Actions helped thousands escape Holocaust

Hundreds of people gathered in Milan’s Monte Stella Park on Wednesday for the unveiling of a memorial plaque to commemorate Ho Feng Shan, the Chinese diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Ho was the Chinese consul general in Vienna from 1938 to 1940. At that time, the Nazi-controlled Austrian government would only allow Jews to leave the country if they had a visa to another country. Most countries were unwilling to accept more Jewish refugees but he issued visas, thought to number in the thousands, allowing them to leave the country and travel to Shanghai or elsewhere.

The ceremony saw Ho join 55 other humanitarian heroes honored in the park, including Nelson Mandela and Pope John XXIII, who is also credited with saving Jews during World War II.

“When all the other countries had turned their backs on the Jews, Ho saw a place for the Jews in Shanghai,” said Gabriele Nissim, president of the Milan-based charity Gariwo, which organized the ceremony. “We must remember this important piece of history.”

In 2003, Gariwo, Milan City Hall, and the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities launched an initiative to celebrate figures who have fought against human rights violations in recent history, people who they call “the Righteous”.

Gariwo works with Italian schools to help young children learn the stories of the Righteous. This year, 500 children attended the ceremony to honor the heroes whom they have learnt about at school.

Besides Ho, the other three Righteous honored at Wednesday’s ceremony were: Costantino Baratta, Daphne Vloumidi and Hammo Shero.

Italian fisherman Baratta and Greek hotel owner Vloumidi have rescued refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea during the recent refugee crisis. Hammo Shero was the Yezidi chief who sheltered persecuted Armenians in the early 20th century.

Ho Feng Shan’s daughter Ho Manli said she was “especially moved” to see the ceremony honoring both past and present day heroes, so the significance of history is understood in present day terms.

Remembering her father, Ho said: “He was steeped in Confucian ethics, but he also received a Western liberal arts education, so the confluence of those two traditions produced a man who felt that he had been given a lot of gifts, but those gifts should be used for his fellow men.”

On Thursday, Milan will name of a square in the city’s Chinatown in his honor, Piazzetta Ho Fengshan.

“Mr Ho is a role model for all Chinese living overseas,” said Luca Song, chairman of the Italian Chinese Entrepreneurs Union. “His humanitarian deeds provide guidance to our conduct, so we must remember him.”