Hello from a cool GOOD MORNING in Tokyo !
For those who remember or know the name of Chiune SUGIHARA or better known
as Senpo Sugihara among the Jews, here is some news about the new memorial
museum of this courageous individual who knew his work and responsibility
to save the lives of some 6,000 Jews from Facisim in WW2.
A new museum dedicated to Sugihara opened at his birthplace in Yaotu, a
small town in Gifu, near to Nagoya in Japan on 30 July, 2000.
This....
"a Japanese diplomat named Chiune Sugihara. Consul-General Sugihara was
stationed in Kaunas, Lithunania in March, 1939. In July, 1940, as the
Germans advanced on Lithuania, all diplomats were instructed to leave their
embassies in Kaunas. Only a Dutch consul and Chiune Sugihara remained
behind. The Jews of Kaunas and the surrounding areas were desperate for
passports to leave the country, but obtaining visas proved almost
impossible. Eventually, they sought help from Sugihara.
Seeing their desperate situation, Sugihara had to probe his conscience. At
the end of July, 1940, against the rules from his commanders in Tokyo,
Sugihara and his wife spent four long weeks writing visas by hand. Of the
almost 6,000 Jews with Sugihara visas, most ended up in Kobe, Japan until
after the war.
His humility prevented Sugihara from discussing his herioc actions after
the war. As a result, many Jews have not known the story of Sugihara, one
of the foremost saviors of the Holocaust. And of the thousands of Sugihara
survivors, many did not know the name of the man who had written their
passports."
(from JewishGen. http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/sugihara.htm)
It should be noted that Sugihara's honour was only recovered by the
Japanese Government for the first time in 1991, and five years after he
died at the age of 86. For 44 years, the government had ignored this
courageous individual since he was forced to leave the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in despair in 1947.
A small golden tablet commemorating Sugihara was put on view for the public
on the premises of the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
central Tokyo. However it is rather difficult to find where this tablet is
located. The guard man at the entrance may know, but not the police man
outside the main entrance unless he has knowledge of history.
Chiune Sugihara Memorial Museum
Yaotu, Gifu-ken 500, Japan
Telefon: +81 (0) 742-24-4111
Other websites about Chiune Sugihara:
www.yad-vashem.org.il/yadvashem/visit/trees/sugihara.html
www.jewishgen.org/databases/sugihara.htm
www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/sugihara.html
http//:remember.org/imagine/sugihara.html
www.eagleman.com/sugihara/
http://members.aol.com/nyrules9/sugihara.html
Enjoy your summer (winter at down-under, etc.) and stay-tuned to Museum-L !
Ryo
YASUI R. (Mr.)
Lecturer in Museum Studies
Obirin University
PO Box 13, Turukawa, Machida-shi 195,
Japan
e-post: [log in to unmask]
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