The ‘Chinese Schindler’ who saved thousands of Jews

When European Jews targeted by the Nazis sought help from nations around the world, most of their pleas went unanswered: At a 1938 conference of 32 countries, for instance, only the tiny Dominican Republic agreed to welcome additional German Jewish evacuees. Countries such as the United States, Canada and Cuba, meanwhile, turned away ships of desperate refugees at ports and tightened immigration laws. While most places shut Jews out, one offered safe harbor: Shanghai, a city then under Japanese occupation. About 20,000 Jews settled in Shanghai between 1938 and 1941. But by 1943, Japan—under pressure from its German allies—had forced these stateless refugees into a one-square-mile ghetto. 

Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum

I visited the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum last week which is one of the best designed, and most moving museums in Shanghai. The museum focuses through the experiences of the refugees, many of whom fled Europe stripped of funds or assets. The first room of exhibitions remembers Dr. Ho Feng-Shan 何凤山, the Chinese consul general to Vienna from 1938 to 1940, one of the first foreign officials to save Jews from the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Europe by issuing visa to the refuges. The exhibit documents the various routes and passages to Shanghai from Europe. The exhibit also details the lives of the people, from how they entered the city to what the living conditions were like. Many of the Shanghai locals, in spite of their own hardships, welcomed their new neighbors and shared what little they had, whether that meant housing, medical care, or just simple kindness. Despite the challenges, the Jewish refugees established businesses and managed to thrive. The settlement soon took on the appearance of a German or Austrian city; a road was called “Little Vienna” for its cafes, shops and nightclubs. Theater groups and an orchestra were formed, sports teams sprang up, and various publications produced by editors and journalists among the refugees were circulated.

There is a wall outside of the museum that lists the names of the Jewish refugees that had populated the area. Many of the exhibits were donated by the refugees and their descendants. After 1945, the Jewish communities mostly moved to either Europe or to new shores in Israel or the Americas. Only a handful of mostly half-Chinese Jews stayed in Shanghai after 1949. However, all the refuges were grateful with Shanghai for saving their lives and the beautiful poem in the last photo was written by one of them.

Instead of being the golden deer on the Sun, / Or the being the Jade Rabbit on the Moon, / I’d rather be a tree grown on the land of China. / I devote my heart and soul to this nation, / And wish it a prosperous future. / I would cover each inch of the land / To appreciate the beauty of China.

The ‘Chinese Schindler’ who saved thousands of Jews

While reflecting the visit and the action of Ho Feng-Shan, I thought about the leadership quality he demonstrated. 

Born into poverty in rural China, Ho Feng Shan obtained his PhD from the University of Munich in 1932. He joined the Chinese Foreign Service in 1935 and served for nearly 40 years before retiring to San Francisco. Ten years after his death in 1997, in accordance with his wishes, he was buried in his beloved hometown of Yiyang in China's Hunan province. While Ho Feng Shan was alive, nobody, not even his family, was aware of the scope of what he had done in saving the jews during the WWII. We will never know the full extent of his humanitarian efforts.

During 1938 to 1940, Dr. Ho recognized the impossible situations many Jews faced in Europe. His action may have been a reflection of fact that his home country was occupied by the Japanese and many Chinese back in his home country faced similar massacre and prosecution. 

While other countries refused to issue visas in fear of aggravating the Nazi government, Ho took the courage and was probably the first diplomat to really take action to save the Jews. When the Nazis confiscated the premises that housed the embassy because it was owned by a Jew, Ho opened a new office with his own money to continue the rescue.

The visas Ho gave out were unique– they were only for Shanghai, an open port city without any immigration controls and occupied by the Japanese army. Any document or entry visa issued by a Chinese diplomat would certainly not be recognized by the Japanese occupiers. It turns out that the holders of Ho’s visas didn’t all travel to Shanghai but they were able to use the papers to get a transit visa and escape elsewhere – the United States, Palestine, Philippines to name a few destinations. There is no accurate counts of the number of visas he issued. However, his courageous act ultimately saved likely up to twenty thousand Jews.

Compassion, Courage, Action, and Modesty, I see all the quality of a great leader in Dr Ho.

The history of WWII is often told through either a Western lens about the fight against Nazi or the Chinese perspective about resistance against Japanese occupation. It is through the life stories such as those shanghai jews that we can learn more about the global connections, further highlighting the need to realize that how the world is connected more than ever. In todays’s increasingly acrimonious geopolitical environment with many global issues, we need more leaders like Dr Ho to take actions to work together to make the world a better place, rather than dividing the world into self-interested islands.

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