Sugihara defied his government’s orders to save many Jewish lives.

Evidence

Against his government’s instructions, Sugihara was issuing letters of transit to Lithuania’s Jewish refugees hundreds every day. One of Sugihara’s visas took Melamed’s family to Moscow, to Vladivostok, and to Kobe. The American embassy in Tokyo Japan and the United States were not yet at war) provided them with a visa, and in 1941 they reached Chicago, where Melamed eventually became a “runner” and then a trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 16

Categorization

• SHARE: The Chiune Sugihara visa-to-Melamed story would land well with someone interested in WWII Jewish rescue stories or the personal biographies behind modern finance.