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Feng Shan Ho and the Rescue of Austrian Jews

Dr. Feng Shan Ho was one of the first diplomats to save Jews by issuing them visas to escape the Holocaust. He was responsible for saving thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 and 1939, yet he was completely unknown, even by the people whom he saved.

He was described as a man with a "compassionate heart." That compassion was most likely the result of his background. Born on September 10, 1901, in rural Yiyang in Hunan Province, China, 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. Feng Shan Ho was educated in their schools and felt a lifelong gratitude.

Another lasting influence on Feng Shan Ho was a western liberal arts education. It was at the College of Yale-in-China that he developed his lifelong dedication to mens sana, corpore sano (sound mind, sound body). In 1932, he earned a PhD in political economics at the University of Munich, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Throughout his life, he was tireless in his pursuit of knowledge and self-improvement.

Ho possessed a dynamic, outgoing personality, boundless energy and a hot temper, offset by a quick wit and great sense of humor. But a large part of him was also very Chinese, and firmly rooted in Confucian principles. He named his two children after tenets of Confucianism, "Virtue" and "Decorum." A man of both intellect and passion, he strove all his life to balance the two.

"He knew he had received many gifts from God. "

Assignment: Vienna

Dr. Feng Shan Ho was posted as First Secretary to the Chinese legation in Vienna in the spring of 1937. It was the year Japan invaded China. Ho was from Hunan, a province whose natives were known for their outspokenness, courage and hot tempers. The province was also famous for its warriors and revolutionaries, one of whom was Mao Zedong.

Both in temperament and background, Ho was better suited for the Foreign Service, away from the intrigues of internal Chinese politics. Like most of his generation, he was steeped in Confucian ethics. He also believed in Judeo-Christian principles, and was strongly influenced by a Western education. He was fluent in both English and German. Ho had heard that Vienna was the cultural hub of Europe and was eager to be posted there. The head of the Chinese legation in Vienna spoke French but no German. Because of Ho's mastery of German and his dynamic personality, he was active in local cultural and intellectual circles. He 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.

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 were well represented in artistic and academic spheres. After years of assimilation, the Jews of Vienna seemed to be accepted into Austrian society. But this acceptance was only superficial as Austrian anti-Semitism remained just below the surface, waiting to erupt. 

Following the Anschluss in 1938, all foreign embassies and legations in Austria were closed. Ho got orders to dissolve the legation and set up a Consulate General. He now reported to the Chinese Embassy in Berlin. The Consulate General was located at 2 Beethoven Platz. In May 1938, Ho was appointed the Chinese Consul General in Vienna. The legation staff was reduced to Consul General Ho and one subordinate, a Vice Consul. 

Ho vividly recalled a triumphant Hitler parading through the streets of Vienna. He was horrified by the fanatical welcome the Austrians extended. "They were shouting and extending their arms in the Nazi salute at mass rallies with banners waving. The women were especially zealous."

Ho was invited to meet Adolf Hitler. He was a short little man. Hitler had a ridiculous mustache. He was an unspeakable martinet," Ho later recalled. 

With the German takeover, Austrian anti Semitism erupted in full force. 'Jewish owned businesses were smashed and looted by the Nazis and the Owners arrested. Jewish homes and properties were confiscated. 

Ho recalled: "At this time, the anti Jewish campaign intensified. Many Jewish owned shops were ransacked by Nazis and their owners deported to concentration camps." Ho himself along with other Customers, had been held at gunpoint by roving hands of Nazis who stormed into Viennese cafes looking for Jews. 

Feng Shan Ho was clearly a man with a conscience. The Jews of Austria were increasingly in danger, and they needed help. Ho knew that someone had to take responsibility. 

Visas to China

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 immediately, they would be released.

Many Jews wanted to go to the United States, but even though the US had not filled its Austrian quota. it imposed stringent emigration restrictions. Those who wished to go to Palestine found that Britain, under Arab pressure, had severely reduced the quota for Jewish emigrants. 

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 participating 32 states were willing to open their doors to Jewish refugees.

Vienna became the center for emigration of Austrian Jews. All foreign consulates in the city were besieged by desperate Jews day after day, but most did not offer help. The British consulate posted a sign saying no visas would be issued; the French would not accept any visa applica&endash;tions. The Swiss demanded that passports of Jews be stamped with a red "J" in order to bar them from crossing the border.

Ho recalled: "Since the annexation of Austria by Germany, the persecution of the Jews by Hitler's 'devils' became increasingly fierce. 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."

The 'means' Consul General Ho used to help Jewish refugees was to issue them visas to Shanghai, China. He practiced a "liberal" visa policy, authorizing the issuing of visas to any and all who asked. Having been turned down by other consulates, Jews soon discovered that they could get visas at the Chinese Consulate.

Shanghai was under Japanese occupation and a visa was not required for entry. But a visa, as proof of destination, was necessary for Jews to be allowed to leave Austria.

