October 12, 2015
The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has expressed its strong support for the application by the Japanese government for Chiune Sugihara’s selected documents relating to his wartime actions to be added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. Dubbed the ‘Japanese Schindler’, Sugihara, as the Japanese vice consul in Kovno, Lithuania, defied his superiors’ orders and in 1940 issued 2139 transit visas enabling about 6,000 Jews to escape the Nazi persecution. According to reports, he handwrote each visa, until “my fingers were calloused and every joint from my wrist to my shoulder ached”. A UNESCO board will decide whether to add Sugihara’s documents, which include an original visa he issued and a copy of his communication with officials at the Foreign Ministry, to the register. In 1984 Sugihara was recognized by The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum as Righteous Among the Nations.
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, issued the following statement:
“Chiune Sugihara’s selfless heroism is a inspiring example of an individual whose actions embody the values of shining humanitarianism, moral courage and human decency. Against the orders of his superiors, and risking his own life, he followed the call of his conscience and stamped visas that saved Jews from certain death. Though his bold, unauthorised initiative ruined his promising diplomatic career, the world will always remember his noble actions and conviction in the face of humanity’s greatest evil. Chiune Sugihara’s bravery and compassion are a timeless lesson for present and future generations. We urge UNESCO to recognise the gift of life that Sugihara gave to so many Holocaust survivors and to their children and to add his documents to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. He has surely earned this place of honour and the world’s immense and profound gratitude.”
For more information, please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272-5677