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A Passage to Freedom The Sugihara Story When I was a child, my family lived in a small country in Europe. My father worked for the Japanese govenment. We had a happy life. Then, suddenly one morning in July 1940, everything changed. I saw hundreds of people around our house.“Please help us!”,they cried. They were Jews from Poland.They were running away from the Nazis. The Nazis were catching and killing a great number of Jews. They wanted to get away to a safe place through Japan. So they needed Japanese visas. My father said to himself, “If the Nazis learn that I'm helping Jews,our family will not be safe. But, if I don't, they will all die.” The next day, my father sent a telegram to the Japanese government and asked, “Can I give them visas?” But the answer was “no”. More and more people were coming.He sent a second telegram and then a third. Each time the answer was “no”. He said, “I don't want to go against my government, but who else can save them? I am their only hope!” At last, my father made up his mind. He went outside and said, “I will give visas to all of you!” At first the people were silent. Then, everyone shouted with joy,“Hooray! We are saved!” From that day, he wrote visas every day for about a month. He worked day and night. He didn't even stop to eat. When he handed over a visa, he looked into their eyes and said, “Good luck.” Finally the Nazis came. Our family had to leave the country. My father continued to write even at the train station. When the train started to move,he said,“I'm sorry. I can't write any more.” People ran after us and shouted,“Thank you Mr.Sugihara.We will never forget you!” More than 6,000 lives were saved by his visas. At the time, I didn't understand what my family was doing, or why it was important. But I do now.