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Chiune Sugihara Statue Unveiled in Kaunas

A statue was unveiled Saturday to World War II-era Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara. He issued so-called visas for life, saving thousands of Jews from Lithuania and Poland as Nazi Germany advanced on the small Baltic country of Lithuania. The bronze…

Chiune Sugihara Remembered at Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and Japanese ambassador to Lithuania Shiro Yamasaki attended the unveiling of a plaque to honor Jewish rescuer Chiune Sugihara at the Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium in Vilnius. The Jewish school in Vilnius has maintained a…

Chiune Sugihara Remembered on Mount Zion in Jerusalem

Photo: Rolan Novitsky A special ceremony to honor WWII Japanese diplomat in Lithuania Chiune Sugihara (杉原 千畝 “Sempo”) was held in Jerusalem on Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27. A memorial plaque to Righteous Gentile Sugihara was unveiled at the Chamber…

Kaunas City Bus Carries Portraits of Sugihara, Zwartendijk

kauno.diena.lt A city bus in Kaunas has been decorated with war-time diplomats Chiune Sugihara and Jan Zwartendijk. Both rescued a large number of Jews from the Holocaust, issuing “visas for life” for Jews in Kaunas to flee Europe. Full article…

Sugihara Week in Kaunas to Include Japanese Culture Component

Sugihara Week celebrations and events will take place in Kaunas from September 3 to 9 this year and will include concerts, a symposium, film screenings, lectures, creative workshops and other events. Visitors will learn more about Japanese culture and friendship…

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Visits Sugihara House in Kaunas

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe visited Sugihara House in Kaunas Sunday accompanied by Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius. The Sugihara House museum is located at the site of the Japanese consulate where Chiune Sugihara rescued Jews by issuing transit visas…

Japanese PM Abe to Visit Sugihara House in Kaunas

Photo of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara and an old Japanese flag on display at the Sugihara House Museum in Kaunas which housed the Japanese Consulate from 1939 to 1940. Photo: AFP-JIJI KAUNAS, LITHUANIA–A Japanese diplomat who saved 6,000 European Jews…

More on Sugihara Week in Kaunas

Sugihara Week celebrations in Kaunas drew a large number of guests from Japan, including his eldest son Hiroki’s widow Michi Sugihara and the only surviving son Nobuki Sugihara. Mr. Sugihara laid a wreath and observed a minute of silence for…

Chiune Sugihara a True Humanitarian Who Lived in Kaunas

Dr. Aurelijus Zykas, the director of the Asian Studies Center of Vytautas Magnus University which formerly occupied the second floor of the Sugihara House museum in Kaunas, characterized Japanese diplomat and Righteous Gentile Chiune Sugihara this way in an interview…

Japanese Kites Color Kaunas Skyline during Sugihara Week

Kaunas residents got to learn more about Japanese culture during Sugihara Week. A Japanese kite festival and Japanese and Jewish art workshops became keynotes of the celebrations. On Thursday the Jurgis Dobkevičius Pre-gymnasium hosted an extraordinary event. Students flew rendako…

Sugihara Week Continues in Kaunas

Events for the Sugihara Week being celebrated in Kaunas are scheduled from September 2 to 8. Sugihara Week is a series of events to commemorate Japanese diplomat and Righteous Gentile Chiune Sugihara’s life and deed. From 1939 to 1940 Sugihara…

Japanese Restorers of Sugihara House Arrive

Kaunas, September 4, BNS–A group of painters dressed in white just arrived from Japan gathered at the residence and now museum of famous interwar Japanese diplomat and Righteous Gentile Chiune Sugihara Monday to help in the renovation of the building.…

Chiune Sugihara Week in Kaunas

Saturday a week-long celebration of Japanese diplomat and Righteous Gentile Chiune Sugihara began in Kaunas, Lithuania. The audience learned of Sugihara’s life-saving mission in concert with Dutch consul Jan Zwartendijk which resulted in over 6,000 Jews being saved from the…

Kaunas Celebrates Sugihara Week

You’re invited to attend the events of the first-ever Sugihara Week celebrations in Lithuania from September 2 to 8 in Kaunas. The week-long celebration commemorates Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara who saved not less than 6,000 Jewish lives in Kaunas together…