September 7, 2015
No. 186
Distinguished Professor Emeritus Daniel Weihs of the Israel Institute of Technology and Director Irena Steinfeldt of the Department of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem will visit Taiwan from September 7 to 10 at the invitation the Republic of China government. They will attend a ceremony honoring the late Ho Feng-shan, the ROC consul-general in Vienna during World War II. President Ma Ying-jeou will present Ms. Ho Manli, the consul-general’s daughter, with a tribute posthumously recognizing her father’s acts of compassion.
In 1939, Consul-General Ho issued a lifesaving visa to Professor Weihs’s father, allowing him to escape Nazi persecution and resettle in mainland China. Professor Weihs was born in Guilin in 1942 and moved to Israel in 1949. An expert in aerospace engineering, he previously served as chief scientist at the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology and now heads the Technion Autonomous Systems Program at the Israel Institute of Technology. He bears testimony to Ambassador Ho’s heroic deeds.
Ms. Irena Steinfeldt has assisted in the compilation of Holocaust materials and related educational efforts since 1974. She is currently director of the Department of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the Holocaust victims. In 2000, the department announced its decision to bestow the title of Righteous Among the Nations to Consul-General Ho, an honor reserved for non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. The award was presented on January 23, 2001. Director Steinfeldt’s participation in the ROC award ceremony reconfirmed the admirable acts of justice and compassion by the late consul-general.
Professor Weihs and Director Steinfeldt will call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and visit the Taiwan Holocaust Museum in Tainan, Academia Historica, Taipei 228 Memorial Museum, National Palace Museum, and Taipei 101. The trip will offer them insights into Taiwan’s traditional culture, as well as recent political and economic developments. (E)