Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Chiune Sugihara May have Saved One in a Thousand Jews

   Who saved the most lifes in history? Who reached out with an act of heroism to rescue the most people from the clutches of death?
   It seems Chiune Sugihara, who you've never heard of, would be somewhere on the list. Since tomorrow marks his birth date, and since he is a most heroic figure, let us pay him tribute this day.
    We mentioned how you've never heard of him? Well, most of his neighbors where he died probably did not know of his legacy in history until a large delegation from around the world showed up at his funeral. Sugihara was said to be virtually unknown in his country, Japan. Nor did the world know much of Sugihara, at least not perhaps until 1985, the year before he died.
   In 1985, Israel bestowed on him its "Righteous Among the Nations" honor, which it has awarded to thousands who rescued Jews from the Holocaust. So, then it is, one of the largest genocides in history, was the backdrop for one very large rescue. It is said 6 million Jews lost their lives in the Holocaust. And, it is said 6,000 lives were saved by Sugihara's heroism. That's one life saved for every thousand lost. The actual number of lives Sugihara saved is not known, with the figure of 6,000 being but one speculation.
   Sugihara served as vice consul for the Empire of Japan to Lithuania during World War II. Horrified at what would happen to the Jews in that country, he used his position to issue thousands of visas to an estimate 6,000 people. With some of these visas going to families, it has been suggested Sugihara might have saved as many as 10,000 lives. Some who received the visas, though, unfortunately, never used them in time to escape the Holocaust.
   Did Sugihara save enough lives to make some kind of top 10 list? I don't know. I know men and women of medicine are credited with saving millions of lives. And -- how's this? -- Sugihara doesn't even top the list of rescuers from the Holocaust. At least one person is credited with saving more. Traian Popovici, the mayor of Cernauti, Romania, is said to have saved 20,000 Jews of Bukovina. Polish diplomat Henryk Slawik is said to have saved 5,000 to 10,000 in Budapest, Hungary. Among others who saved a large number of Jews is Oskar Schindler, he of  the movie Schindler's List. How many did Schindler save -- 1,200 of his Jewish workers?
   Where many lives are endangered, as were in the Holocaust, there becomes a field where many can be saved. So, it was. Those who saved many during the Holocaust perhaps all would rank high on a list of those whose bravery and heroisam have saved the most lives in history.

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