[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 59 (Tuesday, May 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E827-E828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO AMBASSADOR FENG SHAN HO

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 12, 1998

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me today in 
paying tribute to

[[Page E828]]

Mr. Feng Shan Ho, an outstanding San Francisco resident who rescued 
thousands from Nazi destruction during World War II. Mr. Ho died in 
September 1997 at his home in San Francisco.
  Mr. Speaker, Feng Shan Ho left an indelible imprint on the people 
whose lives he saved. Like the Swedish diplomat and humanitarian, Raoul 
Wallenberg, and the American diplomat and humanitarian rescuer, Varian 
Fry, Mr. Ho has shown what an individual can achieve when he has the 
courage to oppose repression and racism despite seemingly impossible 
odds.
  Feng Shan Ho was the Consul General of China in Vienna in 1938. 
Following the annexation of Austria by Germany that year, he saw 
increasing persecution of Jews and others at the hands of the Nazis. 
Jewish-owned businesses were vandalized and their owners arrested. Jews 
and other so-called ``enemies of the Reich'' were sent to concentration 
camps within weeks of the annexation. Austrian Nazi authorities 
informed Jews that if they obtained visas for other countries and 
emigrated, they would be allowed to leave unharmed. Many tried to 
emigrate, but most found that few countries were willing to permit them 
entry.
  Consul General Ho was appalled at the increasingly desperate 
situation that he observed. In an act of courage and compassion, he 
sought to help the refugees. On his own authority as Consul General--
and without the permission of his superiors in China--he issued visas 
for admission to China to any person who requested one. With these 
visas as proof of destination, Jews could obtain permission from Nazi 
officials to leave Austria and Germany.
  In 1939 Nazi officials confiscated the building in which the Chinese 
consulate was located because of its Jewish ownership. The Chinese 
consulate was forced to operate in other, smaller facilities. In 1940 
Consul General Ho was transferred to the United States. In 1941, the 
government of China broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and the 
Consulate General in Vienna was closed.
  After leaving Vienna, Mr. Ho spent the remainder of the war involved 
in China's struggle against Japan. His first assignment after Vienna 
was to Washington, DC, and he later served at the Foreign Ministry in 
China's wartime capital, Chungking. In 1947, Mr. Ho began a nine-year 
term as Ambassador to Egypt and several other Middle Eastern countries. 
At the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War, Mr. Ho remained loyal to 
the Chinese Nationalist government which fled to Taiwan in 1949. 
Following his term in the Middle East, Ambassador Ho served as China's 
ambassador to Mexico, Bolivia, and Columbia.
  In 1973 after a distinguished career in the diplomatic service of the 
Republic of China that spanned four decades, Ambassador Ho retired and 
settled in San Francisco. On September 28, 1997, at the age of 96, he 
died at his home there, attended by his wife and daughter.
  The story of Feng Shan Ho's courageous actions in Vienna is currently 
being told in a traveling exhibit organized by Mr. Eric Saul that is 
being shown in American and foreign cities. The exhibit was on display 
at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel in April, and earlier it 
was on display at my district office of California.
  Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in paying well-
deserved tribute to Ambassador Feng Shan Ho--a great man, a dedicated 
public servant, and a courageous humanitarian.

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