Consular Sugihara, the Japanese Schindler

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Allied with Nazi Germany but Japan had never admitted Holocaust.
The Government of Japan issued visas for Jewish refugees.
Effort of General Hideki Tojo

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  The reason why Japan made alliance with Nazi Germany was balance of power against USA and UK, not for ideological similarity. The ideological similarity at can never be overemphasized. Discrimination against Japanese was said in Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”. Some Japanese officers who could read German felt offended by “Mein Kampf”, however the sentence is skipped in Japanese translation.

　After 1939, the beginning of WWII, many Jews rushed into Japanese Embassy, for it was the only way to evacuate via Japan using Siberian Railway.

　At that time, Government of Japan made efforts to ally stranger with Nazi Germany for balance of power against USA and UK. But racial discrimination or holocaust was another issue. Government of Japan had issued transit visas for Jewish refugees from Nazi occupying territory, and save thousands of lives of Jews.

　“The Sugihara’s visa” is most famous one. Sugihara was Consular Agent (Acting Consular) at Kaunas, Lithuania. July 1940, many Jews rushed into Japanese embassy at Kaunas. They evacuated themselves from west Poland, where Nazi Germany occupied. It was only the possible way to evacuate for safe and final destination via Japan using the Siberian Railway.

　The Foreign Ministry of Japan ordered embassies to issue visa for Jews, only after severe confirmation of enough money and tickets for final destination. Sugihara made only easy confirmation for transit visa. After 1938, Japanese Kwantung Army stationing Manchuria also made easy immigration check and safely moved to final destination, by efforts of General Higuchi, then chief of special mission in Harbin, General Tojo, then chief of staff, Kwantung Army later prime minister in Pearl Harbor attack, and Matsuoka, then president of the South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd, later foreign minister signing alliance treaty with Nazi Germany.

　Government of Japan could have made “the Sugihara’s visa” invalid and denied to enter the Japanese territory by violating minister’s instruction. But Government of Japan never did, nor did “class A war criminals” of WWII, such as General Tojo and Minister Matsuoka, Sugihara is written in “Golden Book” of Israel for the act of humanity to save thousands of lives of Jews.