'China's Schindler' honored in Shanghai Jewish museum

[Photo/IC]

A sculpture of a Chinese diplomat who saved the lives of many Jews during World War II was unveiled at Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum on Thursday.

Ho Feng-Shan, then Chinese Consul-General in Vienna, issued "hundreds, perhaps even thousands" of Chinese visas to Jews, against the instructions of his superior, according to the Yad Vashem, the Israeli center for the

Holocaust, which posthumously awarded him the title "Righteous Among the Nations."

Although a visa was not required for entrance to Shanghai at the time, the document was a prerequisite for Jews wishing to leave Nazi Germany. Though many countries refused Jews, Shanghai accepted tens of thousands that were fleeing the Holocaust.

A sculpture of Jakob Rosenfeld, a Jew who served in the army of the Communist Party of China in the 1940s, was also unveiled.

The sculptures were part of a series of activities to mark September 3, the day China designates as Victory Day in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.