Eric Goldstaub, a 17-year-old Viennese Jew, was turned down by 50 consulates in Vienna before he went to the Chinese Consulate, where on July 20, 1938, he obtained 20 Chinese visas for himself and his extended family. On the strength of these visas, the family procured boat tickets to Shanghai. Before their departure, both Goldstaub and his father were arrested and imprisoned on Kristallnacht. Using the visas as proof of emigration, the Goldstaubs were released within a few days and embarked to Shanghai.

Ho knew, however, that most of those getting Chinese visas would not be going to Shanghai. "I knew that the Chinese visas to Shanghai were 'in name' only. In reality, it was a means for them to find a way to get to the US, England or other destinations," he recalled.

After the Anschluss, Hedy Durlester's father, Fritz Heiduschka, was arrested, as were many Jewish heads of households. His wife, Berta, 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 in the Philippines.

Soon, lines of desperate refugees formed at the Chinese Consulate seeking the lifesaving visas. Word spread, and in September 1938, when another Jew, Norbert Lagstein went to the Chinese Consulate for visas, there was such a "throng" that he despaired of ever getting in and resorted to jumping the line. For the next two years, the compassionate Chinese Consul General in Vienna issued visas to any and all Jews who requested them.

A "Liberal" Visa Policy,"

Throughout this period, the Nationalist Chinese government continued diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany. Chiang Kai-shek, China's ruler, was an admirer of the Nazis and used German military advisers and weapons. He also sent his younger son to be schooled by the Nazis. This son became a second lieutenant in the German 98th Jaeger Regiment and took part in the invasion of Austria in 1938.

China was not consistent in its position on the issuing of visas to Jews. Chen Jie, the Chinese ambassador in Berlin, who was Consul General Ho's direct superior, was adamantly opposed to giving Jews visas. He wanted to maintain good diplomatic relations with Germany and did not want to oppose Hitler's anti-Semitic policy.

Having learned that the Chinese Consulate in Vienna was issuing large numbers of visas to Jews, the ambassador called Ho by telephone and ordered him to desist. But Ho countered by saying that "the Foreign Ministry's orders" were to maintain a "liberal" policy in this regard. On hearing this, Chen snapped: "If that is so, I will take care of the Foreign Ministry end, you just follow my orders!"

Consul General Ho continued to maintain a Liberal" policy. This so angered the ambassador that he sent a subordinate to Vienna on the pretext of investigating rumors that the Consulate was "selling" visas.

The investigator arrived unannounced from Berlin. After thoroughly examining all records and finding no evidence of wrongdoing, he asked Ho why there were rumors about the "selling" of visas. Ho replied that the rumors were baseless. Under a "liberal" policy, he said, any person who wants a visa can get one so why would anyone want to pay a high price to buy one?"

The investigator returned to Berlin and was not heard from again. Ho never learned what was reported back to the ambassador, but surmised that a report would be sent to the Foreign Ministry in China.

Consul General Ho continued to maintain an active diplomatic life in Vienna, but he had to be very careful. He knew that he may have jeopardized his career by his "liberal" visa policy. He had his wife and 11year-old son with him, and despite diplomatic immunity, the risks under the Nazi regime could not be discounted. Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels wrote that the outbreak of war in September 1939, "made possible the solution of a whole series of problems that could never have been solved in peacetime." The Viennese Jewish community was officially dissolved in November 1942. By the end of the War, more than 65,000 Austrian Jews died in Nazi concentration camps and ghettos.

In May 1940, Consul General Feng Shan Ho left Vienna. There was little more that he could do.

Post War

In 1947, he began a nine-year tenure as ambassador to Egypt and seven other Middle Eastern countries. In 1949, when the civil war in China ended with a Communist victory on the mainland, Dr. Ho chose to remain loyal to the Chinese Nationalists, who had fled to Taiwan. He subsequently served as ambassador to Mexico, Bolivia and then Colombia.

In 1973, after four decades in the diplomatic service, Feng Shan Ho retired to San Francisco.

Once he had retired, the Chinese Nationalists in Taiwan launched a political vendetta to discredit Ho publicly with false allegations of a petty misappropriation of funds at his last posting. Ho presented evidence of his innocence, but it was futile. The real reasons behind this political vendetta were never revealed. Ho was denied a pension for his 40 years of service to China, and more than two decades later, his name has not been cleared. Dr. Feng Shan Ho lived modestly in his retirement.

He devoted himself to writing, to his Church and community. He was a founding member of the Chinese Lutheran Church in San Francisco and a trustee of the Yale-China Association. He wrote his memoirs, "Forty Years of My Diplomatic Life," published in 1990. He was a well-known and respected member of the Chinese community with a wide-ranging circle of friends.

On September 28, '997, Feng Shan Ho died at his home, attended by his wife and daughter. He was 96 years old. His spirit remained undiminished to the end. The Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, representing the Communist government, sent a wreath to his memorial service. The Nationalists, whom he had served honorably for a lifetime, made no mention of his passing.

Why was Feng Shan Ho willing to help the Jews of Austria when most others would not? His reason was simple: "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."

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