A Conspiracy of Kindness

PBS is actually showing what looks like an interesting film,Sugihara: A Conspiracy of Kindness. Here's an email from Eric Saul, who put together the touring "Visas for Life" photo exhibit about diplomats who saved Jews during WWII. (Full disclosure: My mother's family was saved by another diplomat, Portugal's Aristides de Souza Mendes) Sugihara's story is interesting because Japan was allied with Germany:

We are happy to announce the public airing of an important new documentary telling the story of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara.  The documentary is called "Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness."  The Visas for Life Project has been working with film producers Rob Kirk and Dianne Estelle for the last several years.  We congratulate Dianne and Rob for their years of hard work.

As you may know, Chiune Sugihara was the first diplomat depicted by the Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats Project.  The Visas for Life Project was happy to introduce Sugihara's rescue story to the United States in January 1995. 

The documentary has had some wonderful reviews, including the Wall Street Journal and an upcoming article in US News and World Report.

We believe this is one of the best documentaries ever produced on diplomatic rescue during the war.  Several Sugihara family members, including his widow Yukiko Sugihara, are interviewed in this moving documentary.  Many Sugihara survivors are also interviewed.  One is Ben Fischoff, of New York, who helped finance the film.

A particularly moving segment of the Sugihara documentary was taken at Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel, during the April 1998 Visas for Life Project tour of Israel.  As you may know, Sugihara issued more than 300 visas and saved an entire Jewish religious academy from destruction by the Nazis.  Many of the former students and teacher pay tribute to Mrs. Sugihara.

The documentary will be shown as part of the 60th anniversary commemoration of the end of World War II, and as a part of Yom Hashoah at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

Please mark your calendars and watch this remarkable documentary honoring one of our courageous diplomats.  Also, please pass this information along to your family and friends.