Chune Sugihara A Hero Essay

People have extraordinary talents and gifts they are given in life. It is what they decide to do with those gifts that makes a difference in other people’s lives. All though mortals do not obtain superpowers, people have phenomenal powers as individuals, such as their natural abilities and freedoms. Unfortunately, some people choose not to do anything with their power; however, others use their powers to help others. Heroes are average people that use their powers as individuals to help others in need. Chiune Sugihara became a hero by using his powers as an individual to save the lives of others.
Chiune Sugihara saved the lives of six thousand Jews during World War II, also known as the time period of the Holocaust. Sugihara was a representative of Japan who, despite the fact of the government’s orders, wrote visas to help the Jews escape Hitler’s reign (Kaleem). He used his wisdom and power as a diplomat to save thousands of lives. Sugihara worked around the clock to save as many people as he could. Through countless beads of sweat and sleepless nights, Sugihara and his family wrote thousands of visas. “From July 31st- August 28th, 1940, Sugihara and his wife stayed up all night, writing visas” (Kaleem).
At the end of that long, strenuous month,
the Japanese government closed Sugihara’s department. Persistently, he continued to write visas for the Jews. “He gave the stamp to an immigrant, so he could continue the process of saving thousands of lives” (Kaleem). Chiune Sugihara used the power of his tenacious personality to save the lives of others. After all of Sugihara’s family’s hard work was finished, their lives drastically changed. Unfortunately, life made a turn for the worst temporarily for the Sugihara’s.
The refugees that were saved by Chiune was starting to be placed and adapting to their new environments. “Meanwhile, Sugihara was transferred to Prague, where he worked in 1941 and 1942, and then to Bucharest, where he worked from 1942-1944. When the Soviets invaded Romania, he and his family were taken to a prison camp for eighteen months” (Kaleem). They were released in 1946 and returned to Japan. Unfortunately, about a year later, the Japanese government asked him to resign from his position. “Sugihara resigned and began working for a trading company in Russia. When he settled into his new environment, he never spoke about the visas and knew that no one would be able to contact him” (Kaleem).
Surprisingly, after a year in Russia, someone approached Chiune about the visas. “In 1968, Joshua Nishri, an Israeli diplomat, made contact with Sugihara. In 1985, the year before his death, Israel named Sugihara “Righteous Among the Nations,” a title given to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust” (Kaleem). Sugihara gave up his career so there would be more heroes in the world, such as doctors, lawyers, and authors. Chiune surrendered his entire life to ensure thousands of others could have a chance to live.
Chiune Sugihara is known as a world hero because he used his powers as an individual.
He saved the lives of six thousand people using his knowledge and strength as a diplomat. He also survived prison camp and his resignation by his persistent and gracious attitude towards his family and others. More than likely, countless people do not know Chiune Sugihara ever existed. However, people of the refugees’ and Sugihara’s heritage that are alive today would not exist if it was not because of his heroic actions. Chiune Sugihara knew his powers as an individual and put them in action to save the lives of others. Heroes are ordinary people that use their strengths and weaknesses to help other make the most out of their
lives.