Chiune Sugihara

Chiune Sugihara (杉原 千畝, Sugihara Chiune, 1 January 1900 – 31 July 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through Japanese territory, risking his career and the lives of his family. The fleeing Jews were refugees from German-occupied Western Poland and Soviet-occupied Eastern Poland, as well as residents of Lithuania.

Chiune Sugihara
杉原 千畝
Sugihara, before 1945
Born(1900-01-01)1 January 1900
Kozuchi, Gifu, Japan
Died31 July 1986(1986-07-31) (aged 86)
Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan
Resting placeKamakura Cemetery
Other names"Sempo", Sergei Pavlovich Sugihara
OccupationVice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania
Known forRescue of 5,558 Jews during the Holocaust
Spouses
  • Klaudia Semionovna Apollonova
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1918; div. 1935)​
  • Yukiko Kikuchi
    ​
    (m. 1936)​
Children4
Awards
  • Order of the Sacred Treasure, 5th Class (1988)
  • Righteous Among the Nations (1984)

In 1985, the State of Israel honored Sugihara as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions. He is the only Japanese national to have been so honored.

In Lithuania, 2020 was "The Year of Chiune Sugihara". It has been estimated as many as 100,000 people alive today are the descendants of the recipients of Sugihara visas.

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