visas, the family procured ship’s tickets to Shanghai. But before their departure, both Goldstaub and his father were arrested and imprisoned by the Nazis on Kristallnacht.

They would have shared the fate of many of their fellow prisoners and have been sent to the concentration camps had they not had the visas as proof of emigration. The Goldstaubs were released within a few days and embarked on their journey to Shanghai.[15]

In the months following the Anschluss,  the Chinese Consulate issued thousands of visas to Shanghai. The numbers increased as word spread.[16]  By September 23, 1938, when the brother of Ady Lagstein Bluds went to apply for Chinese visas for his family, there was such a “throng” in front of the Consulate that he despaired of ever getting in and resorted to jumping the line. According to Mrs. Bluds: “After waiting in line himself for what seemed an eternity, Norbert had an idea. He went home and with his fountain pen carefully copied onto a clean envelope a series of Chinese characters which he gleaned from the family encyclopedia. Returning to the Chinese Consulate, he went straight up to the Austrian policeman standing guard, held up the envelope and barked officiously: ‘Special Delivery for the Consul!’ The policeman immediately let him in. Once inside, Norbert stuffed the envelope into his pocket, took out the passports and applied for visas.”[17]  

When Hans Kraus went to the Chinese Consulate to obtain visas for his family, the lines were so long, that he waited for days. As his wife, Gerda Gottlieb Kraus recalled about her late husband:

“He was 19 years-old at the time. There were long, long lines in front of the Consulate and while people were waiting, the Gestapo was outside harassing them and beating them up. There were so many people that Hans stood in line for many days, wondering when he would be able to get in. One day, when he lined up again, he saw the Chinese Consul General’s car about to enter the Consulate. He saw that the car window was open, so he thrust his visa application paper through the open car window. Apparently, the Consul General received it because he then got a call and received the visas.

“My husband left Vienna for Shanghai with his mother, Irma Kraus, his brother, Dr. Egon Kraus,  and his sister-in-law, Dr. Anna Kraus in 1939. His father had already passed away.”[18]

Among  those who obtained Chinese visas but did not go to Shanghai were the three Lillienthal siblings, the children of a prominent and well-to-do family in Vienna. Karl, the only male sibling,  was arrested on Kristallnacht and imprisoned in Dachau. The Nazis refused to release him despite many efforts by his father, who had been a well known lawyer. It was only after Karl's sister, Ricarda,  obtained and presented a Chinese visa, that he was released.  With Chinese visas, the three siblings, Karl, Ricarda and Lillit, the youngest sister, who was then 12-years-old, left Austria and made their way to Palestine.[19]

Ho had a difficult decision to make regarding continuing to issue visas to Jews.  Reflecting back in his memoirs, he stated:  “But the ambassador to Germany, Chen Chieh (1885-1951), a member of the same government and my direct superior, had a different attitude.  He maintained that, since Hitler was against the Jews, we should adopt his views in order to maintain friendly relations with Germany.  He instructed me by telephone to restrict the issuance of visas to Jews.  I told him about the order from the ministry that we should be tolerant of the Jews.  He disagreed vehemently by phone.  He said, ‘leave it to me to clear the matter with Shu-mo (Xu Shu-mo the Vice Minister of foreign affairs.)  In the meantime, do as I say,’. I assented, assuming that the ministry would quickly issue new instructions.  But we waited in vain.  Therefore, I allowed vice consul, Zhao to continue issuing visas.  According to the ministry’s original instructions.  Ambassador Chen was furious when he learned about this.  Furthermore, Zhao’s, human relations were very poor.  The rumors were reported to the ambassador that he was corrupt and had illegally sold visas.  He took the opportunity to ‘expose’ the corruption by instructing his Counselor Ding Wen-yuan (1897-1957) to come to the consulate to investigate it.”[20]

