15. Sugihara Kept Up His Efforts to Save Jews to the Literal Last Minute
Chiune Sugihara had the refugees call him “Sempo” – the Sino-Japanese reading of his name’s Japanese characters – because it was easier for them to pronounce than his given name. He also got in touch with Soviet officials, and convinced them to let the Jewish refugees travel across the USSR via the Trans Siberian Railway. When they balked, he overcame their intransigence by sweetening the deal for corrupt bureaucrats when necessary, arranging for the Jews to pay them five times the normal ticket price.
It finally ended on September 4th, 1940, when Sugihara had to leave because the consulate was about to close. He kept writing visas en route from his hotel to Kovno’s train station, and continued doing so on the train, throwing visas out the window into the crowd of desperate refugees. As the train began pulling away, he started throwing blank sheets out the window, containing only his signature and the consulate’s seal, so they could be filled in and turned into visas. His final words to those he was trying to save were: “Please forgive me. I cannot write anymore. I wish you the best“.