Japanese Diplomat. Sometimes referred to as "The Japanese Schindler," and also known as "Sempo Sugihara." As Japan's vice-consul in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1940, he saved the lives more than 6000 Jews by disobeying orders of his superiors and providing visas to those who wanted to transit through Japan to escape Nazi persecution. He said, "I may have to disobey my government, but if I don't, I will be disobeying God." After the war, the Sugihara family was imprisoned for about 18 months in a Soviet internment camp in Romania. When the family returned to Japan in 1947, Sugihara was unceremoniously dismissed from the diplomatic corps and experienced many personal hardships for many years. In his honor, a street in Kaunas now bears his name and he is honored in Israel. There is also a monument in his honor in his hometown of Yaotsu, Japan.
Japanese Diplomat. Sometimes referred to as "The Japanese Schindler," and also known as "Sempo Sugihara." As Japan's vice-consul in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1940, he saved the lives more than 6000 Jews by disobeying orders of his superiors and providing visas to those who wanted to transit through Japan to escape Nazi persecution. He said, "I may have to disobey my government, but if I don't, I will be disobeying God." After the war, the Sugihara family was imprisoned for about 18 months in a Soviet internment camp in Romania. When the family returned to Japan in 1947, Sugihara was unceremoniously dismissed from the diplomatic corps and experienced many personal hardships for many years. In his honor, a street in Kaunas now bears his name and he is honored in Israel. There is also a monument in his honor in his hometown of Yaotsu, Japan.
Bio by: Warrick L. Barrett
Family Members
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See more Sugihara memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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