Consul General Ho continued to maintain a liberal visa policy. This so angered the ambassador that he sent a subordinate, Chancellor Ding Wen Yuan (1897-1957) to Vienna on the pretext of investigating rumors that the Consulate was “selling”  visas.  Ho stated in his memoirs: “Counselor Ding arrived from Berlin to Vienna without informing us.  He told us his purpose only after his arrival.  His attitude was severe, as if he were confronting a great enemy.  He first wanted to examine our documents.  He wanted to find out if it was as I had said, that the ministry had a “policy of leniency” regarding visas for Jews.  He then wanted to investigate whether Zhou had been corrupt in issuing visas for money.  After a thorough investigation, he could find nothing at fault on these two points.  Counselor Ding then asked me, ‘Why is there a rumor that there is corruption?’  I answered, ‘One cannot believe in rumors.  According to common sense, the so-called ‘policy of leniency’ is the ordinary policy of allowing any applicant to receive a visa.  If one can get a visa so easily, why should one wish to buy one?  On the other hand, if the visa was hard to get, and Shanghai was like America, a place that all Jews wanted to go, there might be room for corruption.  But the facts are that there has been no corruption, and the rumors about Zhou are false.’ Ding had to agree with what I said.  I don’t know what he reported to the Ambassador.”[21]  Ding returned to Berlin and was not heard from again. Ho never knew what he reported to the ambassador, but knew a report would be sent to the Foreign Ministry in China.

Consul General Ho continued an active diplomatic life in Vienna. But he was careful.  Given his actions, he may well have jeopardized his own career. He had his wife and 11 year-old son, Monto, with him.

As David Kranzler reported in his book: "Japanese, Nazis and Jews", one Gestapo agent told a Jewish prisoner leaving Dachau for Shanghai: “Don't be under any illusions, our reach is quite long. Even to China!”[22]


Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass

On November 7, 1938, a young German Jewish refugee named Herschel Grynszpan killed the third secretary of the German Embassy in Paris. In retaliation, the Nazis unleashed Kristallnacht, the worst pogrom that had yet taken place in Germany on November 9, 1938, and in Vienna on November 10. In Vienna, dozens of synagogues were destroyed, 12,000 Jewish workshops and 5,000 Jewish shops were ransacked and closed. Jewish homes were broken into and their inhabitants arrested by the Gestapo. Some 30,000 Austrian and German Jews were deported to concentration camps.[23] 

Kristallnacht in Vienna began on the morning of November 10, 1938. That day, Consul General Ho had arranged to personally see a Jewish friend and his family off on their journey to China. He had provided them with Chinese visas to Shanghai. The friend,  Mr. Rosenburg,  was an oil company executive. He and his family had tried to emigrate to the US but were unable to obtain American visas, so Ho persuaded them to go to Shanghai.  Ho described his visit to Mr. Rosenburg in his memoir:

“In 1939, an indignant young Jewish man killed the third secretary of the German Embassy in Paris.  Hitler was enraged.  He ordered that all Jews in Greater Germany be restricted to their homes without freedom to move.  They were to wait for the police to investigate.  As it happened, I was scheduled to go that very day to the home of an executive of the standard oil company, Mr. Rosenberg, to say goodbye.  Because he was an Austrian Jew, his life and property were no longer assured.  He wanted to move with his entire family to the United States.  But he could not get a visa in time.  He decided to go to Shanghai first.  He had already gotten a visa from us and was ready to leave on the very day when all Jews were ordered to remain in their houses.  Things were happening so quickly, yet in his hurry.  He did not forget our meeting and suggested by phone that I should not go to his home.  I felt obstinate at the moment and felt that a planned meeting date should be kept.  So I went anyway.

“Mrs. Rosenberg met me at the door.  She said that her husband had already been taken away for interrogation.  I was very surprised and asked whether there was any danger.  She said, ‘the person who took them away was a servant in the company who was a Nazi.  Because my husband treated people  well, it is unlikely that he will be in danger.  I think he will return safely.’  I felt relieved.  I was sitting and waiting in the sitting room when the bell rang.  I thought that Mr. Rosenberg had come back.  The maid went to the door and said, as is customary in Austria, ‘Gruss Gott (God greet You)!’  Immediately, she heard an answer in a rough, ‘what do you mean, God or no God?  Heil Hitler!’  Two arrogant plainclothesmen came charging in.  Mrs. Rosenberg went to meet them.  They said, ‘We have come to search you.’  Mrs. Rosenberg said very politely, but with some trepidation, ‘We have already been searched twice.’ ‘Then you will be searched once more’, said one of them roughly.

