Video Summary: "Sugihara Chiune Doc 1-Doc 5" By Trust The Facts

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Sugihara Chiune was a Japanese diplomat who risked his carrier to save thousands of Jewish refugees during World War II by issuing  transit visas in Lithuania.

 

Fig. Sugihara Chiune

This is a schematic picture. Interested reader can visit the following site for real image:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/japans-schindler-a-genuine-hero-tangled-in-a-web-of-myth/

In this video summary, I will share some of the highlights from a rare documentary series that features his interviews and testimonies from the survivors. Those readers who are studying the Japanese language, this could be a good opportunity to hear a hero speaking.

 (translation by the author)

[Doc 1]

05:20

At age 83, he looks still elegant with dignity. His house in Kamakura, a city known for its good environment looks reasonably decent.

05:54

Interviewer: “Can you tell us about the Jewish people who came to you on July 18, 1940?”

Kikuko (Sugihara’s wife): “My husband said to me “Open the window and see.” The streets were all black. A cluster of people. It was in the morning. Number of people kept increasing. I asked our Polish staff to ask them what they wanted. They wanted transit visas to Japan.”

Interviewer: “Tokyo said No? Why?”

Sugihara: “In their second telegram, they said Naimusho (Ministry of Home Affairs) claims that many such people would threaten the public safety. Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they cannot do such thing for Jewish people because the Japanese Army told them that to be kind to Jewish people is inappropriate because of the Axis Treaty. Therefore, three departments said no.”

Interviewer: “You defied. Why?”

Sugihara: “The Jewish people would be caught by the Nazis and would be sent to gas chambers. They had no place to go.”

Interviewer: “You believed you must issue transit visas despite the Tokyo oppositions?”

Sugihara: ” Yes”

[Doc 2]

The documentary shows some of the original visas issued by Sugihara, which are kept by the survivors as precious mementos. They express their gratitude and admiration for Sugihara’s courage and compassion.

[Doc 3]

The documentary interviews a Shinto priest and a public bath owner in Kobe, Japan, who remember the Jewish refugees arrived there in 1941. They say they were impressed by their resilience and intelligence, and they tried to help the refugees as much as they could.

My comment: I was surprised by the generosity of the Japanese people who gave fruits to the Jewish refugees in Kobe after the war, when Japan was in devastation and they had difficulties in feeding themselves.

[Doc 4]

09:30

Narrator: The Japanese Army had a plan to incorporate Jewish wealth into their war effort. We asked Sugihara if he was aware of such thing.

Sugihara: No. I was not aware of such thing.  That sounds fabricated. If I knew, things must have been much easier for me to issue the visas. 

[Doc 5]

The documentary ends with a scene of Sugihara and his wife walking along the Kamakura beach on the Pacific Ocean. The narrator says that the Sugihara incident should not be forgotten, and that it shows the power of human kindness in the face of evil.

 

The interested readers can visit:

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

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Chiune+Sugihara+Doc.+2

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Chiune+Sugihara+Doc.+3

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Chiune+Sugihara+Doc.+4

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Chiune+Sugihara+Doc.+5

 

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