1938-1939: Ho Fengshan, the consul general in Vienna, and his colleagues in Chinese consulates across Europe were witnessing Jews’ frantic search for a way out and the officials in Shanghai grew concerned. 1/x #28daysofSHJews

Ho wrote in his memoir that the Nationalist government was sympathetic to the Jews’ plight and, as of March 1939, ordered issuance of visas to China. Ho’s superior in Berlin was livid. 2/x

Recall that the Anschluss merged Austria to Germany to form Greater German Reich, thus putting the Chinese embassy in Berlin in direct charge of consulates within the Reich’s borders. 3/x

Ho’s direct superior, Ambassador Chen Jie ordered the Vienna consulate not to give visas to Jews. Ho disagreed and instead obeyed the higher levels in the Foreign Ministry. 4/x

The Ministry ordered all Chinese consulates in Europe to be “tolerant” of Jews and grant them entry visas. Ho’s colleagues in Paris, Hamburg, Sweden, and other places did exactly the same thing as he did: granting hundreds of visas. 5/x

Although Shanghai did not require an entry visa, Jews, especially in Vienna, asked for one to China anyway to provide more evidence of their intention to emigrate to the Nazis. 6/x

While the Chinese consulates continued to process visas, the Jewish refugees soon faced new troubles beginning in August 1939. By then, over 10,000 had arrived in Shanghai. 7/x

Concerns about the flood of impoverished European Jewish refugees in their overcrowded areas and straining existing resources, the Japanese occupiers & the Shanghai Municipal Council (SMC) (primarily British, Americans, French elites) began to set requirements for entry 8/x

, in their policies, the SMC used “European refugees,” not “Jewish refugees” to avoid accusations of antisemitism while the Japanese clearly stated “Jewish refugees.” 9/x

Notwithstanding, the SMC and the Japanese accepted Chinese visas if Jewish refugees could meet new requirements. Upon landing in Shanghai, refugees had to show that they had sufficient funds or relatives in Shanghai to receive entry permits from the Japanese or the SMC. 10/x

Despite having physically surrendered Shanghai to the Japanese and foreign powers, historian Gao Bei points out, the Nationalists’ willingness to provide visas demonstrates their resolute that Shanghai still belonged to China. 11/x

Here, the European chapter ends. The #Shanghai chapter begins tomorrow. 12/12 #28daysofSHJews #refugees #Holocaust