“At the same time, I sat silently in the sitting room, smoking a cigarette and wondering how I would deal with these two ruffians.  They came into the sitting room and saw me.  One of them asked who I was.  I said I was a friend of the man of the house, and I was waiting for him to come back so I could say goodbye to him. ‘Then let me see your identification card!’  He commanded.  I said smilingly, ’That’s okay.  But who are you?  Let me see your identification card first.’  On hearing this, he stared at me angrily.  He canvassed me up and down.  In the meantime, the other fellow, with his hat awry, eyed me malignantly.  Without saying a word, he withdrew with his right hand from his coat pocket, a revolver and pointed it at me to intimidate me.  The first fellow then asked me, ‘What kind of a person are you?’  I said frankly,’ I already told you; it is easy to identify me.  But according to procedure, you must first identify yourself.’  From my demeanor, he probably suspected I was speaking with some authority.  He seemed to back off a bit.  But using Hitler’s style of pontification, he said loudly, ‘Our leader has said you foreigners should not enjoy special privileges in Germany.  Since these privileges have been abolished, you have no right to be so audacious.’  He waxed more and more self-righteous as he spoke, but since I did not seem to pay attention, he realized that there was nothing more to be done.  He said to his companion, ‘Let’s go.’  They did not bother to search.  On parting he asked Mrs. Rosenberg who I was.  She said I was the Chinese Consul General.  He slammed the door and scolded her, ‘God , damn it, why didn’t you say so.  Earlier?’  Soon after they left, Mr. Rosenberg returned.  Mrs. Rosenberg told him about the visit of the plainclothesmen.  He apologized to me repeatedly, saying, ‘These people are unreasonable.  Fortunately, no harm was done.  Otherwise, how would I be forgiven?’  I said, ‘This is not your fault.  You have done nothing wrong.’  Later, the Rosenberg’s safely arrived in Shanghai.  They lived tolerably well during the war.  He wrote a book, thanking China’s generosity.  One chapter in it described the above events.  He admired me for acting righteously in the face of a wrong.”[24]

Other families did not have such personal intervention on Kristallnacht. The number of Jewish families seeking Chinese visas escalated even further after Kristallnacht as the means to free those members deported to concentration camps. One such family was that of Bernard Grossfeld, who was six years-old at the time. His father Morris, a bank officer in Vienna, hid in the closet on Kristallnacht as the SS kicked down the door of their home and ransacked the apartment. The elder Grossfeld was discovered, arrested and sent to Dachau where he languished for months. He was released only after Bernard’s mother, Stella, obtained and presented to Nazi authorities Chinese visas as proof of emigration. With this proof of emigration, she purchased steamship tickets to Shanghai. Bernard recalled that be barely recognized his father, who upon his release, had lost a great deal of weight and had a shaved head. The three Grossfelds took a train to Genoa where they boarded the Count Rosso and sailed to Shanghai in July 1939.[25]

Grim and tragic times

Less than a year after the Chinese Consulate was established, the Nazis announced that they were confiscating the building, which was Jewish-owned. The landlord, Mr. Goldman, was in Switzerland.

Consul General Ho asked the Chinese government for the necessary funds to relocate the Consulate. The government refused, saying that China was at war and no funds were available.Ho was able to find much smaller facilities for the Consulate.He moved there and paid all the expenses himself. The new Consulate was at 22 Johannes Gasse, facing the ice skating rink right off the Stadtplatz. It was also owned by Jews and they were willing to rent it at a price that Ho could afford to pay out of his own pocket.[26]

Leaving Vienna

By the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, nearly 70 percent of the 185,246
Jews in Austria during the Anschluss had emigrated.[27]Some 18,000 European Jewish refugees had fled to Shanghai.In July of that year, attempts to obtain transit visas to Shanghai via Poland and Russia were curtailed by the Soviet Union. In August , the Japanese overseers of Shanghai began to close the doors to further Jewish emigration.[28]

In May 1940, Consul General Feng Shan Ho left Vienna. There was little more that he could do. After 1941 and the Wannsee Conference, Nazi policy had switched from coerced emigration to the deportation and murder of Jews.[29] In 1941, the year the US entered the war, China broke relations with Germany and the Chinese consulate general in Vienna was closed.

Dean of the Diplomats

Feng Shan Ho joined the Chinese Nationalist government and its foreign service in 1935. After his posting in Vienna, Ho spent World War II involved in China’s war efforts against Japan. He was first assigned to Washington, DC in military affairs, and later headed the information section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China’s wartime capital of Chungking.

