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
The following information is quoted from the Jewish Virtual Library
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/source/Holocaust/sugihara.htm.
“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.
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
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/source/Holocaust/sugihara.htm
Memorial and tree planted
to honor Sugihara in Israel
___
(Russia)
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.
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.