Obj. ID: 45497
Modern Jewish Art Chiune Sugihara Monument in Sakura Park in Vilnius, Lithuania, 2001
Memorial name
Chiune Sugihara Monument
Who is Commemorated?
Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese consul, Righteous Among the Nations
Description:
The monument is located at the entrance to the Chiune Sugihara Sakura Park, near the embankment of the Neris River.
A red granite stele is divided into two parts: the left one features a bas-relief portrait of Sugihara, and the right one bears the inscriptions. The front side of the right-hand part slopes back gradually, tilting the inscriptions to make them easier to read.
The bas-relief portrait of Sugihara looks to the right and has an inscription in Lithuanian and English: “In memory of Chiune Sugihara.”
On the right side of the stele, there are three plaques. The uppermost one bears identical Japanese and English inscriptions and the lowest one bears an identical inscription in Lithuanian. Between them, the middle plaque contains a photograph of a passport with a Japanese transit visa issued by Sugihara (together with a stamp by the Dutch consul Jan Zwartendijk that entry to Dutch West India does not require a visa).
A plaque with the donor inscription is situated on the right-hand side of the monument.
In front of the monument, an additional metal plaque contains the names of donors to the Cherry Trees Park and the date October 7, 2009.
To the left of the monument, a low red granite triangular slab provides the name of the park, Chiune Sugihara Sakura Park, and it bears the seal of the Lithuanian-Japanese Association.
Inscriptions:
On the left part, under the portrait:
In Lithuanian:
Čiunės Sugiharos
(1900 – 1986)
atminimui
In English:
In memory of Chiyune Sugihara (1900-1986)
On the right part, the upper plaque, in Japanese and English:
In Japanese:
故杉原千畝氏は1900年に日本に生まれ、早稲田大学在学中の1919年に日本国外務省の留学試験に合格してハルビン学院に学び、その後外交官になった。1940年駐リトアニア共和国領事代理の時代に、身辺に迫る戦争の危機の中にありながら、必死の覚悟と信念を以て、亡命ユダヤ人約六千名に対して一か月にわたって査証を発給し続け、彼らの生命を救った。これは戦争時における輝かしい人道的行為として歴史に記憶され、永く語り継がれるべきものである。
ここに早稲田大学は、校友として世界に誇るべき氏の功績を称えて記念碑を建立するとともに、リトアニア共和国との学術交流による友好関係がさらに深まり花開くことを祈念して桜の木を植樹するものである。
2001年10月2日 早稲田大学
Translation: Chiune Sugihara was born in Japan in 1900. While a student at Waseda University, he passed the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' examination in 1919, and studied abroad at the Harbin Institute before becoming a diplomat. In 1940, serving as Acting Japanese Consul in the Republic of Lithuania, even in the midst of the imminent threat of war, Sugihara saved the lives of approximately 6,000 Jewish refugees by issuing visas over a month-long period with strong conviction. His course of action was a remarkable humanitarian act that is ought to be documented and passed on to future generations. In recognition of his exceptional achievements, Waseda University has erected this monument to honor Mr. Sugihara as an alumnus, and planted several cherry trees in the hope that friendly relations and academic exchange with the Republic of Lithuania will further deepen and blossom.
October 2nd, 2001 Waseda University
In English:
Chiyune Sugihara was born in Japan in 1900. In 1919, while he was a student at Waseda University, he passed the / examination to enter the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After completing his overseas studies in Harbin, he / entered the diplomatic service. In 1940, while he was Acting Japanese Consul in the Republic of Lithuania, even as the / danger of war threatened his own life, he continued to issue visas with desperate resolve and faith over a month-long / period, to approximately 6000 Jewish refugees, thus saving their lives. This is a story of brilliant humanitarianism in / the face of war, that should be remembered in the annals of history and passed on to future generations. We can be / proud of him as a Waseda alumnus. Waseda University erected this memorial monument here in recognition of his / achievements, and also planted some of the cherry trees to represent our hope that academic exchange and friendly / relations between the Republic of Lithuania and Japan will deepen and blossom.
