In 1940, when Hiroki Sugihara was five, he and his family lived in Lithuania, where his father officially represented Japan as a diplomat. Their life in Lithuania was pleasant and carefree. Then one day in July, everything changed. A crowd of people had assembled outside the gates of their house. These were Jewish refugees from Poland, fleeing from the Nazis. They were seeking visas to travel safely through the Soviet Union to Japan. Mr. Sugihara, against his superior's orders, issued the large number of visas requested. He wrote thousands of visas, until the Sugihara family was sent to Berlin, and he no longer had the authority to issue visas. These visas saved thousands of lives. Narrated in the first person, the story is simple and powerful. Readers will grasp the dilemma faced by the Sugiharas and will appreciate the consequences of their courageous decision. Along with the book comes a 6-page teaching guide which includes teaching hints, across the curriculum activities, writing activities and more. The book is unpaginated but fully illustrated in color. On the back is a picture of the actual people discussed in the book. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Diplomats Japan Holocaust Jewish Children Juvenile Literature World War II Nazi