Chiune Sugihara

[BanzaiCat]

I admit having something of a fetish for looking up Axis plans for occupied countries, as it gives me a sense of dread because of how close the world really came to a real-life Man In The High Tower.

This segued into an article on Jewish settlement in Japan both pre- and post-WW2. I found the Japanese attitude towards the Jews interesting - mostly 'meh' because they feared pissing off Hitler, others more hardcore anti-Semites (though few were like the latter), and even fewer actually actively doing things that would be seen as highly improper to help them.

Case in point, this guy named Chiune Sugihara. Long story short (from Wikipedia):

(He) served as vice consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped some six thousand Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through Japanese territory, risking his job and his family's lives. The fleeing Jews were refugees from German-occupied Western Poland and Soviet-occupied Eastern Poland, as well as residents of Lithuania. A few decades after the war, in 1985, the State of Israel honored Sugihara as one of the Righteous Among the Nations (Hebrew: חסידי אומות העולם‬) for his actions. He is the only Japanese national to have been so honored.

He had inquired with Tokyo several times as to what he should do, because he literally had hundreds of Jews begging him for visas so they could get the hell out of Dodge after the Soviet invasion. He jumped through the hoops at first, but realized from the get-go that they weren't going to give him a green light.

From 18 July to 28 August 1940, aware that applicants were in danger if they stayed behind, Sugihara decided to grant visas on his own. He ignored the requirements and issued ten-day visas to Jews for transit through Japan, in violation of his orders. Given his inferior post and the culture of the Japanese Foreign Service bureaucracy, this was an unusual act of disobedience. He spoke to Soviet officials who agreed to let the Jews travel through the country via the Trans-Siberian Railway at five times the standard ticket price.

(Emphasis mine)

It sounds like he had to bribe some Commies to get them to acquiesce to this plan. Not sure if he paid for this train ride or the Jews did, but still, they had a way out that they otherwise would not have had.

Once the word got out, of course, he was virtually mobbed and worked his fingers to the bone to issue as many visas as he could.

Sugihara continued to hand-write visas, reportedly spending 18–20 hours a day on them, producing a normal month's worth of visas each day, until 4 September, when he had to leave his post before the consulate was closed. By that time he had granted thousands of visas to Jews, many of whom were heads of households and thus permitted to take their families with them. According to witnesses, he was still writing visas while in transit from his hotel and after boarding the train at the Kaunas Railway Station, throwing visas into the crowd of desperate refugees out of the train's window even as the train pulled out.

He had a wife and three sons, though one of his sons (born 1940) had leukemia and died in 1947. He had a lot to lose.

The total number of Jews saved by Sugihara is in dispute, estimating about 6,000; family visas—which allowed several people to travel on one visa—were also issued, which would account for the much higher figure. The Simon Wiesenthal Center has estimated that Chiune Sugihara issued transit visas for about 6,000 Jews and that around 40,000 descendants of the Jewish refugees are alive today because of his actions. Polish intelligence produced some false visas. Sugihara's widow and eldest son estimate that he saved 10,000 Jews from certain death, whereas Boston University professor and author, Hillel Levine, also estimates that he helped "as many as 10,000 people", but that far fewer people ultimately survived. Indeed, some Jews who received Sugihara's visas failed to leave Lithuania in time, were later captured by the Germans who invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, and perished in the Holocaust.

(Emphasis mine)

In 1985, 45 years after the Soviet invasion of Lithuania, he was asked his reasons for issuing visas to the Jews. Sugihara explained that the refugees were human beings, and that they simply needed help.

"You want to know about my motivation, don't you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes, Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent.

People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people's lives....The spirit of humanity, philanthropy...neighborly friendship...with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation—and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage.

Notable people helped by Sugihara
- Leaders and students of the Mir Yeshiva, Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim (formally of Lubavitch/Lyubavichi, Russia) relocated to Otwock, Poland and elsewhere.
- Yaakov Banai, commander of the Lehi movement's combat unit and later an Israeli military commander.
- Joseph R. Fiszman, a noted scholar and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Oregon.
- Robert Lewin, a Polish art dealer and philanthropist.
- Leo Melamed, financier, head of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and pioneer of financial futures.
- John G. Stoessinger, professor of diplomacy at the University of San Diego.
- Zerach Warhaftig, an Israeli lawyer and politician, and a signatory of Israel's Declaration of Independence.
- George Zames, control theorist
- Bernard and Rochelle Zell, parents of business magnate Sam Zell

Just...wow. A Japanese Schindler's List, if you will.

[Staggerwing]

Amazing. People like him should be celebrated much, much more than they actually are. We need to hear these stories, especially nowadays.

[BanzaiCat]

Yeah, exactly. And if you want to look at the numbers, this guy saved way more Jews than Schindler did. Not to disparage Schindler, but I agree, Sugihara's story really needs to get out there.

That said, there's a lot of books about him out there (just checked Amazon), but I'm surprised I'd never heard of him before.