The following are the concrete deeds of Mr. He Fengshan:
During World War II, He Fengshan, Consul General of China in Vienna, issued thousands of visas to Shanghai to protect them from being killed by the Nazis. He is called "Schindler of China".
"life visa"
He Fengshan, 190 10 was born in a poor peasant family in Heshan District, Yiyang City, Hunan Province in September. 192 1926 was admitted to yali university in Changsha, and 1926 was admitted to the public school of the university of Munich, Germany, and obtained a doctorate in political economy with honors. From 65438 to 0937, he served as First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Austria, and from 65438 to 65438-0940, he served as Consul General of China in Vienna.
When He Fengshan took office, the sky over Europe was overcast and Nazi Germany was rampant, which set off a vicious wave of anti-Semitism. 1March 938, Germany annexed Austria. Austria is the third largest Jewish settlement in Europe, with a total population of about185,000. The Nazis wanted to exterminate the Jews here, stipulating that Jews in concentration camps could be released as long as they could leave Austria, and those who could not leave were slaughtered in batches in concentration camps. Therefore, for Jews in Austria, leaving means survival, and not leaving means death. As a result, Jews tried their best to leave Austria.
To leave, you must first have a visa from the destination country. However, many countries have "expressed their opinions" and have successively turned red lights on Jewish visas. The desire to survive makes thousands of Jews rush between consulates of various countries every day, but most of them have no results. Eric Gaudes Taubel, 17, went to the consulates of more than 50 countries except China, but didn't get any visas. Compassionate He Fengshan couldn't bear to watch Jews die in Vienna, and bravely opened the door to issue visas to Jews. Gauditobel 1938 obtained 20 Chinese visas at one time from the Consulate General of China. The news soon spread among Jews. There is a long queue in front of the Consulate General of China from morning till night every day. Many non-recourse Jews got a "life visa" to Shanghai, and fled Europe to China, or went to the United States, Palestine, Australia and other places via Shanghai. He Fengshan resisted the pressure and issued visas to Jews in batches, which aroused the dissatisfaction of Nazi authorities. The Nazis confiscated the house of the Consulate General in China on the pretext that it was Jewish property. At his own expense, He Fengshan quickly moved the consulate to another small house and insisted on issuing a visa.
At that time, domestic political circles had different opinions on issuing visas to Jews. Chiang Kai-shek liked Germany, used German military advisers, bought German weapons and sent his son Jiang Weiguo to Germany to study military affairs. This naturally put a lot of pressure on He Fengshan, and he was soon directly threatened by his immediate boss and ambassador to Germany, Chen Jie. Chen Jie adheres to the will of the country and hopes to safeguard it.
Relations with Germany, afraid of offending each other, resolutely opposed He Fengshan to issue visas to Jews, which He Fengshan ignored. Later, someone reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that He Fengshan was selling visas to Jews. Chen Jie then launched a surprise attack and sent people to Vienna to investigate. Because there is no evidence, it will go away. However, He Fengshan was transferred from Vienna on May 1940.
How many people were saved?
How many Jews were issued visas in He Fengshan? Up to now, there are no accurate figures, but the number of visas found is at least several thousand. One survivor got more than 200 visa numbers in June of 1938, and another survivor got more than 200 visa numbers on July 20th. The visa date of Hans Kraus was1October 27th 1938+0906. 1938 After the Nazi "165438+ October Massacre", more people applied for visas. By September of 1939, 70% of Austrian Jews fled, and the number of Jews admitted to China reached 18000. From this calculation, the number of visas issued is at least several thousand. There is also a book in Cuba and other places that 4,000 Vienna Jews fled to Palestine with Shanghai visas.
Dust-laden for 60 years
He Fengshan's feat of helping Jews was not made public until his death. There are three main reasons: first, from 1937 to 1939, Shanghai was occupied by the Japanese, and Jews did not need visas to enter Shanghai. It is hard for researchers to imagine that China's diplomats in Europe would have such a feat. Second, after World War II, China fell into civil war. Later, due to various political factors and historical conditions, the research on China people's assistance to Jewish refugees has not been carried out. 1995, scholars from Shanghai Jewish Studies Center learned during their visits to Germany and Austria that although they didn't need a visa to enter Shanghai that year, Jews could not leave Austria without a visa to Shanghai. Third, He Fengshan was indifferent to fame and fortune all his life. He doesn't think that helping Jews is earth-shattering, and he rarely mentions it to people. When talking about this matter with his daughter He, he said, "I deeply sympathize with the situation of the Jews. From a humanitarian point of view, I feel it is my responsibility to help them. " In his book Forty Years of My Diplomatic Career, he only spent a little pen and ink on this matter. The book says: "It is natural to be compassionate and willing to help others. From the perspective of human nature, this is also appropriate. "
People all over the country know the truth.
