Chiune Sugihara
| Chiune Sugihara | |
|---|---|
Chiune Sugihara
|
|
| Native name | 杉原 千畝 |
| Born |
1 January 1900 Mino, Gifu, Japan |
| Died | 31 July 1986 (aged 86) Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Nationality |
 Japanese
|
| Other names | "Sempo", Pavlo Sergeivich Sugihara |
| Occupation | Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Lithuania |
| Known for | Rescue of 5,558 Jews during the Holocaust |
| Spouse(s) |
Klaudia Semionovna Apollonova (m. 1919; div. 1935) Yukiko Kikuchi (m. 1936) |
| Children | Hiroki, Chiaki, Haruki, Nobuki (only remaining son alive) |
| Awards | Righteous Among the Nations (1984) |
Chiune "Sempo" Sugihara (杉原 千畝 Sugihara Chiune?, 1 January 1900 – 31 July 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Lithuania. During World War II, he helped between 10,000 and 40,000 Jews leave the country by issuing transit visas so that they could travel to Japanese territory, risking his career and his family's lives. The Jews who escaped were refugees from German-occupied Western Poland or Russian-occupied Eastern Poland, as well as residents of Lithuania. In 1985, Israel named him to the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions, the only Japanese national to be so honored.
Sugihara had told the refugees to call him "Sempo", the Sino-Japanese reading of the characters in his given name, discovering it was much easier for Western people to pronounce.
Chiune Sugihara was born 1 January 1900(Meiji 36), Mugi district Kozuchi-town known today as Mino City in Gifu Prefecture, to a middle-class father, Yoshimi Sugihara (杉原好水 Sugihara Yoshimi), and Yatsu Sugihara (杉原やつ Sugihara Yatsu), an upper-middle class mother. When he was born,his father worked at a tax office in Kouzuchi-town and his family lived in a borrowed temple, a Buddhist temple Kyosenji nearby, and he was born there. He was the second son among five boys and one girl. His father and family moved the tax office within the branch of the Nagoya Tax Administration Office one after another. In 1903 (Meiji 36) his family moved to Asahi Village in Niu-gun, Fukui Prefecture. In 1904 (Meiji 37) they moved to Yokkaichi city Mie prefecture. In 1905 (Meiji 38) October 25, they moved to Nakatsu Town, Ena-gun, Gifu Prefecture. In 1906 (Meiji 39) On April 2, Chiune entered Nakatsu Town Municipal Elementary School (now Nakatsugawa City Minami Elementary School in Gifu Prefecture). In 1907 (Meiji 40) March 31, he transferred to Kuwana Municipal Kuwana Elementary School in Mie Prefecture (currently Kuwana Municipal Nissin Elementary School). In December of that same year, he transfer to Nagoya Municipal Furuwatari Elementary School (now Nagoya Municipal Heiwa Elementary School).In 1912, he graduated with top honors from Furuwatari Elementary School, and entered Aichi prefectural 5th secondary school (now Zuiryo high school), a combined junior and senior high school. His father wanted him to become a physician, but Chiune deliberately failed the entrance exam by writing only his name on the exam papers. Instead, he entered Waseda University in 1918 and majored in English language. At that time, he entered Yuai Gakusha, the Christian fraternity that had been founded by Baptist pastor Harry Baxter Benninhof, to improve his English. In 1919, he passed the Foreign Ministry Scholarship exam. The Japanese Foreign Ministry recruited him and assigned him to Harbin, China, where he also studied the Russian and German languages and later became an expert on Russian affairs.
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