"He who saves one life, saves the entire world."(Talmud)
Linas Venclauskas(Ph.D., Vytautas Magnus University, Sugihara Diplomats for Life Foundation,Kaunas, Lithuania)

War refugees waiting for the visas in front of Japanese Consulate in Kaunas, summer of 1940.

Chiune Sugihara

Jan Zwartendijk

Who was Chiune Sugihara?
The biography would say that he was born in Japan in January 1900 to his father, abusinessman and tax collector, and his mother, a descendant of a samurai family. He was froma large family, but from an early age, he was ready to choose his own path. It happened that
he took exams to study medicine at the university – this was his father's will – but he failed

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them intentionally since languages were his major admiration. As a result of his defiance, hehad to live on his own from the age of 18. His father's heart later melted, and the family wasreunited. But for the rest of his life, Sugihara was used to taking care of himself, his family,
and most importantly, his decisions.
The young Sugihara chose to study language at Waseda University, starting with English
but had a difficult time as he was left without family support. One day, he saw anadvertisement from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) saying that a new groupof diplomats would be assembled, he applied, and the reply was positive. He withdrew fromWaseda University and became a government-sponsored student of the MOFA. This time, hefocused on Russian language studies, which, he was told by someone in the MOFA, was oneof the Japanese priorities at the time. He was sent to Charbin, China, and its diverse society
was good for having a multicultural experience and language studies, especially when a large
group of white Russians (those who supported the Russian monarchy) settled there after theBolshevik revolution.
This multicultural experience must have had an impact on Sugihara, an open-minded
and sensitive person. It so happened that it was in Charbin that Sugihara met his first loveand future wife, Klaudia Apolonovna Semionovna, who was a supporter of the Russianmonarchy. The couple got married, and by doing so Sugihara took Orthodox baptism,
becoming Sergei Pavlovich Sugihara in the Russian Orthodox tradition. Later, Sugihara
separated from his first wife, but the ties remained friendly.
Also, he started an active and promising diplomatic career in the Japanese MOFA. He
was appointed to the Manchukuo government and started his activity as a diplomat. Thanks
to Sugihara's wisdom and perfect Russian language skills, at that time, Japan was able tonegotiate a lower price for part of the Manchurian railroad, which was purchased from theRussian side. This effort from Sugihara was not forgotten by the Russian side and had someeffect on Sugihara's diplomatic career later on. When the plan to send Sugihara to theJapanese Embassy in Moscow emerged and the message was sent to the Soviet authorities,
they replied with only three words: PERSONA NON GRATA.
But before this experience, in 1934, Sugihara resigned from his high position in theManchukuo government protesting against the Japanese authorities' position and theirtreatment of the local population, whom they considered to be inferior. By this time, one thing
became clear: Chiune Sugihara was acting according to his beliefs and high humanitarian
standards. He asked to be transferred to the MOFA in Tokyo, and this was done. By then,
Sugihara had already shown himself to be not only a person of solid views and sometimes
disobedient, but also as a very qualified observer and analyst with the ability to gather large
portions of information in different languages and digest them into clear and readable text. In2
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fact, his study on the Bolshevik regime in Russia was a must-read for all Japanese embassies
working with the Soviets. And this was not Sugihara's personal suggestion, but the decree ofthe MOFA. Sugihara had analytical talent, but to this, he added hard work, which brought
him satisfactory results as well in language studies. Besides his native Japanese, Sugihara
spoke Chinese, French, German, English, and Russian.
In 1935 Sugihara married his wife Yukiko Kikuchi, his partner for the rest of his life. Theera in which Sugihara lived was a world of growing aggression, invasion, and occupation. His
beloved Japan took an active part in these processes in the Far East. But Sugihara, who wasvalued for his analytical abilities and language skills, was sent to Europe: the place where
World War II was about to start.

Years in Europe: Part 1Sugihara started his diplomatic mission in Europe from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, in1938. It is clear now that Sugihara was rather ignored by some Japanese staff in the embassies,
especially the military attachés, who at that time had rather a combatant position. Thus, thepresence of Sugihara sometimes contrasted with the general moods in the embassies.
It is said that World War II broke out unexpectedly, but on the other hand, everyone
thought it was only a matter of time. On September 1, 1939, the world stepped into the new,the most destructive phase of its existence. This tragedy affected Sugihara's career in a rather
unexpected way. He was transferred to Kaunas, the provisional capital of Lithuania. There hewas given the leadership of the Japanese Consulate.

