THE granddaughter of a Holocaust hero has paid a special visit to the Sydney Jewish Museum to meet the descendants of those Chiune “Sempo” Sugihara saved.
Madoka Sugihara travelled from Japan with her daughter Oriha last week and gave a presentation about her grandfather who helped save tens of thousands of lives during World War II and risked his life doing so.
“My grandfather issued visas according to his conscious,” Madoka told the small gathering. “I was surprised to hear the stories from my grandmother and father before my grandfather died because I have never heard it from him.”
Mr Sugihara was a Japanese government official who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania.
He helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so they could travel through Japanese territory.
In 1985, the State of Israel honoured Mr Sugihara as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions.
Read the full article by Shaya Laughlin of The Wentworth Courier, at The Daily Telegraph.