Chiune-Sempo Sughaira
Photo Source: It is believed that this photo is Public Domain. If anyone has a copyright on it, I will gladly take it down.

During World War II the Nazi regime was bent on the extermination of the Jews. The Jews needed help, but they never expected it from Germany's strongest ally, Japan, or more precisely. one of their consuls.

Sempo Sughaira was born in 1900. He was a moral man, a man with a conscience. He was also known by the name Chiune Sughaira and his wife was Yukiko Sughaira, although there seems to be many different spellings of his last name. Sempo (Chiune) entered the foreign service in Japan at an early age and became, what was know as a junior diplomat. He had seen an ad in the paper for jobs in the foreign service and took a test, much like the civil service tests that are given in this country for government positions.

He had passed his test and was sent to study Russian, in of all places, China. He did very well. He also became a Christian. He was well liked and good at his job and received several promotions. He became the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Manchuria, but he was very much bothered by the way the Japanese government was treating the Chinese. He just couldn't take it and resigned his post in 1934. You would have thought this would have ended his foreign service, but it didn't. He was given a diplomatic position in Finland in 1938. From finland he was sent to Lithuania a year later to run a consulate that consisted on one person, himself. He was raised under the samurai code of ethics. When he was told by his father that he was to study to be a doctor, he refused. We may not think much of this in the U.S. today, but at that time and under those conditions in Japan this was an act of great courage, so great that most would not have been able to do it.

There were many Jews in Lithuania, many of them Polish refugees. They didn't want to become prisoners of Germany if Lithuania was conquered. When the Germans invaded Lithuania on their way to the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian's who had been so mistreated by the Soviets rose up against them. They considered the Germans their liberators. The jews had to get out before this happened. They approached Mr. Sughaira for visas. He dutifully contacted Tokyo about this, but their request was denied. The Soviets had ordered that all diplomatic offices in Lithuania be closed. Sughaira felt terrible about this situation and his heart went out to the Jews. He apparently was aware of the German concentration camps since the first one was opened in 1933. This camp was the infamous Dachau.

Sughaira suffered for a few days and told his wife of his dilemma. He didn't want to see any harm come to these people. As a matter of fact he said, "I cannot allow these people to die, people who have come to me for help with death staring them in the eyes. Whatever punishment may be imposed on me, I know I should follow my conscience."

His wife feeling for his plight and the plight of all those Jews, decided to help him. For days, both of them issued visas. They were said to have been hand written and the amount of visas. is said to have been anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000. Most people agree that the count was closer to 6,000. Sughaira's counselete was the last one of two open, he had received a twenty day extension. The Japanese and Dutch counsels were the last to remain. Japanese transit visas were needed to allow the refugees to pass through Japanese territory, so they could travel through the Soviet Union to the Dutch Islands of Curacao and Dutch Guiana where the Dutch had granted them permission to settle.

Even though he disobeyed his government, surprisingly, he was kept on in government service. Then in 1945 he was dismissed and his career was ended. He finished his life working in the private sector with an export company that had dealings with Russia. Thanks to Mr Sughaira and his family, thousands of Jews were spared. They had exhibited tremendous courage at a time when brutal regimes were punishing much smaller infractions with harsh penalties. Somewhere in the world the name of Chiune-Sempo Sughaira will always be remember and spoken with reverence. Sughaira and his family were willing to put their lives on the line for others, that is something that is rare indeed.