Text/Comrade Guevara
Through the classic film "Schindler's List", the german businessman Schindler risked his life to rescue more than a thousand Jews, touching audiences around the world. In fact, during World War II, a brave Chinese did the same righteous deed, single-handedly saving the lives of at least 12,000 Jews, which can be called "China Schindler". This person was Wang Tiefu, who had served as consul and clerk of the puppet Manchu legation in Germany.
Wang Tifu and his wife when they were young
A native of Yongji County, Jilin Province, Wang Tifu graduated from Harbin Fazheng University, was fluent in Russian, English and German, and was admitted to the puppet Manchu "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" in 1931. From 1932 onwards, Wang Tiefu followed the envoys on visits to the Soviet Union, Germany, Denmark, Romania, Bulgaria and other countries, and from August of that year, he began to serve in the puppet Manchu legation in Germany, initially serving as the "consul of the legation", and later promoted to "consul and clerk of the legation" because of his outstanding achievements.
During his stay in Germany, Wang Tifu had extensive friendships with German military and political leaders, visited Hitler 12 times, and attended his fiftieth birthday banquet, which was highly valued by the German government. It was during his stay in Germany that Wang Tifu made a good deed that was praised by the world, and thus won the reputation of "China Schindler".
It turned out that during the Great Depression of 1929-1933, the economic crisis swept the world, and European and American countries suffered the most, which led to the rise of far-right ideology, and Jews became the targets of persecution. In 1938, Germany annexed Austria, and the Jews living in the country quickly fell into danger. Germany stipulated that Jews could leave Austria safely if they were granted entry visas to a third country, or they would be sent to concentration camps and killed.
Jews taken to concentration camps
In view of this, the International Conference on Jewish Refugees was held in Evian, France, in 1938, but due to germany's arrogance, the 32 countries attending the meeting emphasized various difficulties, successively lit up "red lights" for Jews, and refused to lend a helping hand. In May of the following year, the passenger ship "St. Louis", carrying 931 Jewish refugees, sailed to the Americas for refuge, and even ate the "closed door soup" of Cuba, the United States, and Canada, and had no choice but to return to the same route, which shocked the righteous people around the world for a while.
The St. Louis incident provoked a strong backlash in the United States, and Jewish trade unions launched a general strike demanding that the Roosevelt administration change its attitude toward Jewish refugees, otherwise they would vote for the Republican candidate in the next year's presidential election. Because Jews were extremely powerful in the United States, Roosevelt was forced to change his policy, agreeing to accept some Jewish refugees and informing the German government of his plans. Since relations between Germany and the United States were acceptable at that time, the German government could not refuse the American proposal and could only agree to it.
Visa issued by Wang Tifu
To this end, Germany, after obtaining the consent of the Soviet Union, decided to deport the Jews to the Soviet Union first, and then rushed to the United States through China. At the same time, however, the Soviet Union made harsh demands that Jewish immigrants must hold "third-country" visas or they would be denied entry. To this end, German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop consulted with the puppet Manchu "minister" Lu Yiwen, hoping that the puppet Manchu would issue visas to Jewish refugees and receive a positive reply. Because Wang Tiefu was fluent in Russian and it was convenient to negotiate with the Soviet Union, Lu Yiwen entrusted the matter to him.
After receiving the order, Wang Immediately contacted Thomas, president of the American Jewish Freemasonry Association (the Permanent Embassy of the United States in Germany), and began to handle visa procedures. Since Wang Tieff had learned that Germany was preparing to build concentration camps in order to exterminate the Jews on a large scale, in a humanitarian spirit, he asked Thomas to send him a large number of passports every day, up to 100 copies. In this way, by August of that year, there were more than 7,000 "life visas" issued by Wang Tifu.
But at this time, Germany declared war on neighboring Poland, and World War II broke out. After the rapid occupation of Poland, Germany finally raised its butcher's knife against the Jews and built concentration camps in the country and in the occupied territories. In this case, Ribbentrop summoned Lu Yiwen and suggested that puppet Manchuria should stop issuing visas to Jewish refugees. When Wang Tiefu learned the news, he moved his affection and understanding of Lu Yiwen, and finally got the latter's consent and was able to continue to issue visas in a secret state.
Jews who migrated to northeast China
As the number of visas issued secretly increased, Wang's actions attracted the attention of the puppet Manchu authorities, and in order not to affect relations with Germany, his superiors repeatedly ordered him to stop issuing visas, but wang Tifu ignored them. In May 1940, Wang Washifu was forced to be transferred back to the "country" at the repeated urging of the puppet Manchu authorities, but just before the train started, he was still busy issuing visas for Jewish refugees gathered outside the carriage. According to incomplete statistics, in the past two years, Wang Tifu has issued at least 12,000 Jewish refugees with visas to seek refuge in China.
After Japan's surrender and the fall of Manchuria, Wang Tiefu was imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Soviet Union for 12 years, and when he was escorted back to China, he was sent down for 22 years because of his status as a "traitor". As China's "Schindler", Wang Tifu's evening scene is very bleak, in order to survive, after the age of 70 to become a husband, a dry is 10 years. In the 1980s, Wang Tifu's condition improved and he was hired as a librarian in the Cultural and Historical Museum of the Counsellor's Office of the Heilongjiang Provincial Government.
The elderly Wang Tifu
During his tenure as a librarian, Wang Tifu wrote the book "Memories of Puppet Manchu Diplomats", which mentioned the issuance of visas for Jewish refugees, and at the same time, he also helped the country cultivate more than a thousand foreign language talents, and his achievements were worthy of respect. On July 13, 2001, Wang Tifu died of illness in Harbin at the age of 90. With the death of Wang Tiefu, although his legendary life has come to an end, his righteous deeds to rescue 12,000 Jewish refugees are worth remembering forever.
Source: Memories of a Puppet Diplomat