Role of Lithuania
When World War II broke out, Lithuania was still an independent country and declared its
neutrality. From today's perspective, we know that it was the beginning of the end. First of all,the world was shocked by the agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union: tworadical opponents made a pact. But only the closest circles knew about the secret protocols of
the Molotov–Ribbentrop agreement, the protocols of the division of Europe between these
two totalitarian aggressors.
In this perspective, Japan – having made agreements with Nazi Germany – felt betrayedsince the conflicts between Japan and Russia in the Far East had deep roots, and one of thethreats that contributed to the building of the Japanese empire was the Soviet Union. In this3
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geopolitical context, Kaunas became a very good point for observations, a neutral country withborders with Nazi Germany. In March of 1939, the Nazis occupied a part of Lithuanian
territory, the only seaport, Klaipėda (Memel), claiming that this was historical German lands,and when the Molotov Ribbentrop secret protocols came into effect, the Soviets occupied
eastern territories of Poland and approached the Lithuanian borders. So, the two totalitarianregimes in Europe could be seen with bare eyes from Lithuania. This all happened when
Sugihara was in Lithuania. His government transferred him to Kaunas and officially reported
that he would act as Japanese vice-consul, but his true mission was gathering information.

Why the Jews?
The anti-Semitic position of the Nazis is largely known, but after the Soviet Union attacked
Poland on September 17, 1939, the Jewish population was largely targeted by the Soviets aswell. Although their hatred was not specifically directed against Jews, the Soviets hated
religious people, as well as people who shared national identity, and among the Jewish
population, there were large numbers of religious and Zionist people. One of the first targets
during the Soviet occupation in Poland were Synagogues and yeshivas. They were massivelyclosed, and rabbis were arrested and persecuted. These were the main reasons why Jews left
Nazi and Soviet-occupied Polish territories and settled in large numbers in Lithuania.
In the refugees' eyes, Lithuania was a safe haven and Jews had no restrictions there until
the Soviet occupation of Lithuania started in June 1940. Understanding that under the Soviet
regime, Jews would not be able to live their former lives, they started to search for possible
destinations. The most desired were the United States and Palestine, but these had ratherstrict immigration quotas, and foreign embassies were rather indifferent to the demands ofthe refugees. In this context, Sugihara's decision to issue Japanese transit visas was exceptional.

Combination of the escape planUntil the Nazis advanced in Western Europe in the spring of 1940 and Mussolini moved closer
to Hitler, European Jews used Italian ports to leave Europe, but in the summer of 1940, itbecame rather complicated. The remaining possibility to reach Western countries was to goeast. The Soviets would allow the refugees to cross their territory on the Trans-SiberianRailroad, expecting huge revenues from ticket sales. But where to go?
At that time, Chiune Sugihara and his family had spent 10 months in Lithuania, and the4The Japan Institute of International Affairs / Resource Library

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third son Haruki had just been born in May 1940 in Kaunas. Sugihara had already analyzed
the situation in the region, and he had likely heard that Jews were being hunted by Nazis anddiscriminated against by the Soviets. Moreover, he was the eyewitness of refugees flowing into
Lithuania from Poland. Of course, he knew about the Trans-Siberian Railroad and theconnection to the Far East via Japan, which had been operating since the late 19th century.
Jewish refugees in Lithuania were rather diverse but unified by religion, Zionism, or both.
So, in this difficult situation, they started to search for all possible escape routes together. Jews
in the US and other places knew about the strict measures taken by the Soviets against
religious Jews, the leaders of yeshivas and the rabbis. The clock was ticking, and somethingneeded to be done.
Among the refugees was one active young man, a lawyer from Warsaw, Zorah Warhaftig.
He and his pregnant wife had come to Lithuania on foot. They were staying in Vilnius, butwhen they understood that decisions were still made in Kaunas, they moved there. All foreign
legations were in Kaunas, and without the help of the foreign diplomats, escape was hardlypossible. But the diplomats in Kaunas were rather passive, and a lot of visits and conversations
gave no results.
According to the account of Warhaftig, he visited all major embassies in Kaunas and got
no practical result. Together with his colleagues, he started to analyze the map, looking forany possibilities, and the Far East caught his attention. He organized a representative groupof Jewish people and met with Sugihara. To his surprise, this time, the reply was not, " There's
nothing I can do," or "I must get instructions," etc. Mr. Sugihara promised to think about it
and told them to come back later.
At the other end of this operation, the Dutch honorary consul in Lithuania Jan
Zwartendijk was instructed by his boss in Riga, Ambassador LPJ de Decker, to issue finaldestination visas to those people who have Dutch citizenship. In fact, de Decker himself madethe first inscription in the Dutch passport mailed to him from Lithuania to Riga.
De Decker indicated that a separate visa is not required to enter Curacao, Suriname, andother Dutch colonies in the Caribbean. And he strategically "forgot" the last sentence of theformula—acceptance of the new arrivals is decided by the governor of the island. So, at a timeof restricted visas and quotas, this opened a window of opportunity. Since a large number ofDutch citizens in Lithuania were religious Jews – Telšiai and other Yeshivas students – it was
rather easy to spread the word. Refugees communicated with fellow Dutch who already had
Curacao visas. The remaining question was how to reach the destination, but Warhaftig wasoptimistic about Sugihara's decision to issue Japanese transit visas.
It is said that Sugihara and Zwartendijk never met in person and only spoke on the phonea few times. But in this situation, they probably understood without words that their

