14. Israel Labeled Chiune Sugihara as One of “The Righteous Among Nations”
Many of the Jewish refugees whom Sugihara had set out to save made it to Kobe, Japan, where there was a Jewish community. From there, most secured asylum visas to Canada, Australia, Palestine, the US, and Latin America. Sugihara’s visas – including family visas that allowed multiple people to travel together – saved the lives of roughly 6000 Jews. About 40,000 of their descendants are alive today because of his actions.
In 1985, Chiune Sugihara was named by the Israeli government as one of the “Righteous Among Nations” – an honorific used to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination. He is the only Japanese national to be so honored. He died a year later, in a hospital in Kamakura.