Volume 1: Entering the War of Resistance Chapter 56: Maritime Passage

  Compared to his previous work as a diplomat, He Fengshan's workload is now very heavy. The factories in Poland and Austria are almost entirely under his care, with tasks such as equipment procurement, factory construction, and personnel recruitment filling up his life. However, compared to before, He Fengshan prefers his current job. A weak country has no diplomacy; previously, as the Chinese Consul General in Vienna, He Fengshan had little work to do and did not receive corresponding respect. Now, although he is affiliated with a Japanese company, He Fengshan knows that everything he does is contributing to China's war effort at home. This fills him with energy, and he travels between factories every day. With the support of Qin Xiaofei and the Party's Economic Management Bureau, these factory constructions have been exceptionally smooth.

  Today, He Fengshan came to a concentration camp of Gestapo again to select workers needed for his factory. The lives of Jews from Germany, Austria, Poland and other places are getting worse and worse. Not only were they required to wear special Jewish badges, but also prohibited from going out, some places set up concentration camps to manage these Jews intensively, their properties were confiscated. Rumors about the massacre in Austria spread everywhere, making all Jews nervous.

  He Fengshan is a great man, which was already proven during his tenure as Austrian Consul General. At that time, no diplomat dared to help the Jews in Austria, who were being sent to concentration camps and secretly executed. Only He Fengshan bravely stood out and issued visas for them to go to Shanghai. Now He Fengshan has even greater ability to help them, as his factory is closely linked with the interests of the Gestapo, especially in recent weeks, the Gestapo's attitude towards He Fengshan has become increasingly respectful, which is simply incomparable to when he was a diplomat.

  Under the guise of Geheime Staatspolizei, He Fengshan was able to go to various concentration camps to select the workers he needed. It cannot be denied that there are many excellent talents among Jews, and the pharmaceutical, electronic, and radar factories being established by He Fengshan need these cheap technical workers. Some other German factories were doing the same thing, but He Fengshan was different from them. As long as he selected a worker, he would ask to take away his entire family. The reason for this was to increase production efficiency.

  So He Fengshan was regarded as a savior by the Jews in various concentration camps, and every time he came here, he would be warmly welcomed by the Jews. Everyone vied to introduce their talents in front of He Fengshan, hoping to be selected by him. Today, He Fengshan arrived at a concentration camp near Auschwitz, where Poland was occupied by Germany and Jews were transported from all directions.

  "Sir, choose me. I'm strong and can do many things." A Jew struggled to squeeze forward, trying to grab He Fengshan's hand. An SS soldier rushed over and gave him a severe rifle butt, the violent impact sent the Jew tumbling backward, with splattered nasal blood even reaching He Fengshan's face.

  "Halt!" He Fengshan angrily rebuked the soldier, but that soldier seemed to care little. In their eyes, Jews were not even as good as animals. The Third Empire was able to gain support from workers and peasants precisely by propagating anti-Jewish propaganda.

  "What's your name?" He Fengshan helped this Jewish man up, and now he saw that the man was quite young.

  "My name is Erik Goldstein, I'm a mechanic. Sir, choose me." The young Jewish man struggled to lift his head and said hastily, not even bothering to wipe away the blood from his nose. He Fengshan silently handed him a card, this miserable scene reminded him of the people in the occupied areas at home, he had been trying his best to help these Jews, now he had more power.

  "Thank you, sir, thank you!" Getting this card meant that he could take his family out of the concentration camp and to the factory set up by Ho Fengshan, where life was not much better, but they would no longer face the threat of death and starvation. The other Jews surrounded Ho Fengshan again, who tried his best to select suitable people. Although Ho Fengshan wanted to save all the Jews, he had limited ability and could not expose his purpose, after all, there were still SS guards lurking around. So Ho Fengshan had to choose those with strong bodies and technical expertise, trying to select as many people as possible, each factory was configured according to three shifts of personnel, although these factories had not yet reached such a large production volume. But he actually selected these people for another purpose.

  The task of selecting workers was a torment for He Fengshan, as these Jews saw hope for survival and all hoped that He Fengshan would choose them. However, He Fengshan had only a limited number of spots available and had to make tough decisions. This made it difficult for He Fengshan, who was full of humanitarian passion, to sleep at night. The people he chose were those who could quickly advance the European development plan, open more factories, and expand secret sea routes.

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  Erich Goldhagen wasn't actually a mechanic, he was only 17 years old and still a student, but to survive he had to lie. After getting the card from He Fengshan, Goldhagen quickly gathered his family together, preparing to leave this haunted place by truck. There weren't many things to pack up, as everything valuable had been taken away by the Nazis when they entered the concentration camp, leaving only a few sets of necessary clothes. The large trucks carrying Jews left the concentration camp one after another.

  The truck rattled for over two hours before reaching its destination. Godziszewo stepped down from the car with his parents, and he also had a ten-year-old younger sister. If they hadn't been selected, they would have starved to death in the concentration camp soon. After getting off the car, they found themselves in a factory area surrounded by high walls, where several Jews were waiting for registration at a small table. Godziszewo didn't relax until he saw that there were no SS soldiers lurking around, and things seemed okay for now.

  It was soon the turn of the Godstow family to register. He walked up to the Jewish man who was in charge of registration.

  "Hello, my name is Sol. Now that you're here, you're safe. Report your family's names and specialties to me, and I'll assign work for you." Sol was also an early Jewish immigrant who arrived here, and since he used to be a teacher, He Fengshan chose him to receive new members.

  Gottlieb Stubbe quickly registered his family's information, although he himself was not a machinist, but his parents were indeed genuine and high-level machinists. In fact, they had previously owned a mechanical processing plant, which the Germans drove them out of soon after occupying Poland. Gottlieb Stubbe himself studied electronics and found an apprenticeship as an electronics factory worker, both of which were exactly what He Fengshan needed.

  After registration, the Gottesmann family was assigned a small dormitory. Although it was not spacious and had no furniture, at least they could live together as a family without being separated and frightened like in the concentration camp. After a few days, the Gottesmann family gradually adapted to life in the factory. Even his little sister found a job sorting materials. Although they would receive the minimum guaranteed food even if they didn't work, having a job allowed everyone to live safely in the factory. Now this place has become a haven for Jews, and everyone must strive to continue this haven.

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  Gottlieb Staubach had been working at the factory on Mount H?rschel for over a month, and his regular and good life made him gradually become robust from his original thinness. His sister also grew up to be a beautiful girl. The whole Gottlieb Staubach family was very satisfied with this life, but only Gottlieb Staubach felt that it was a bit too peaceful, and the young man hoped for more experience.

  "Hi, Godstow Stubber, how have you been lately?" In the evening when having dinner, Sol, who was the person in charge of registration at that time, greeted him. Godstow Stubber was very grateful to this gentle and courteous middle-aged man, so he immediately stood up and returned the greeting.

  "Hello Mr. Sol, thanks to you, our whole family is doing well."

  "We're all in Dr. He Fengshan's care. Goodstube, we need some volunteers to carry out a secret plan, are you interested?" Sol pulled him aside and said mysteriously.

  "Oh, what secret plan? Tell me." Godstone was worried that it would be like this from now on and quickly replied.

  "You know that the living conditions of Jews are getting worse and worse, as Germany and Italy occupy more and more land, we Jews have no space to survive. We plan to find a group of volunteers to open up a paradise in the East. This plan was put forward by Dr. He Fengshan, who will give us strong support. After all, these factories can only accommodate a limited number of Jews, and to rescue more Jews, new channels must be opened." Because Gao Detai belongs to the young and cultured Jewish youth who continue to implement He Fengshan's "Lost Paradise Plan", so Sol first found him.

  "What about my parents and sister?" Gottfried Staub was eager for the plan, but he couldn't shake off his worries about his family, being the pillar of the household.

  "They will come to the factory and be well taken care of, and if everything goes according to plan, in a year, at most two years, they can be sent to their new home." Sol resolved his last doubt.

  "I agree!"

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  Up to today, Godot Stubber has been drifting at sea for a week. That day after answering Sol, more than 100 young people with the same background and conditions as him were secretly invited to He Fengshan's office. There, Dr. He Fengshan gave them a detailed introduction to the plan and asked for their own wishes, and no one retreated. Since Dr. He Fengshan, a non-Jew, was so hardworking in helping them, what else could these Jews say? So on a certain night, a batch of trucks took them and some goods onto the train.

  After two days on the closed train, Gottlieb thought they had arrived at a port because outside there were cranes lifting the container they were in onto a ship. These standard containers were Qin Xiaofei's invention - containers. Through this method of containerization, goods can avoid loss during transportation from cars to trains and then to ships, but actually mainly to avoid being opened for inspection, and also speed up the transfer process. Unexpectedly, after the war, this method of containerization became an international standard for cargo transportation.

  After the ship sailed out of the harbor, someone knocked on the cabinet door with a pre-arranged signal, and the Jews inside could finally come out to breathe. This was a Chinese transport ship, but it still flew the American flag, and now neither Germany nor Japan dared to attack American ships.

  "Land! Land!" exclaimed several young men who were traveling with him. Godshalk Stubber looked far out and saw the port in the tropical jungle - Rangoon.