Pan Junshun
Chinese Righteous Among the Nations
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pan Junshun (traditional Chinese: 潘均順; simplified Chinese: 潘均顺; pinyin: Pān Jūnshùn; 1889 – 1947), was the first Chinese national to be awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations for hiding and sheltering a Ukrainian Jewish girl during the occupation of part of the Soviet Union during World War II.
Pan Junshun | |
|---|---|
潘均順 | |
| Born | 1889 China |
| Died | 1947 (aged 57–58) |
| Known for | Hiding a Ukrainian Jewish girl from the Nazis during World War II |
| Title | Righteous Among the Nations |
| Children | 2 |
Life
Pan Junshun moved to Russia in 1916 looking for work. He settled in Moscow where he found work as a labourer.[citation needed] A communist, he decided to stay in the Soviet Union.[1] He married and had two sons while living in Moscow, after which he moved to Kharkiv, Ukraine, in 1936. His wife died before the outbreak of World War II.[2]
His two sons were drafted into the Red Army at the beginning of the war; they never returned home and were presumed to have been killed during the war.[2] Pan, however, survived the war and continued to live in Kharkiv until his death in 1947.
Righteous among the Nations
Pan sheltered and hid Ludmilla Genrichovna, a Ukrainian Jewish girl who had escaped from a detention area set up by the occupying German Army.[3] She escaped through the efforts of her mother, who realised that her children were likely to be killed as they were being transferred to another town.[4]