Israel: Chiune Sugihara Square in Jerusalem: “Visa for Life”
-“Saving 1,000 Jews, a sign of gratitude”-
Japanese diplomat
Chiune Sugihara
During World War II, he saved a thousand Jews with a “life visa.”
Square in Jerusalem:
A square bearing the name of diplomat Chiune Sugihara (1900-86) was created in the city of Jerusalem.
Commemorative Ceremony Held:
A commemorative ceremony was held on October 11th.
According to the Israeli Embassy
The square at the intersection southwest of Jerusalem was named “Chiune Sugihara Square”.
At the ceremony
Nobuki Sugihara, the fourth son of Sugihara, who lives in Belgium.
Koichi Mizushima, Ambassador to Israel,
With people who saved their lives on visas
The relative attended.
JIJI dot com
https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2021101200887&g=int
Square opens in Jerusalem in memory of Sugihara
A square in Jerusalem
has been named after a late Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during World War Two while working in Lithuania.
Sugihara Chiune
issued transit visas for Jewish refugees fleeing persecution by Nazi Germany.About 6,000 Jews
are believed to have been saved by what became known as “visas for life.”On Monday, about 70 people
attended a ceremony to dedicate “Chiune Sugihara Square.”The participants
included Sugihara’s 72-year-old son Nobuki, who lives in Belgium, and Jewish people who were saved by the visas, along with their families.A 94-year-old Jewish man
said that in many parts of the world, important things are named after great people for what they did, and it’s wonderful to have a place to remember Sugihara in a neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Sugihara’s son said his father just did what he could do
because he felt pity for Jewish people gathering outside the Japanese consulate.
He said his father probablynever imagined that so many visa recipients would manage to survive, leading to tens of thousands of descendants.
NHK WORLD-JAPAN News