Hong Kong genocide educator’s race against time to document some of the darkest episodes in human history
From the Nanking massacre to Unit 731’s lethal human experiments, to the Khmer Rouge to the Holocaust, Simon Li, director of education at the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Centre, collects and recounts survivors’ tales
Although Gao Xiongfei was only four when the Japanese Imperial Army bombed his hometown of Yongan, the wartime capital of Fujian province in eastern China, he still has vivid memories of the trauma.
On November 4, 1943, Gao and his mother were having lunch at home when air raid sirens went off, but it was too late to take shelter – a 226kg bomb exploded just metres away from their home and flying shrapnel sliced off both their right arms.
A neighbour helped them to a hospital, where doctors operated for three hours without any anaesthetic. Now 78, Gao’s earliest childhood memories are of blood, bombs and fire.
Gao has learned more about what happened that day through old newspapers – 135 bombs were dropped on Yongan, killing more than 500 civilians. He also tracked down his surgeon to thank him.
It is such horrific memories that Simon Li Ka-ho collects to share with others. Li, 36, is director of education at the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Centre in Shau Kei Wan.
