Powerpoint presentation by Carol Harms, JSD 171 Orofino, ID

In 1940, Hiroki’s father is a diplomat in Lithuania, representing Japan. A group of Jewish refugees from Poland seek help from Hiroki’s father. They are trying to escape the Nazis and want visas to travel to Japan.

Hiroki’s father wants to help them, but he knows he can only get a few visas. How will he be able to help save the lives of hundreds of refugees?

A visa is a paper that a government issues if a person has permission to come to, or travel through,their country. If you don’t have a visa, you are not allowed in. This is a photo of an actual Japanese transit visa that was given out by Chiune Sugihara at the Kaunas, Lithuania counsulate in 1940

“On a summer morning in late July 1940, Consul Sempo Sugihara and his family awakened to a crowd of Polish Jewish refugees gathered outside the consulate. Desperate to flee the approaching Nazis, the refugees knew that their only path lay to the east. If Consul Sugihara would grant them Japanese transit visas, they could obtain Soviet exit visas and race to possible freedom. The following information is quoted from the Jewish Virtual Library

Sempo Sugihara was moved by their plight, but he did not have the authority to issue hundreds of visas without permission from the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo. Chiune Sugihara wired his government three times for permission to issue visas to the Jewish refugees. Three times he was denied.” NO!!!

“The Consul discussed the situation with his wife and children. Sugihara had a difficult decision to make.He knew that if he defied the orders of his superiors, he might be fired and disgraced, and would probably never work for the Japanese government again. This would result in extreme financial hardship for his family in the future. Chiune and his wife Yukiko even feared for their lives and the lives of their children, but in the end, could only follow their consciences. The visas would be signed. The Sugihara Family in front of the Consulate

“For 29 days, from July 31 to August 28, 1940, Mr. and Mrs. Sugihara sat for endless hours writing and signing visas by hand. Hour after hour, day after day, for these three weeks, they wrote and signed visas. They wrote over 300 visas a day, which would normally be one month's worth of work for the consul. Yukiko also helped him register these visas.”

“After receiving their visas, the refugees lost no time in getting on trains that took them to Moscow, and then by trans-Siberian railroad to Vladivostok. From there, most of them continued to Kobe, Japan. They were allowed to stay in Kobe for several months, and were then sent to Shanghai, China. Thousands of Polish Jews with Sugihara visas survived in safety under the benign protection of the Japanese government in Shanghai. As many as six thousand refugees made their way to Japan, China and other countries in the following months. They had escaped the Holocaust.” The Sugihara family leaving Lithuania

“Today, more than 50 years after those 29 fateful days in July and August of 1940, there may be more than 40,000 who owe their lives to Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara. Two generations have come after the original Sugihara survivors, all owing their existence to one modest man and his family. In 1985 he received Israel's highest honor. He was recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" by the Yad Vashem Martyrs Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem.” The information from these six slides is quoted from the Jewish Virtual Library Memorial and tree planted to honor Sugihara in Israel

This map shows Europe at the time of this story. Germany, where Jews were persecuted and killed, had invaded and taken control of Poland. The Polish Jews in the story fled north to Lithuania. Their only escape route was to the East, through Russia (USSR). They needed a Japanese transit visa in order for Russia to let them enter and travel through the country. ___ (Russia)

Lithuania Japan Find Lithuania and Japan on this map. Can you see how people would travel across Russia to get to Japan?

clung to hold tightly, as by grasping or embracing.

superior people who are higher in status, rank or office. This army general on the left is the superior of the private on the right. The general is higher in rank

insisted to declare firmly and strongly

appreciation the act of recognizing value or quality What are other ways that people show appreciation? (clapping, kind words, gifts, saying thank you)

internment the act of confining or restricting to a particular place, especially during war. An internment camp, where people are held against their will. They are prisoners.