As the stories of the Holocaust have unveiled themselves over the years, unusual ‘bed-fellows’ have been discovered. Many unlikely people risked their lives to save those destined for death by the Nazi. They faced uncertainty to give others a chance for a future. Nothing stranger could be imagined in that the salvation of many Jews would come through a German-speaking Chinese man named Feng-Shan Ho. This one man would be the escape hatch for thousands of Jews seeking safety.
In 1937, Guiding Light premiered on radio. Charlie Chaplin talked for the first time in a movie. A female of Japanese descent became an American lawyer. Steel workers got a raise to make $5/day. Social Security paid for the first time. Gone With the Wind won a Pulitzer Prize. And a twelve foot calla lily bloomed to be the largest flower. While the world pondered these actions and watched in horror at the war in Spain and Stalin’s calculated purges, one man quietly worked to save lives nobody ever heard of.
Feng-Shan Ho was assigned as the Chinese consul-general in Vienna. He had graduated with a PhD from the University of Munich and developed an “excellent command of German” which made him an excellent choice for the Vienna posting. (1) His education and language ability were the keys to place him in the perfect place at the perfect time. He was unaware of what was to happen that would bring him…
