A bi-cultural concert June 10 night at the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium to commemorate the end of World War II 60 years ago focused on a Jewish family and their tale of fleeing from Nazi Germany to China, then under Japanese occupation. "China was the only country that would accept us," Rita Atterman Feder told 1,200 people most of them Chinese Americans wh o attended the concert.
It was the 76-year-old Feder's appearance and her brief remarks about her family's refugee life in Shanghai that moved many in the audience to tears. Her family's travail in trying to find a country that would accept them. They got to Shanghai on Aug. 7, 1939, her 11th birthday. Nothing was familiar to her. For the next eight years, her family shared one room, her father eking out a living as a tailor. "I thank China and Chinese people for letting us live among them and being so kind," she said. "Chinese people allowed us to follow our religion and our customs."
Though it is not widely known, Chinese Consul Feng-Shan Ho in Vienna defied his government's policy and issued 20,000 visas that let European Jews into China from 1938 to 1940, according to organizers of the event.
The first half of the concert, performed by the United Musicians Symphony Orchestra of L.A., featured Los Angeles violinist Roberto Cani, who is Jewish. The second half featured Chinese pianist Cheng-Zong Yin. (Source: Connie Kang, Los Angeles Times, Jun 12, 2005).