Envoy saved thousands from the Nazis

Jewish families given visas needed to escape Holocaust and find haven

A square in Chinatown, Milan, has become the first location in Italy to be dedicated in honor of a Chinese person, Piazzetta Ho Feng Shan being named for the remarkable achievements of a 1930s diplomat.

Ho Feng Shan was the Chinese consul general in Vienna from 1938 to 1940, when the Nazi authorities would only allow Jews to leave if they had a visa to another country.

Consulates were flooded with applications from Jews desperate to escape the Holocaust, but while many countries were unwilling to accept more refugees, Ho saved thousands of lives by issuing visas to Shanghai, allowing Jews safe passage to China, away from the horrors of Europe.

Some applications were even stuffed into his car - but were treated and granted just the same as those by more conventional means.

Ho, born in 1901, obtained his PhD from the University of Munich in 1932 and spent nearly 40 years in the diplomatic service before retiring to San Francisco.

He died in 1997 and, in accordance with his wishes, was later buried in his beloved hometown of Yiyang in Hunan province.