1On September 28th, 997, 96-year-old He Fengshan died in San Francisco, USA. My daughter mentioned in his obituary that my father had issued visas to Jews during his tenure as Consul General of China in Vienna. After the obituary was published in The Boston Globe, Eric Saul, an American Jewish historian, called Herman to ask about it. Then, historians found some Jewish survivors and their descendants who signed visas in He Fengshan, and found the visas of that year. Later, when Jews held exhibitions about the Nazi Holocaust, they all put He Fengshan in a prominent position, and many media around the world also reported on him. Professor Saul said that two years ago, no one in Jewish circles knew Dr. He's name. Almost all the Jews I come into contact with now are telling the story of Dr. He.
1999 In the series of activities "Jews in Shanghai" jointly organized by China Cultural Center and Jewish Holocaust Education Center and co-organized by Shanghai Jewish Research Center, He Fengshan, a diplomat from China, made public his feat of helping thousands of Jews avoid being killed by Nazis. June 5438 +2000 10, an exhibition named "Life Visa" was held in Stockholm, Sweden, which introduced the materials and objects that diplomats from various countries saved Jews from being killed by Nazis during World War II. The first is China diplomat He Fengshan. After that, this dusty 60-year history finally came to light.
Righteousness lies in people's hearts.
After the awarding ceremony of the title of "International Righteous Man", children from He Fengshan came to the "Justice Garden" of the Jerusalem Holocaust Memorial Hall. From 1963, 17000 names of nominal people were carved on the stone walls of various countries in the park. In front of a stone wall engraved with "China", the Ho brothers and sisters gently lifted a small piece of black silk flannel, and the bouquet was decorated with the words He Fengshan. Brothers and sisters stroking their father's name for a long time.
In fact, none of the rescued Jews can forget He Fengshan's saving his life. Many rescued people are no longer alive, but the name of benefactor He Fengshan is still cherished in the hearts of future generations.
Claudia is a Jewish woman living in Canada. Her parents arrived in Shanghai with a visa issued by He Fengshan at birth. She said that there were diplomats from more than 50 countries in Austria at that time, and only China diplomat He Fengshan dared to help them. Therefore, she has special feelings for China.
Heinz Greenberg, the principal violinist of Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, was only 6 years old when he fled to Shanghai with his parents. He received music enlightenment in Shanghai and learned to play the violin. He is very grateful to He Fengshan for helping his family take refuge in Shanghai. He believes that his life and career were given by He Fengshan.
Canadian Klaus recalled that when her husband was waiting in line outside the consulate in China, he saw the consul general's car passing by the gate and threw the visa application form out of the window. He was informed by phone soon and got a life-saving visa. The daughter of a rescued person hugged He Fengshan's daughter He with tears in front of her father's visa and said excitedly, "When I saw you, I seemed to see my father." He Li Man also said, "Seeing you, I seem to see my father."
He Fengshan also saved the parents of Singh, a famous American billionaire and the current Secretary-General of the World Jewish Congress. With tears in his eyes, he excitedly said to the historian Saul, "My parents were saved by Dr. He. He is a real hero. I must introduce him to people all over the world. "
Deep affection for hometown
He Fengshan 1973 lives in San Francisco and writes for himself. Long-term wandering, homesickness is getting deeper and deeper. He visited China many times after 1980s and praised the great changes that have taken place in China since the reform and opening up. 1986165438+10, he was invited back to Hunan to attend the 80th anniversary of Changsha Yali Middle School, delivered a long speech entitled "Remember the Elegant Rites", and donated $9,000 to Yali Middle School. He expressed his hope to his relatives and friends that after a hundred years, his soul would return to his hometown and rest in peace.
In memory of this international humanitarian guardian, Yiyang City decided to build the "Mr. He Fengshan Memorial Hall". After the memorial hall is completed, the people in hometown will welcome He Fengshan back to his hometown with a grand ceremony.