III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 588 

Honoring Dr. Feng Shan Ho, a man of great courage and humanity, who 

saved the lives of thousands of Austrian Jews between 1938 and 1940. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 6, 2008 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BARRASSO, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. 

BENNETT, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. KYL, Ms. 

COLLINS, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. SPECTER, and Mr. VOINOVICH) submitted 

the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring Dr. Feng Shan Ho, a man of great courage and 

humanity, who saved the lives of thousands of Austrian 

Jews between 1938 and 1940. 

Whereas, at great personal risk and sacrifice, Dr. Feng Shan 

Ho authorized the issuance of Chinese visas to Jewish 

persons so they could emigrate from Austria and escape 

the horrors of the Holocaust; 

Whereas it is necessary to honor Dr. Ho posthumously because, in the ultimate demonstration of selfless humanitarianism, Dr. Ho never sought recognition for his courageous actions; 

Whereas 70 years ago, Adolf Hitler’s troops crossed into Austria and announced the Anschluss (the annexation of 


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•SRES 588 ATS 

Austria to Germany), thereby applying all anti-Semitic 

decrees to Austrian Jews; 

Whereas the Nazis brutally persecuted more than 200,000 

Austrian Jews, by forcibly segregating them, depriving 

them of their citizenship and livelihoods, and interning 

them in concentration camps; 

Whereas the fierceness of the persecution in Austria became 

the model for the future persecution of Jews in other 

Nazi-conquered territories; 

Whereas the Nazis initially assumed a policy of coerced expulsion, with the goal of eventually removing all Jewish 

persons from Europe; 

Whereas most other foreign consulates, although besieged by 

desperate Jews, offered no help; 

Whereas a young Chinese diplomat in Vienna, Dr. Feng Shan 

Ho, refused to stand by and witness the destruction of 

innocent human beings, and authorized the issuance of 

visas for all Jews who asked; 

Whereas word spread quickly and Jewish persons formed 

long lines in front of the Chinese Consulate to obtain the 

lifesaving visas; 

Whereas the Chinese ambassador in Berlin ordered Dr. Ho 

to stop authorizing visas for Jews, but Dr. Ho nevertheless continued, at risk to his career, to prepare the visas; 

Whereas in 1939, the Nazis confiscated the Chinese Consulate building, on the grounds that it was a Jewishowned building; 

Whereas, when the Chinese government refused funds to relocate the Consulate, Dr. Ho reopened the Consulate in another building and personally paid all the expenses; 


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Whereas in May 1940, Dr. Ho left Vienna, having authorized 

visas for thousands of Austrian Jews; 

Whereas after 4 decades in diplomatic service to China, in 

1973, Dr. Ho moved to the United States to join his children; 

Whereas Dr. Ho became a United States citizen and lived in 

San Francisco until September 28, 1997, when he passed 

away at the age of 96; 

Whereas the world only knows of Dr. Ho’s courageous actions because of a chance discovery among his diplomatic 

papers after his death, and the full extent of Dr. Ho’s 

heroism is still being uncovered; and 

Whereas in 2000, the State of Israel posthumously made Dr. 

Ho an honorary citizen of Israel and granted him one of 

Israel’s highest honors, the title of Righteous Among the 

Nations, ‘‘for his humanitarian courage in issuing Chinese visas to Jews in Vienna in spite of orders from his 

superior to the contrary’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors and salutes the great courage and 

3 humanity of Dr. Feng Shan Ho for acting at great 

4 personal risk to issue Chinese visas to Jews in Vi5 enna between 1938 and 1940; and 

6 (2) recognizes his heroic deeds in saving the 

7 lives of thousands of Jewish persons by allowing 

8 them to escape the Holocaust. 

Æ 


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