In 1947, Ho began a nine-year tenure in Cairo, serving as ambassador to Egypt and seven other Middle Eastern countries. He became the doyen (or dean) of the diplomatic corps. In 1949, China’s civil war concluded with the Communist victory on the mainland. The Nationalists fled to Taiwan. Many other Chinese diplomats abandoned their posts during this unstable period. Ambassador Ho, considered a top-ranking diplomat, received exhortations from the Communists to join their government. He chose to remain loyal to the Nationalists. Ho’s subsequent posting was ambassador to Mexico, where he served for eight years. His last two assignments were as ambassador to Bolivia, followed by Colombia.

In 1973, after four decades in the diplomatic service, Feng Shan Ho retired to San Francisco. In retirement, he wrote his memoirs: “Forty Years of My Diplomatic Life,” published in 1990.On September 28, 1997, he died at his home at the age of 96. He was never reunited with any of the people he had helped.


Dr. Feng Shan Ho was among the first diplomats to save Jews by issuing them visas to escape the Nazis. Yet, he was largely unknown, even by those he had saved.

Ho was born in rural Yiyang, Hunan Province, on September 10, 1901. His name Feng Shan means “Phoenix on the Mountain.” Poor and fatherless by age seven, he and his family were helped by the Norwegian Lutheran Mission in China. He was educated in their schools.He received a Ph.D. in political economics from the University of Munich, Germany, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1932.


The gifts Heaven bestows are not by chance,
The convictions of heroes not lightly formed.
Today I summon all spirit and strength,
Urging my steed forward ten thousand miles.

- Dr. Feng Shan Ho, January 1, 1947



Fact Sheet: Aid and Rescue of Jews in Europe and Survival in Austria, 1933-1945

Compiled by Eric Saul
Updated November 26, 2019

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the number of Jews who survived the Holocaust in Austria. Austria had a high survival rate among the Jewish community, due to a number of factors. Some of the factors that contributed to the survival rate of Jews include rescue by diplomats, (Dr. Feng Shan Ho, Dr. Frank Foley, Raymond Hermann Geist, Kauko Supanen, and others; see below), state officials, church officials, rescue networks and organizations. A number of rescue networks spanned different countries and regions. Please see the bibliography that we have included in this document.

“If you save the life of one person, it is as if you saved the world entire.”
- Talmud

Jews of Austria – 73% (135,000 survived, 48,000-50,000 lost)[30] Pre-Anschluss Jewish population was 185,000. 126,455 Jews were able to emigrate from Austria after the Anschluss in 1938 until October, 1941. They emigrated to 89 countries including 30,850 to England 28,000 to the United States, 11,589 to South and Central America, 28,700 to Asia (18,000 to china), and 9,190 to Palestine. In all 128,500 Austrian Jews successfully escaped from the country.[31]109 Austrians have been honored for rescuing Jews.[32]



Other Diplomats Who Contributed to the Rescue and Relief of Jews in Austria

Frank Foley,* British Vice Consul in Charge of Visas in Berlin, 1933-1939

Frank Foley was a Vice Consul in charge of visas in the British embassy in Berlin from 1929 to 1939.He also worked as an MI6 intelligence agent.Jewish officials estimate that he issued ten thousand visas to Jewish refugees between 1933 and 1939.Ironically, these actions were a time when the British government was anxious to limit immigration, particularly to Palestine.Despite British policy of giving few visas to Jews, it was known that Foley did everything he could to help. Frank Foley was designated by the State of Israel as Righteous Among the Nations in 1999.

[Gutman, 2007, pp. 169-170.Smith, Michael. Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews. (London: Hodder & Stroughten, 1999).]


Dr. Raymond Herman Geist, American Consul General and First Secretary, US Embassy in Berlin, 1929-39

