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Feng Shan Ho

Dr. Feng Shan Ho was born in 1901, in rural Yiyang in Hunan Province, China. His name Feng Shan means “Phoenix on the Mountain.” His family were poor and his father died when he was seven, but he made the most of his education and became a diplomat. In the spring of 1937, he was appointed first
his diplomatic status, the [Nazis] would not dare harm us as long as he remained in our home. Ho continued to visit our home on a permanent basis to protect us from the Nazis.

Desperate to leave the country, Jews had almost nowhere to go; most countries had strict immigration policies. It was necessary for Jews to obtain visas at that time before they could be allowed to leave Austria. Having been turned down by other consulates, many approached the Chinese legation in desperation. Unlike his fellow-diplomats, Ho issued visas to Shanghai to all requesting them, even to those wishing to travel elsewhere but needing a visa to leave Nazi territory. Many of those helped by Ho did indeed reach Shanghai, either by boat from Italy or overland via the Soviet Union. Many others made use of their visas to reach alternative destinations, including the Philippines and Cuba.

Among them was Lilith Doron’s brother, Karl. He had been arrested and taken to Dachau, but was released thanks to a visa issued by the Chinese consulate on Ho’s instructions. Doron and her
brother were able to leave Vienna in 1939. The number of visas Ho issued is not known, but it probably amounts to thousands. Around 70,000 Austrian Jews perished under the Nazis. Consul General Ho’s immediate supervisor, Chen Jia, the Chinese ambassador in
Berlin, was adamantly opposed to giving visas to Jews. He wanted good diplomatic relations with Germany and did not want to undermine Hitler’s anti-Semitic policy. Having learned that the Chinese Consul in Vienna was issuing a large numbers of
visas to Jews, Chen Jia called Ho by telephone and ordered him to discontinue this practice. But Ho countered by saying that the Chinese foreign ministry’s orders were to maintain a liberal policy in this regard. This so angered the Ambassador that he sent his subordinate to Vienna on the pretext of investigating rumours that the Consul was selling visas. The investigator arrived unannounced from Berlin and finding no evidence of wrongdoing, returned to Berlin. While Ho continued to maintain an active diplomatic life under German rule, he had to be very careful about jeopardizing his career. The Nazis confiscated his consulate building on the grounds that it was Jewish-owned. When Ho asked the Chinese government for funds to relocate the consul, the foreign ministry refused his request, claiming that war-torn China had no funds to spare. He was forced to find smaller facilities, paying the expenses out of his own pocket.

After a long diplomatic career, Ho retired in 1973, and died in 1997, at the age of 96. It was only after his death that evidence by survivors who benefited from Ho’s aid began to be known. After carefully evaluating the case, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem awarded Feng-Shan Ho the title of ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ for his humanitarian courage.
“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.”
Dr. Feng Shan Ho

• Feng Shan Ho (pdf)