Kotsuji Setsuro: The Hebrew Language Scholar Who Helped The Sugihara Survivors

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Fig. Kotsuji Setsuzo

“This is a schematic representation of Kotsuji Setsuzo. The interested reader can visit the following wikipedia site:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Setsuzo_Kotsuji.tif

Kotsuji Setsuzō was a Japanese scholar of Hebrew language and culture who was one of the very few Japanese who spoke Hebrew. Sugihara Chiune was a Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of Jewish people during the time of Nazi persecution. Five thousand Sugihara refugees arrived Kobe had only 15 days to stay. Kotsuji heard about Sugihara visas, negotiated with the Foreign Ministry as well as local governments of Kobe. The refugees obtained visa extensions. He arranged the departure of nearly all of them to new destinations by the fall of 1941.

He also established a close friendship with some of the refugees, such as Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, and converted to Judaism himself later in his life. He moved to Israel in 1968 and died there in 1973.

[1] Youtube site: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Chiune+Sugihara+Doc.+1



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