Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915.
Tsuruga is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. As of 29 June 2018, the city had an estimated population of 66,123 in 28,604 households and the population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city was 251.39 square kilometers (97.06 sq mi).
Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through Japanese territory, risking his career and the lives of his family. The fleeing Jews were refugees from German-occupied Western Poland and Soviet-occupied Eastern Poland, as well as residents of Lithuania.
Yaotsu is a town located in Kamo District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 January 2019, the town had an estimated population of 11,036 and a population density of 886 persons per km2, in 4311 households. The total area of the town was 128.79 square kilometres (49.73 sq mi).
Jan Zwartendijk was a Dutch businessman and diplomat. As director of the Philips factories in Lithuania and part-time acting consul of the Dutch government-in-exile, he supervised the writing of 2,345 visas for Curaçao to save Jews from the Holocaust during World War II. In 1997, Yad Vashem recognised him as Righteous Among the Nations.
Zorach or Zorah Wahrhaftig, also known as Zerach Warhaftig, was an Israeli rabbi, lawyer, and politician. He was a signatory of Israel's Declaration of Independence.
Marcel Weyland is a translator of Adam Mickiewicz's Pan Tadeusz and of Echoes: Poems of the Holocaust. 'The Word: 200 Years of Polish Poetry', 2010, ed. Brandl & Schlesinger, Blackheath, NSW, Australia, ISBN 978-1-921556-03-6. His most recent published work is the translation of the selected work of Julian Tuwim, Brandl & Schlesinger, Blackheath NSW, ISBN 9780994429780.
The Mir Yeshiva, commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, was a Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Mir, Russian Empire. After relocating a number of times during World War II, it has evolved into three yeshivas: one in Jerusalem and two in Brooklyn, New York: the Mir Yeshiva, and Bais Hatalmud.
Visas and Virtue is a 1997 narrative short film directed by Chris Tashima and starring Chris Tashima, Susan Fukuda, Diana Georger and Lawrence Craig. It was inspired by the true story of Holocaust rescuer Chiune "Sempo" Sugihara, who is known as "The Japanese Schindler". Sugihara issued over 2,000 transit visas to Polish and Lithuanian Jews from his consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania, in August 1940, in defiance of his own government (Japan), thereby allowing an estimated 6,000 individuals to escape the impending Holocaust.
On three cases, entire countries resisted the deportation of their Jewish population during the Holocaust. In other countries, notable individuals or communities created resistance during the Holocaust which helped the Jews escape some concentration camps.
The history of the Jews in Kobe, Japan, is recorded from the 19th century onwards.
Japan–Lithuania relations are the bilateral foreign relations between Japan and Lithuania. Japan has an embassy in Vilnius. Lithuania has an embassy in Tokyo. Japan was one of the few countries to recognize the Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries including Lithuania.
Arie Leo Hanin was a Lithuanian-American political activist.
Tatsuo Osako, of Chiba, Japan was a citizen of the Japanese Empire during World War II who is most notable for transporting Jews to safety. He worked as a clerk for the tourism bureau in Tsuruga, a port city in Japan. His role involved aiding refugees, particularly Jewish and other Europeans, who were traveling from Vladivostok, Russia's Pacific port, to Japan before the Pearl Harbor bombing. In his capacity as the ship's escort and clerk, he distributed funds provided by Jewish organizations to assist the refugees.
The history of the Jews in Japan is well documented in modern times, with various traditions relating to much earlier eras.
The Tsuruga Port is now one of the three main ports on the Sea of Japan.
Persona Non Grata is a 2015 Japanese biographical drama film directed by Cellin Gluck. It depicts the life of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara who was appointed a vice-consul and later a consul in Lithuania and served there from 1939 to 1940 and who saved lives of some 6,000 Jewish refugees by issuing transit visas to the Japanese Empire.
Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum is a museum that displays the history of Tsuruga Port, located in Kanegasaki Park, Tsuruga, Fukui, Japan. It emphasizes Chiune Sugihara, who saved the lives of many Jewish refugees during World War II by issuing transit visas. Tsuruga Port was the place they disembarked after their long journey from their native Europe.
