Dear Sugihara Survivors and Facebook Viewers, Chiune Sempo Sugihara is still esteemed by the Sugihara Survivors. People are moved by his story of “Visas for Life”, and this time the original musical “SEMPO - the Japanese Schindler: the story of Chiune Sugihara” will be presented again in Japan after an interval of five years. We, NPO Chiune Sugihara Visas for Life, support the reenactment of this performance and wish to share it with the world. We have met and befriended many Sugihara Survivors so far. The musical will be performed in far-off Japan, but we hope for support from all of you. Koji Kikkawa, famous Japanese singer and actor, plays the lead. The music was composed by popular singer and song writer, Miyuki Nakajima. The musical will run for 24 performances from September 10 through September 29 at the New National Theatre in Tokyo. There are English subtitles available. An outline of the story as follows. Outline The German economy was damaged by the Great Depression of 1929. The cities were flooded with unemployed people, and people’s dissatisfactions were building. Distrust of the government grew and Hitler used this to gather support. At the same time in Japan, the military authority’s influence grew. The China-Japan war intensified and peaceful days faded away. Japan became more and more isolated from the world. In July 1939, Chiune Sugihara, a diplomat, was transferred from Finland to Lithuania, and became a vice-consulate in Kaunas. His duty was to report on Soviet and German troop movements. In September of the same year, the Second World War broke out. The battles spread in an instant all over Europe, and the dangers were also looming over the Sugihara family. When Germany invaded Poland, thousands of Jewish fled to Lithuania. Soon after, the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania and demanded the dismissal of all other sovereign entities. Thus, the Sugihara family had to leave form Lithuania, but they were disrupted by the appearance of hundreds of Jewish refugees demanding entrance to the Consulate for transit visas to escape the holocaust. What was the fate of the Jewish refugees? What actions did Sugihara take? sempo2013/
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 22:58:34 +0000
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