Yuki S writes -

My hero is Chiune Sugihara. He was a Japanese diplomat who helped many Jewish people during the Second World War, when he worked at the consular office in Lithuania.

Chiune Sugihara was born January 1, 1900 in Gifu prefecture. He was the second son among 6 siblings. After he graduated from Furuwatari School in 1912, though his father wanted him to be a doctor, he entered Waseda University and majored in English in 1918. But in 1919, he dropped out of the University and became a student overseas. He went to Harbin in China, and he studied Russian and German. Then he became a diplomat in 1924.

In the summer of 1940, many Jewish people who had escaped from Poland to Lithuania tried to get exit visas from consular offices and embassies. Because the Nazis occupied Poland and they were trying to advance into Lithuania, many Jewish people came to the Japanese consular office, trying to get exit visas to Japan. Chiune asked the Japanese government if he could give them exit visas. But the Japanese government rejected that. Although the government didn't give him permission, Chiune decided to give them exit visas to Japan. The Soviet Union and Japanese government gave him an expulsion order so many times, but he and his wife, Yukiko, continued to give Jewish people visas. The number of visas is estimated to range from 2,139 to 10,000. It is estimated that he helped 6,000 Jewish people to escape.

He came to be known as the 'Japanese Schindler'.