The Japanese vice-consul in Kaunas in 1940 issued a plethora of transit visas for transiting Japan which enabled Jews to escape the horrors of war abroad.

It’s notable that Sugihara, even after the consulate was closed, continued to issue “visas for life” from the Hotel Metropol and even up to the last moment as his train left the station in Kaunas. the final visas he issued were passed through the windows of that train.

The exact number of Jews saved is not known. According to Holocaust researchers, the transit visas issued by the Japanese vice-consul saved the lives of about 6,000 Jews.

The Sugihara Fund: Diplomats for Life organization housed in the former Japanese consulate in Kaunas which is now also a museum and the home of the Asian Studies Center of Vytautas Magnus University, is inviting members of the public to attend events organized by the Japanese embassy to Lithuania to mark the 75th anniversary of Chiune Sugihara’s brave act.

For full text in Lithuanian, please see lrytas.lt