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cooperation could be fruitful, but also dangerous for them and their family members.
Nevertheless, they took the risk.
Both diplomats were let out from the Soviet Lithuania in late August and early September
1940. Together, they issued over 2000 visas for the Jewish refugees. Sugihara consulted Tokyo
by telegram on what to do with the large number of visa applicants, but the reply was delayed,and Sugihara took his own initiative and began issuing visas en masse. As for Zwartendijk, heignored de Decker's recommendations to issue Curacao visas only to Dutch citizens – heissued visas to all applicants. But for the refugees, getting the visas was just the beginning ofa long journey.

FlightEven with the Sugihara-Zwartendijk visas, refugees still had to get the permission of NKVD
(Soviet secret police agency) to leave the Soviet Union, purchase the Trans-Siberian Railroad
ticket at the Intourist (Soviet travelling agency), spend 14 days on the train, and then hopethat the ferry from Tsuruga, Japan would come to Vladivostok to pick them up.
On this route, various aids and people were also important. Here, the help from theAmerican Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) might be mentioned. Originally, the JDC
initiative started in 1914 as a relief to the Jews in Palestine, but in this story, the JDC wasinstrumental in collecting money for Intourist services, i.e., purchasing tickets for the TransSiberian Railroad.
So, getting the Sugihara-Zwartendijk visas was limited to July-August 1940, but after that,
there were long months of waiting to get the money to buy tickets for the Trans-SiberianRailroad. And the Soviets were quite repressive here—they ordered all the refugees to applyfor Soviet citizenship by December of 1940, otherwise the disobedient would be exiled toSiberia.

Years in Europe: Part 2
Sugihara issued a few dozen visas in Prague in 1941, where he was appointed after his stay inBerlin. When the Soviets closed all embassies in Lithuania, Sugihara came to Berlin fromKaunas, as Nazi Berlin housed the main Japanese embassy in Europe, and it coordinated other
diplomatic missions. From Berlin, Sugihara was sent to Prague, later to Konigsberg (nowKaliningrad), and Bucharest was his final destination, where he served his country's interests

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until the Soviets occupied Romania and Sugihara with his family was interned for long months.
He worked for the Soviets as a translator but eventually was released and returned to Japan in1947.
Sugihara's diplomatic career came to an end in 1947 – he left the Japanese MOFA andbegan to install himself and his family in a new phase of life.

