They Had Nowhere to Go
— The Sugihara Perspective (1): When Rules and Lives Collided
In the summer of 1940, thousands of desperate Jewish refugees flooded into Lithuania, fleeing the terror of Nazi persecution. With borders closing and time running out, they had nowhere left to go — until they found an unlikely ally in a Japanese diplomat.
A Diplomat Who Defied Orders
Sugihara Chiune, Japan’s Vice-Consul in Kaunas, Lithuania, was neither famous nor powerful. But over the course of just 49 days in 1940, he quietly saved thousands of lives by issuing transit visas to Jewish refugees — against explicit orders from his government.
Interviewer: “Why did you disobey?”
Sugihara: “They would be sent to gas chambers. They had nowhere to go.” [1] (Translation by the author)
This is a schematic image. Interested readers may refer to the following sources for photographs and further reading.
Wikipedia site:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sugihara_b.jpg
Times of Israel site:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/japans-schindler-a-genuine-hero-tangled-in-a-web-of-myth/
Waseda University site:
https://www.waseda.jp/top/news/6243
Lithuania, 1940: A Humanitarian Crisis
Fig. Lithuania and its neighbors in 1940
By July 1940, Jewish refugees from Poland had gathered outside the Japanese consulate in Kaunas, begging for visas to escape through the Soviet Union and Japan to safe havens further west.
Sugihara faced a profound dilemma.
Obey Tokyo and refuse the visas: his diplomatic career would flourish.
Disobey and issue them: he risked everything — his job, his family, even his freedom.
His choice? He followed his conscience.
What Made It Possible?
Sugihara’s achievement — now known as the “Visas for Life” — was not just an act of courage. It was the result of a rare blend of personal values, strategic thinking, and deep empathy.
1. A Clear Moral Compass
“I did nothing special. I did what is right.”
Sugihara acted not for fame or glory, but because he saw fellow human beings in danger.
Solly Ganor, a Jewish boy in Kaunas recalls Sugihara’s kindness — even decades later. [2]
2. Rooted in Traditional Values
Born in 1900, just 32 years after Japan’s feudal era ended, Sugihara was shaped by traditional ethics — duty, loyalty, and personal honor.
Fig. Sugihara and his wife Kikuko in Kaunas, wearing kimono (source: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1071770#rights-restrictions)
3. Decisive Action
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Refugees first appeared on July 18. Sugihara wrote the last visa — number 2,139 — on September 5, averaging 44 a day. His right hand grew numb and painful. His wife massaged it so he could continue.
4. Analytical Acumen
Although there’s no direct record that he knew of the Soviet Union’s internal decision on July 27 to allow Jewish transit, Sugihara began issuing large numbers of visas just two days later. His intuition was razor-sharp.
5. Neutral Positioning
As a non-Western, non-Jewish diplomat, Sugihara was uniquely placed to mediate between desperate refugees and suspicious authorities — without ideological baggage.
6. Empathy and Integrity
In 1935, he had already resigned from a diplomatic post in Manchuria in protest against Japanese military brutality. His moral clarity was longstanding.
Under Extreme Pressure
Fig. The multiple pressures Sugihara faced in Lithuania
Sugihara operated under intense constraints:
The refugee crisis from Poland
Soviet threats and the urgency of negotiating the Siberian route
Tokyo’s alliance with Nazi Germany, which made his defiance diplomatically risky
A strict deadline to close the consulate by August 25, extended only briefly to September 5
Not Alone: Allies in the Background
Sugihara did not act in isolation. Several key figures stood beside him:
Jan Zwartendijk, a Dutch official who issued visas to the Dutch Caribbean
Nei Saburo, a Japanese embassy official in Vladiostock who assisted transit arrangements
Kotsuji Setsuzo, a Japanese scholar who welcomed refugees in Kobe
Kikuko Sugihara, his wife, who supported and encouraged him throughout
Their stories will be explored in future posts.
Legacy and Reflection
“They had nowhere to go.”
Sugihara’s simple explanation remains one of the most powerful moral justifications ever spoken.
References
[1] YouTube Interview with Sugihara https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Chiune+Sugihara+Doc.+1
Sugihara’s description in the interview is strikingly vivid. At 08:06, he first says “gas chamber,” but then quickly corrects himself to “gasu no heya” (“gas room”) — a phrase rarely used in Japanese. He may have felt that “gas chamber” sounded unnatural in Japanese and instinctively tried to adjust it. While “gasu no heya” is also an unusual expression, he might not have had a better alternative at that moment. It suggests that his memories of those wartime days were originally formed in other languages. Sugihara was known to be highly proficient in Russian, German, and English. Decades later, he was likely recalling events in one of those languages and translating them into Japanese as he spoke.
[2] Wolff, D. (2022), Phoney War, Phoney Peace, Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University
[3] Ishigo-oka, K. (2022), Sugihara Chiune and Stalin, Gogatsu Shobo
[4] Watanabe, K. (2001), Ketsudan: Visas for Life, Taisho Shuppan
[5] Sugihara, Y. (1993), Visas for 6000 Lives, Taisho Shuppan
[6] PBS Documentary: Conspiracy of Kindness (2005)
[7] Wikipedia: Sugihara Chiune
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