They Saved Thousands of Jews at Great Personal Risk: Chiune Sugihara and Raoul Wallenberg

Chiune Sugihara and Raoul Wallenberg were foreign diplomats in Europe during World War II. They saved thousands of Jews, defying their countries' orders, and paid a heavy price for it.

Chiune Sugihara, Japanese ambassador in Kaunas, rescued thousands of Jews at great personal risk

Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese ambassador in Kaunas, issued transit visas through Japan for the Jews of Kaunas. Thousands were saved because of him. For days, Sugihara tirelessly signed visas without sleep, often personally calming the anxious crowds outside his consulate by promising that he would issue visas to everyone. He indeed kept his promise.

Thousands of Jews from Kaunas received transit documents through Japan, thus saving their lives. Among them were students from the Mir Yeshiva and Torah giants like Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz zt"l and Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik zt"l, along with many others. When Sugihara could no longer continue, he retired briefly to allow his assistant from the Mir Yeshiva to continue stamping visas without rest.

No one knows exactly how many Jews Sugihara saved. Sugihara himself was a humble person, reluctant to discuss his actions. However, it is clear that at least 10,000 Jews were saved, with the number likely closer to 15,000. He continued to issue visas until the consulate closed about a month later.

The fate of Sugihara

Sugihara took significant personal risk in his rescue operations. Before starting, he urgently telegraphed Tokyo, seeking permission to issue visas to Jews. The imperial foreign ministry vehemently opposed the idea. He tried twice more and faced absolute refusal each time, with a warning that further insistence would result in "severe consequences" for him.

Sugihara understood these "severe consequences" could affect him and his family greatly, but the sight of thousands of Jews awaiting assistance never left him. His courage and humanity compelled him to act, even at great personal risk. When asked how he dared to defy orders so clearly, he replied, "I may have disobeyed my government, but if I hadn't, I would be disobeying Hashem."

Chiune Sugihara

After the war, Sugihara was captured by the Soviets and sent to a labor camp in Siberia. He was released in 1947 and returned with his family to Japan. However, the foreign ministry in Tokyo never forgot his "crime"—rescuing thousands of Jews in defiance of orders. He was dismissed from his position, leaving the wealthy diplomat penniless. To support his family, he sold electric lamps in rural areas near Tokyo and later worked as a Russian translator for Japanese broadcasting. Even after reaching retirement age, he continued working as the law did not grant him a proper pension for his years of service.

Raoul Wallenberg – Swedish ambassador in Budapest

Another diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg, was the Swedish ambassador in Budapest, whose fate remains unknown to this day. Judge Moshe Bejski, chairman of the Commission for the Designation of the Righteous Among the Nations, said, "Raoul Wallenberg was the greatest of all the Righteous Among the Nations." Wallenberg, Swedish ambassador in Budapest, accomplished great deeds for Hungary's Jews.

Wallenberg acted beyond his authority to save Jews from the Nazis, issuing "protective passports" that safeguarded their bearers. He distributed them indiscriminately, even to those already arrested, freeing dozens and sometimes hundreds from their captors thanks to his authoritative presence.

Raoul Wallenberg

When death marches to the Austrian border began, 17,000 of the detainees had Swedish protective papers. Wallenberg did everything to free as many as possible and bring them to safety. He reached the train station after hearing that eleven Jews with Swedish passports had been arrested by the Gestapo and sent to camps. Although the train had already departed, Wallenberg pursued it by car to the border and successfully freed the eleven people.

His bravery astonished both friends and foes alike, the latter including Eichmann, who knew Wallenberg was a major player in efforts to rescue Jews from his grasp. On December 16, 1945, when the Russians threatened Budapest, the Swedish foreign ministry was informed that Eichmann ordered "the Jewish dog Wallenberg" to be shot.

The enormous risk Wallenberg took is evident in his tragic end. In fact, he paid with his life for his massive assistance to the Jews of Budapest. To this day, his exact fate remains unclear. After the war, Wallenberg returned to Russia, was sent to Lubyanka Prison, and according to the Soviets, he died of a heart attack in Lubyanka in 1947, aged 34.