Recognition and importanceSugihara did not seek any recognition of what he had done in Kaunas and later in Prague
where he issued several dozen Japanese transit visas. In fact, it was the survivors who received
Sugihara's visas who began searching for their savior after the war. First was Joshua Nishri
who was a diplomat himself. In 1968, while working in the Israel Embassy in Tokyo as an
economic attaché, Nishri started to search for Sugihara. Eventually, he succeeded. During themeeting, Nishri explained and reminded Sugihara that if it were not for his visas in Kaunas,
he would not have survived. It was a moving meeting and a starting point for Sugihara
survivors emerging from all over the world.
Among the Jews rescued by Sugihara and Zwartendijk, there were many who were deeplyreligious – rabbis and students of different yeshivas in today's Poland, Belarus, and Lithuania.
Being strictly observant, yeshivas students and religious Jews live in rather closed
communities, using only Jewish languages, so quite a lot of testimonies and memoirs arepresented in Yiddish or Hebrew. But despite this fact, recognition for Sugihara began todevelop.
In 1968, the same year that Nishri found Sugihara, the youngest son of Sugihara, Nobuki,
received a scholarship from the Israeli government to study at a Hebrew university inJerusalem. With this, more survivors remembered Sugihara, hearing his name. In themeantime, Zwartendijk was often referred to as Curacao Angel or Mr. Philips Radio.
In the Jewish tradition, the ultimate value is life, and observant Jews are allowed to ignore
religious commitments if they pose a threat to their s lives. Tragically, perhaps more yeshiva
communities could have been saved if they had followed this tradition. In order to leave theSoviet Union, they had to split into smaller groups, and quite often, yeshivas' heads decided
not to do so. They decided to stay together, protect and strengthen each other in the hostile
milieu. Yeshiva's leaders, who were invited to come to a safe place, as the US for example, did
not accept the invitations saying that they have no moral right to leave their pupils, or to split
them into smaller groups and travel only with one of them. The big exception here is Mirer
Yeshiva from today's Belarussian town Mir. They travelled in split groups and reunited in7
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Japan and Shanghai.
Example of the Mirer Yeshiva shows that the courageous acts of Sugihara andZwartendijk were the crucial factors in saving Jewish religion, philosophy and education
traditions that had flourished in Europe for at least a few hundred years. Besides this successstory, separate groups or individuals reached Japan as well. These Sugihara-Zwartendijk
survivors became religious and community leaders all over the worldwide Jewish diaspora.
Among these refugees was Zorah Wahrhaftig. When he noticed that NKVD had their eyes on
him in Kaunas, he speeded up his departure with a Sugihara visa, reached Japan, later wenton the US, and eventually settled in Israel.
Warhafting met with Sugihara in 1968 when he served as the Religious Affairs Ministerof Israel. At this point, Sugihara was asked how he might be thanked to which he replied that
he does not need anything. But Yad Vashem in Jerusalem already was announcing Righteous
Gentiles Among the Nations, a special title for people who saved the Jewish people from theHolocaust. The procedure is strict and time-consuming, but Sugihara was granted the title in1984. The ceremony took place in the Israeli embassy in Tokyo since Sugihara was too ill totravel long distances. Sugihara not only was given a diploma and medal but a tree at Yad
Vashem Park was planted to honor him. He passed away in 1986. Without a doubt, this is thehighest recognition from the side of the state of Israel. But Sugihara continues to berecognized worldwide in Jewish communities and non-Jewish milieus to this day.
For example, several Sugihara Museums are operating across the globe, and among themis the Sugihara House Museum in Kaunas, established and supported by Sugihara Diplomats
for Life Foundation as civic initiative in 1999, without state or municipality support, and is
the very place where visas for life were issued by Japanese vice-consul Chiune Sugihara.
The Conservative synagogue Temple Emeth, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, US, built
a "Sugihara Memorial Garden" and holds an Annual Sugihara Memorial Concert.
In 2002, a memorial statue of Chiune Sugihara by Ramon G. Velazco titled "ChiuneSugihara Memorial, Hero of the Holocaust" was installed in the Little Tokyo neighborhood ofLos Angeles, California, US. In June 2016, a street in Netanya, Israel, was named for Sugihara.
Since October 2021, there has been a Chiune Sugihara Square in Jerusalem as well as a Garden
named for him in the Kiryat Hayovel neighborhood of the city.
These are not the only initiatives to commemorate the deeds of Chiune Sugihara. They
will continue in the future. For the Jewish world, Sugihara is one of the Righteous Among theNations, a respectable figure, but at the same time it just so happened that among theSugihara-Zwartendijk survivors, there was a large group of Jewish religious, educated people
who transmitted European Jewish traditions to places all over the world in such a way as tostrengthen or create new cultural and spiritual centers of Jewish life based on traditions and8
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wisdom handed down from generation to generation for centuries.
And speaking of generations, here it is worth repeating Talmudic wisdom:" He who saves
one life, saves the entire world." Today, thanks to Sugihara, the people he saved have third,
and fourth-generation descendants. And the lifeline goes on.

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