CAM Honors ‘Japanese Rescuer’ Chiune Sugihara, Who Saved Thousands of Jews During Holocaust

Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement (CAM) and B’nai B’rith International hosted a special virtual reception on Monday, commemorating the heroic deeds of the late Chiune Sugihara, who as a Japanese diplomat stationed in Lithuania in 1940 saved thousands of European Jews by issuing transit visas that allowed them to escape the Nazis.

The event, “The Japanese Rescuer: A Lesson in Bravery for the Struggle Against Anti-Semitism” featured a keynote address by the Honorable Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi, Consul General of Japan in New York, and personal testimony from Nathan Lewin and Ada Winsten, who survived the Holocaust as children thanks to Sugihara.

“What we learned today is that it is possible to stand up,” CAM Director Sacha Roytman-Dratwa remarked. “The heroes of the past must teach us how to be better people.”

Watch the full event below: