Paul Komor

Honorary Consul for Hungary in Shanghai, China, 1938-1941

Before the war, Paul Komor held the title of Honorary Consul General for Hungary in Shanghai. In 1938, when the first Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust arrived in Shanghai from Germany and Austria, Komor co-founded the International Committee for European Immigrants (IC). The IC provided housing, jobs and financial assistance for the 20,000 Austrian, German and other Jewish refugees who came into Shanghai. The IC also issued international passports to the Jews of Shanghai whose Nazi passports were confiscated or no longer valid. These passports gave the refugees ”legal” status so they could emigrate to the United States, Canada, Australia and elsewhere.