Between 1929 and 1939, Dr. Raymond Herman Geist was the American Consul General in Berlin.Geist sent a number of reports to the State Department about the increasing persecution of Jews between 1933 and 1939.In December 1938, Geist warned Assistant Secretary of State Messersmith that the Jews of Germany were being condemned to death, and urged measures to rescue them.In May 1939, Geist sent another warning to Washington stating that if resettlement opportunities did not open up soon, the Jews of Germany would be doomed.In a letter to his former supervisor in Washington, Geist wrote:“The Jews in Germany are being condemned to death and their sentence will be slowly carried out; but probably too fast for the world to save them…After we have saved these refugees, and the Catholics and Protestants have not become new victims of the wrath here, we could break off relations and prepare to join in a war against them [the Germans].We shall have to do so sooner or later; as France and England will be steadily pushed to the wall and eventually to save ourselves we shall have to save them.The European situation was lost to the democracies at Munich and the final situation is slowly being prepared.The age lying before us will witness great struggles and the outcome when it comes will determine the fate of civilization for a century or more.”During the period of 1938-39, he helped many Jews and anti-Nazis to emigrate from Germany.He personally intervened on behalf of these refugees with the Nazi high officials.He did this well beyond his official duties as Consul General.Further, he helped Jews and others who were under imminent threat of deportation to the concentration camps leave Germany.Geist opposed the transfer of German quotas to US consulates outside of Nazi Germany.He did this because he felt German Jews were in much more danger than Jews in other parts of Europe at the time.Geist also issued letters to German refugees indicating that they appeared to be eligible for visas, and that their quota number would come up soon.Often, these letters were sufficient to have people released from Nazi concentration camps.The letters were also used to help refugees gain entry to neighboring countries.Geist was encouraged not to follow this practice.

[Breitman, Richard, The Berlin Mission: The American Who Resisted Nazi Germany from Within. (New York: Public Affairs, 2019).Breitman, Richard and Alan M. Kraut, American Refugee Policy and European Jews. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), p. 40, 43, 45-46, 54-55, 64-69, 258 n. 58, 265 n. 72.Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), p. 10. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), p. 724. Shafir, Shlomo. “American Diplomats in Berlin (1933-1939) and their Attitude to the Nazi Persecution of the Jews.” Yad Vashem Studies, 9 (1973), pp. 98, 102-103.Rublee, George. “The Reminiscences of George Rublee.” Columbia University Oral History Collection.Feingold, Henry L. “Who Shall Bear the Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma.” American Jewish History, 7, 22-24.Geist to Secretary of State, 5 March 1934, 150.626J/74, RG 59, NA-WNRC, as cited in Feingold, Henry L. “Who Shall Bear the Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma.” American Jewish History, 7, 22-24. Geist to Secretary of State, 10 September 1934, 150.062 PD/705, RG 59, NA-WNRC, as cited in Feingold, Henry L. “Who Shall Bear the Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma.” American Jewish History, 7, 22-24.Data cited by Raymond Geist, then quota control officer in Berlin and quoted in “Troubleshooter in Berlin,” New York Times, 23 July 1939, as cited in Feingold, Henry L. “Who Shall Bear the Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma.” American Jewish History, 7, 22-24.]


Kauko Supanen, Vice Consul for Finland in Vienna, Austria, 1938-?

After the German Anschluss (annexation of Austria) in March 1938, several hundred foreign Jews arrived in Finland.Most were in transit to other countries, but some stayed.At first, the Finnish government had no consistent policy regarding Jewish refugees.The Finnish Vice Consul in Vienna, Kauko Supanen, generously granted provisional visas to Jews.On August 13, 1938, 50 Jews on the ship Ariadne sailed into Helsinki harbor and were allowed to enter Finland.A week later, 60 Jews on the same ship were refused entry.Supanen pretended to act out of ignorance of the Home Office visa policy.He told refugees as late as August 1938 that Finland was open to Jews bearing Austrian passports, with or without visas.He thus allowed many Austrian Jews to immigrate to Finland.Supanen received a severe reprimand for his conduct from the Foreign ministry in Helsinki.In his reprimand, it said: “As a responsible officer, you are forbidden to give advice apt to generate a flood of aliens seeking to enter Finland.It is your duty to prevent such a flood with all your might.”

[Rautkallio, Hanno. Finland and the Holocaust: The Rescue of Finland's Jews, pp. 65-70. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1987). Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990). Yale Holocaust Encyclopedia, p. 204.]



Other Chinese Diplomats Who Contributed to the Rescue and Relief of Jews in Europe

There were other Chinese diplomats aiding Jews in Europe besides Dr. Ho.Here is a partial list that we have compiled.Many Jewish survivors have come forward with examples of visas issued by Chinese diplomats in consulates in Berlin, Hamburg, Marseilles and Milan.Examples of these visas and stamped passports can be found in archival collections of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, and many other regional and local Holocaust centers and archives.


