In 1940, Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara was stationed in Lithuania as Jewish families fled the Nazi advance. Defying direct orders from his government, he hand-wrote more than 2,000 transit visas, often covering entire families. Historians estimate his actions saved over 6,000 lives, giving them a route through the Soviet Union and Japan to safety.

He worked day and night until the last possible moment, even continuing to sign visas to outstretched hands as he boarded the train out of Lithuania. For this act of conscience, Sugihara was dismissed from Japan’s foreign service after the war. He spent years taking modest jobs, including selling light bulbs and working in an office for a small trading company, living quietly with little recognition of his extraordinary courage.

Recognition came decades later, when Israel honored him in 1985 as one of the Righteous Among the Nations.