Left: Chiune Sugihara. Right: Rabbi Yosef Kramer with Fam and Estin Sugihara.

Young Lubavitchers Mark ‘Yahrtzeit’ of Japanese Savior

Friday, July 31st, marked the 29th anniversary of the passing of Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Lithuania. During World War II, he saved several thousand Jewish lives by issuing transit visas to Jewish refugees so that they could travel to Japan.

Sugihara wrote travel visas that facilitated the escape of more than 6,000 Jewish refugees to Japanese territory. According to witnesses, he was still writing visas while in transit from his hotel and after boarding the train at the Kaunas Railway Station on his way back to Japan, throwing visas into the crowd of desperate refugees out of the train’s window even as the train pulled out.

Crown Heights community member and activist Rabbi Yosef Kramer’s grandfather, Rabbi Aryeh Leib Kramer, OBM, was one of those Jews saved by Sugihara. Rabbi Kramer would often recall to his grandson the night he spent with ‪Sugihara as he stamped visas.

Recently, Rabbi Yosef Kramer had the honor of meeting with Chiune Sugihara’s son, Fam Sugihara, and daughter in-law, Estin Sugihara, while they were visiting New York.

“Let’s honor the anniversary of Chiune Sugihara’s passing by doing an act of kindness,” wrote Kramer on his Facebook page, while encouraging his friends to tag their names to the story if they are descended from someone who was saved by the heroic diplomat.

The post was soon liked by dozens of young Lubavitchers, many of them members of some of the most prominent Chabad families, whose patriarch or matriarch was the fortunate recipient of one of Sugihara’s Japanese visas.

11 Comments

  • Amazing story

    Who does not know of this famous story, of how
    so many Yidden in Japan may have been saved,
    just by the right words? This was told to me by a Crown Heights resident (I don’t know if that was kramer), who was in that group who made it to Japan.

    So, here they are – thousands of Yidden in a building in Japan, awaiting their fate. The spokesmen for them was a delegation of maybe 3 people, including the Amshinover Rebbe. In front was a long table, where 5 Japanese government officials, in their military uniforms, were sitting.

    So, here comes the tough and dreaded question: “..but tell us, why do they hate you so much?” As if to say,”what kind of people are you that they want to get rid of?” They did not know what to answer. Finally, the Amshinover Rebbe told them to give this answer: “The reason they hate us so much is because we are of Asian descent (like the Japanese too; if you look at the map of the world, where is Israel, in Asia!).” When the Japanese officials got that response, they sat there stunned for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, they stood up and crossed their arms.
    Whatever that meant, they were not going to send them back to Europe. However, they did not want them staying in Japan. So, they shipped them off to Shanghai (explains the development of the Shanghai Jewish community), which, at the time, was kind of a no-man’s land, until the Japanese took it over later.

  • Andrea Schonberger

    I saw a documentary about him and apparently Ambassador Sugihara was so bold that he handed out transit visas at the train station, in full view of the Nazis, to Jews who were already on trains taking them to their deaths–with the visas in hand they were able to jump off and save their lives.

  • Declasse Intellectual

    There is so much of this part of our history that to be explored and written. Another part that needs further elucidation is the Fugi plan where the Japanese government wanted to “send Jews to America” and this might have saved thousands of Jews, but chief t chief opposition was none other the Rabbi Stephan J. Wise, who sold out his breatherin in order to cozy up to F. D. R. who was know by his associates to be an anti-Semitic bigot. Wise was afraid that an influx of Jews fleeing for their lives to America would upset the “great”
    F. D. R. Also important is how the NEW YORK TIMES, owners were Jewish, suppressed reports of the Holocaust in order not to upset the president. More research and publicationsneeds to be done on this.
    The late ambassador has been honored by the Israeli government, and the Japanese government has slowly recognized his great role in the cause of serving humanity in such a dark age.

  • How about in CH?

    Would love to attend an event honoring this Righteous Gentile who save so many people and all their (future) descendants. His descents deserve the kavod that their father earned.

  • To Number 3

    You should read Buried by the Times – an in depth review on how the newspaper hid and buried reports on what was going on in Europe at the request of those higher up.

    • Andrea Schonberger

      I know I’m going to take a beating for this but read “The Myth of Rescue: Why the democracies could not have saved more Jews from the Nazis” by William D. Rubinstein. The book is contentious/provocative and discussing it would no doubt ruin a family reunion. It does not Monday morning quarterback and points out hard facts that most laymen tend to ignore or not consider.

  • Mike

    As Ed Koch, a Democrat, would say: There is a special place in hell for FDR. Mayor Koch had faults, but, give credit when it’s due.

  • "The world was silent"

    This is the title of his famous book – international best-seller, put out by Elie Wiesel. From the title, we know how the rest of the world cared about the Holocaust.

    Elie presented the book to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, ZY”A, for his opinion. The Rebbe said: “The book is good, but you should change the title from,”The world was silent,” to,”The world was SATISFIED.”

  • JDE

    “As Ed Koch, a Democrat, would say: There is a special place in hell for FDR. Mayor Koch had faults, but, give credit when it’s due.”

    He was actually a little gentler about it: “I will never forgive him for closing the doors to Jews who could have left Germany. Never will I forgive him. If you believe in purgatory—and I don’t even know what it is—that’s where he is, for that sin.”

    http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2013/2/3/ed-koch-fdr-and-the-holocaust.html#.VcJAAbd7RB8