Kong Xiang-Xi, Director of the Executive Yuan (Finance Minister)

Kong Xiang-Xi, Director of the Executive Yuan (Finance Minister), was sympathetic to the plight of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe.This positive attitude toward Jews may have been reflected in the willingness of various Chinese consulate offices to issue visas to Jewish refugees.Dr. Feng Shan Ho, Consul General in Austria, used this justification for continuing to aid Jews in the face of opposition from the Chinese ambassador in Berlin, Chen Chieh.Ho said the following about Director Kong Xiang-Xi in his autobiography:

“The attitude of the Chinese government concerning visas for Jews was not consistent, and problems arose because of this.We had received the order from the Ministry of foreign affairs that we should accept the application of the Jews for visas and that we should be tolerant of them.Furthermore, Director Kong Xiang-xi openly showed sympathy for the Jews, and even spoke of opening the island of Hainan for their refuge.(Kong was director of the Executive Yuan, which is the equivalent of the chief executive of the government or Prime Minister.)But the ambassador to Germany, Chen Chieh (1885-1951), a member of the same government and my direct superior, had a different attitude.He maintained that, since Hitler was against the Jews, we should adopt his views in order to maintain friendly relations with Germany.He instructed me by telephone to restrict the issuance of visas to Jews.I told him about the order from the ministry that we should be tolerant of the Jews.He disagreed vehemently by phone.He said, ‘leave it to me to clear the matter with Shu-mo (Xu Shu-mo the Vice Minister of foreign affairs.)In the meantime, do as I say,’. I assented, assuming that the ministry would quickly issue new instructions.But we waited in vain.Therefore, I allowed vice consul, Zhao to continue issuing visas.According to the ministry’s original instructions.Ambassador Chen was furious when he learned about this.”

[Ho, Feng Shan. Forty Years of My Diplomatic Life. (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1991). / Ho Feng-Shan, translated and edited by Monto Ho. My Forty Years as a Diplomat. (Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing, 2010), pp. 45-49.]


Lai Sai Lo, Chinese Diplomat in Milan, Italy, 1939-?

This diplomat issued visas to Austrian Jewish families.There is a copy of a visa issued to a Jewish family that states:“Vu au Consulat de Chine à Milan pour la Lombardie, pour se rendre en Chine, Milan le 10 Febrier 1939, Le Consul.”There is a Chinese signature chop with the name Lai Sai Lo and a seal of the Consulat de la Republique de Chine a Milan.

[Kranzler, David. Thy Brother’s Blood: The Orthodox Jewish Response During the Holocaust. (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah, 1987), p. 195 (see also footnote 4).]


Li Yu-Ying, Chinese Consul, Marseilles, France, 1940

Li Yu-Ying was the acting Chinese Consul in Marseilles in 1940.He was also the President of the National Academy there.Many refugees in Marseilles received a visa stamp from Li Yu-Ying.In Chinese characters that virtually no one could read, the stamp read, “Under no circumstances is this person to be allowed entrance to China.”Anxious refugees used the visa stamp as an exit visa.Frank Bohn, of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), Varian Fry of the Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC), and other rescue and relief agencies utilized many of these Chinese visas to help refugees leave France for Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe.

[Fry, Varian. Surrender on Demand. (New York: Random House, 1945), pp. 15-17. Marino, Andy. A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999), pp. 108, 119.]


Chinese Diplomat in Berlin, Germany, 1938-1939

A number of Chinese visas were issued by the Chinese embassy in Berlin.Copies of these visas are in the collection of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives.They were issued to Jewish refugees who used them to leave Germany and, in some cases, go to Shanghai.

[US Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC.]


Chinese Diplomat in Hamburg, Germany, 1939

A number of Chinese visas were issued by the Chinese consulate in Hamburg.Copies of these visas are in the collection of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives.They were issued to Jewish refugees who used them to leave Germany and, in some cases, go to Shanghai.

There is a copy of a Chinese visa issued to a Jewish family, which states “Multiple entry to Shanghai for one year, Republic of China, July 10, 1939, issued in Hamburg, Germany.” This visa was issued to the grandfather of Claudia Cornwall.

[Cornwall, Claudia. Letter from Vienna: A daughter uncovers her family’s Jewish Past. (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1995), pp. 58-61. / US Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC.]



