"It is a fantastic comment on the inhumanity of our times that for thousands of people, a piece of paper with a stamp on it is the difference between life and death."
A five-day exhibition named "Visa for Life-- Diplomats Who Rescued Jews” closed Friday at China National Library in Beijing.
Nearly 100 pictures told stories about nine diplomats from Hungary, Japan, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, China, the United States and Switzerland, who rescued Jewish refugees during World War II. Materials on another ll diplomats are still being searched.
He Fengshan, the only Chinese among 20 "Righteous Among the Nations," helped Jewish refugees when serving as the Chinese Consul in Vienna during the WWII. However, he never told his story, which only recently came to light.
Israeli Ambassador to China Itzhak Shelef called the exhibition a "special" one viewed either from the aspect of Jewish history or the history of mankind. Though the diplomats only issued a piece of paper, they saved the lives of thousands of people.
Shanghai, the largest metropolis in China, was the only place in the world where people could enter without a visa or official paper of any kind. Nearly 20,000 Jewish people took refuge there during the Holocaust.
Yad Vasehm, the Holocaust martyrs' and heroes' remembrance authority, was empowered by the Israeli Knesset in 1953 to bestow the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" as a gesture of thanks on behalf of the Jewish people. To date nearly 16,000 people have been awarded the title.
(CIIC edited from Xinhua News Agency 07/20/2001)