MARY CRONK FARRELL AUTHOR
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • blog
  • Speaking
  • Contact
    • Contact Mary
    • Upcoming Events
    • News!

Meet this Japanese Hero of the Holocaust

1/22/2016

Comments

 
Picture
It's 1939 Lithuania.
A young boy wants to see the latest Laurel and Hardy movie, but he's given away his allowance to help Jewish refugees, thousands of them flooding in from Poland hoping to escape the Nazis.

Solly decides to hit up his aunt for a loan, one Lithuanian coin for the movie. At his aunt's shop a stranger overhears Solly's request and spontaneously offers the boy two coins. On impulse, the boy invites the stranger to his family's first night of Chanukah celebration.

That's how the Japanese Consul to Lithuania Chiune Sugihara came to attend Jewish Chanukah.

Picture
Sugihara noticed the affection between Solly's relatives and it reminded him of his own family, and of similar Japanese festivals. A friendship grew between the Japanese man and the Russian Jewish boy and his father.

The following summer, Sugihara and his wife and children, woke one morning in mid-July to an enormous clamor outside. Peering out the window, they saw scores of people crowded up against the consulate fence. They were Jewish refugees desperate to flee the Nazis.

Picture
Most countries 
    refused
         to take 
   Jewish refugees     trying to                 escape 
        the Nazis.
In little time, one hundred people grew to two hundred, and within days, thousands lined up in fear for their lives, believing their only path to freedom might be a Japanese transit visa, the ticket to a Soviet exit visa. They had few options. Most of the free world refused to take in Jewish refugees from Poland or anywhere in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Three times Chiune Sugihara wired Tokyo for permission to issue the Jewish refugees visas. Three times he was denied. He discussed the situation with his wife and children. "I spent an entire night plunged in thought," he wrote later.
Picture

​"I spent
​ an entire night          plunged in                thought."
A career diplomat, bound by the traditional obedience of the Japanese culture, Sugihara knew he risked disgrace, and he feared for the safety of his wife and children.

"I could have refused to issue them, but would that, in the end, have truly been in Japan’s national interest? I came to the conclusion, after racking my brain, that the spirit of humane and charitable action takes precedence above all else," he wrote in is 1984 memoir. "“I am convinced to this day that I took that path of action faithfully, putting my job on the line, without fear or trepidation in my heart.”
Picture
Sugihara and his wife Yukiko sat down and began to write visas.

For 29 days, from July 31 to August 28, 1940, they wrote and signed visas by hand, more than 300 a day. Yukiko made him sandwiches, when Sugihara refused to stop for meals. Jewish refugees lined outside waiting and when some climb over the consulate fence, Sugihara paused to go out and promise he was doing all he could to help them.

"They were human beings and they needed help," he said later. "I'm glad I found the strength to make the decision to give it to them."

Sugihara was a religious man and believed in a universal God of all people. He was fond of saying, "I may have to disobey my government, but if I don't I would be disobeying God."

Picture
At the end of August, Sugihara was sent to a new post. As his family boarded the train to Berlin, he continued issuing documents through the window, and as the train left the station, handed his consul visa stamp to a refugee to authenticate more visas. 

Sugihara is credited with saving some 6000 Jews from the Nazis.

As for Sugihara's young friend...most of Solly's family was murdered in the Holocaust. But Solly and his father survived in one of the outer camps of Dachau. Ironically, in May 1945, Solly was liberated by Japanese American soldiers of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, men who had been interned in their own country.

Thanks to the Japan Times and the Jewish Virtual Library for photos and information.

Comments
    Picture
    I'm fascinated to discover little-known history, stories of people and events that provide a new perspective on why and how things happened, new voices that haven't been heard, insight into how the past brought us here today, and how it might guide us to a better future.
    I also post here about my books and feature other authors and their books on compelling and important historical topics.
    Occasionally, I share what makes me happy, pictures of my garden, recipes I've made, events I've attended, people I've met. I'm always happy to hear from readers in the blog comments, by email or social media.

    Archives

    December 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010

    Categories

    All
    Books
    Coffee
    Courage
    Day To Day
    Dealing With Demons
    Eat Drink & Be Mary
    Food
    Gardening
    Getkidzlit
    Historical Fiction
    History
    History & Literature
    Literature
    Media Literacy
    Nonfiction

Privacy Policy
​

I write about women whose courage has shaped our history. My work shines a light in shadowy forgotten corners, amplifies marginalized voices  and empowers us all to work constructively for what we believe in.  Sign up for my weekly newsletter and join the conversation.

Click to set custom HTML
© COPYRIGHT 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • blog
  • Speaking
  • Contact
    • Contact Mary
    • Upcoming Events
    • News!