Chiune Sugihara was a man who lived a long time ago in Japan. He was born in 1900 and died in 1986. Mr. Sugihara was a very special man who did something amazing during a difficult time in history.
During the second world war, many Jewish people were being killed by the German soldiers. They were trying to escape to other countries that were safe, but they needed special permission to leave. Mr. Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat, which means he worked for the government and helped people who wanted to travel to other countries. Even though his job was to follow the rules of his government, he felt bad for the Jewish people who were in danger. So, he broke the rules and broke the law to help them.
He decided to write special visas for the Jewish people so they could travel to a safe country like Japan. A visa is like a special permission slip that allows someone to go to a different country. Mr. Sugihara wrote many, many visas, even when he was told not to. He worked almost non-stop, writing day and night to help as many people as he could. Some people say he handwrote over 2,000 visas!
Sugihara went beyond his duty to help Jews fleeing from the invading Nazis by providing them with visas to escape the country, despite orders from the Japanese government that prohibited him from doing so. His actions are estimated to have saved thousands of Jews.
In the end, Mr. Sugihara was punished for breaking the rules, even though he knew he did the right thing. But people who were able to use the visas he wrote were so grateful for his help. After the war was over, many people were able to leave Europe and start new lives in other countries because of the visas he wrote.
Overall, Chiune Sugihara was a brave and kind man who risked everything to save people who were in danger. His kindness and courage will always be remembered and celebrated by people all over the world.