[1] References: "The Anschluss and the Tragedy of Austrian Jewry 1938-1945", Herbert Rosenkranz from an anthology edited by Josef Fraenkel, The Jews of Austria. “The Viennese” by Paul Hoffmann, Anchor Press. “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William L. Shirer, Simon and Schuster. "Escape to Shanghai” James R. Ross, The Free Press, 1994.

[2]"Forty Years of My Diplomatic Life”, the memoirs of Feng Shan Ho. Chinese University Press, Hong Kong. Published in Chinese in 1990, pp. 69-75

[3] “The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Austria 1938-1942" Norman Bentwich from The Jews of Austria, edited by Joseph Fraenkel.  Ross, pp. 11-12.              

[4] Ho, translated by Monto Ho, 2010, pp. 31.

[5] “Vienna and its Jews”, by George E. Berkely, Abt Books, p. 306-307. Ross, p. 15

[6] “Nazi Germany and the Jews, Volume 1: The Years of Persecution, 1933-1939,” by Saul Friedlander, HarperCollins Publishers, 1977, pp. 241-242

[7] Rosenkranz, p. 502. Ross, pp.14-15

[8] Hoffman, p. 245. Ross, p. 17

[9] Rosenkranz, p. 490.

[10] The Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust, MacMillan Publishing Company, NY, 1990, p. 129

[11] Hoffmann, p. 245.

[12] Ho, translated by Monto Ho, 2010, pp. 45-46.

[13] Ho, translated by Monto Ho, 2010, p. 46.

[14] Testimony of Hedy Durlester, Santa Rosa, California.

[15] Testimony of Eric Goldstaub, Ontario, Canada.  Another Chinese visa recipient was Dr. Sam Didner, who departed for Shanghai on November 17, 1938. He is profiled in Ross’s book. Didner confirmed to his friend Curt E. Fuchs, also a Shanghai survivor, that as a resident of Graz, he (Didner) had not heard about Shanghai, but had heard that the Chinese consulate in Vienna was issuing visas. He went there and got one. It was not until Didner reached Shanghai that he was aware that many other European Jews had fled there as well. 

[16]  Of the very few existing visas preserved by survivors, a visa to Shanghai issued to Fritz Heiduschka on June 20, 1938 was numbered 256. A month later, Oscar Fiedler obtained visa number 1,193. In one two week period, Hugo Seeman and Hans Kraus obtained visas to Shanghai numbered 1,495 and 1,906.

[17] Testimony of Mrs. Ady Lagstein Bluds, New York, NY.

[18] Testimony of Gerda Gottlieb Kraus, Vancouver, Canada.

[19] Testimony of Lillit Lillienthal Doron and her son Benjamin (Bazi) Doron, New-Ziona, Israel.

[20] Ho, translated by Monto Ho, p. 46.

[21] Ho translated by Monto Ho, 2010, p. 46

[22] Japanese, Nazis & Jews” by David Kranzler, Yeshiva University Press,  p.477

[23] Schirer, pp.430-432. Rosenkranz, pp. 496-499. The Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust, p. 1568. “Country Without a Name”, by Walter B. Maas, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., N.Y.,  p. 420

[24] Ho, translated by Monto Ho, 2010, pp. 47-48.

[25] Testimony of Dr. Bernard Grossfeld, Chicago, Ill.

[26] Ibid, p. 87

[27] Rosenkranz, p.486. Beckwith, p. 474, and other sources. The exact figure as to the number of Jewish emigrants varies from source to source.

[28] Kranzler, pp.267-276.

[29] Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust, p. 1,568

[30] Bauer & Rozett, in Gutman, 1990, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, s.v. “Estimated Losses in the Holocaust,” pp. 1799-1800; Benz, in Laqueur, 2001, The Holocaust Encyclopedia, s.v. “Death Toll,” p. 145, states 48,767 were lost; Hilberg, 1985, p. 1221

[31] Fraenkel, 1967; Moser,1975; Rosenkranz, in Gutman, 1990, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, s.v. “Austria,” pp. 131-132, states 65,000 Austrian Jews perished

[32] Borut, in Bender & Weiss, 2007, Encyclopedia of the Righteous among the Nations: Europe (Part I) and Other Countries, s.v. “Historical Introduction,” p. xviii; Bender & Weiss, 2007, Encyclopedia of the Righteous among the Nations: Europe (Part I) and Other Countries, s.v. “Austria,” pp. 1-36

 

Updated November 26, 2019

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