2 October, 2001 Waseda University
On the right part, the middle plaque, in Lithuanian and English:
In Lithuanian:
Čiunės Sugiharos Memorialo nuosavybė (Jaotsu-mači, Gifu prefectūra, Japonija)
In English:
Owned by Sugihara Chiyune Memorial Hall, Yaotsu-machi, Gifu Prefecture, Japan
On the right part, the lower plaque, in Lithuanian:
Čiunė Sugihara gimė 1900 m. Japonijoje. 1919 m., studijuodamas Vasedos
universitete, išlaikė egzaminą ir buvo priimtas į Japonijos Užsienio reikalų
Ministeriją. Baigęs užsienio studijas Harbine, pradėjo diplomato karjerą.
1940 m., eidamas Japonijos konsulo pareigas Lietuvos Respublikoje,
nepaisant grėsmės net savo paties gyvybei, per mėnesį išgelbėjo apie 6000
žydų, su ryžtingumu ir žūtbūtiniu tikėjimu išduodamas jiems vizas.
Tai nuostabaus humaniškumo karo metu pavyzdys, kurį mes turime
visuomet prisiminti ir perduoti būsimoms kartoms. Mes galime didžiuotis
juo kaip Vasedos universiteto auklėtiniu.
Pripažįstant jo nuopelnus, Vasedos universitetas pastatė šį paminklą šioje
vietoje bei pasodino keletą vyšnių medžių, simbolizuojančių mūsų viltį, kad
bičiulystė ir akademiniai ryšiai tarp Lietuvos Respublikos ir Japonijos gilės
ir žydės.
2001 m. spalio mėn. 2 d Vasedos Universitetas
On the right-hand side of the monument:
In Lithuanian:
Pastatė Takajasu Okušima, LL.D.,
Vasedos universiteto Prezidentas, Tokijus, Japonija
Sukūrė Jusukė Sakuraba, Kultūros turtų restauratorius
Atidengta 2001 m. spalio men. 2 d
In Japanese:
建立 早稲田大学総長 奥島孝康
設計 樱庭裕介(文化財修復家)
竣功 2001年10月2日
Translation:
Construction Takayasu Okushima, President of Waseda University
Designed by Yusuke Sakuraba (Cultural Property Conservator-Restorer)
Completed on October 2nd, 2001
In English:
Erected by Takayasu Okushima, LL.D.,
President of Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Designed by Yusuke Sakuraba, cultural Properties Restorer
Unveiled on 2 October, 2001
On the low triangular slab nearby, in Lithuanian:
Čiunės Sugiharos Sakurų Sodas
Translation: Chiune Sugihara Sakura Park
Lietuvos Japonijos Asociacija 2009
Translation: Lithuanian-Japanese Association, 2009.
We are grateful to Avigail Baruchin of the Hebrew University for transcribing and translating the Japanese inscriptions and to Milda Jalulytė for her help with Lithuanian.
Commissioned by
Takayasu Okushima, LL.D., President of Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
sub-set tree:
Chiune Sugihara (1900-1986) was a vice-consul of Japan in Kaunas, the provisional capital of the Republic of Lithuania. In 1940, he issued about 2,000 Japanese transit visas to Jewish refugees from Poland, who had already received visas for entering The Netherland’s colonies in the Caribbean from the Dutch consul in Kaunas, Jan Zwartendijk. This allowed the refugees to then obtain Soviet visas and to travel, via the Soviet Union, to Japan- thus escaping the Holocaust.
Chiune Sugihara was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1985.
The monument was unveiled on October 2, 2001, on the initiative of Waseda University. On October 7, 2009, the 100th anniversary of Sugihara's birth, cherry trees (sakura) were planted near the monument, as testified by a low red granite triangular slab and a special metal plaque with donors’ names.
Near the Sugihara monument, there is also a small Hiroshima monument established in 1991.
Agranovskii, Genrikh and Irina Guzenberg. Vilnius: Po sledam Litovskogo Ierusalima. Pamiatnye mesta ereiskoi istorii i kul’tury, 2nd ed. (Vilnius: The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, 2016)., 637.
Guzenberg, Irina, Vilnius: Traces of the Jewish Jerusalem of Lithuania. Memorable Sites of Jewish History and Culture. A Guidebook (Vilnius: Pavilniai, 2021)., 653.
Guzenberg, Irina. Vilnius: Pamiatnye mesta evreiskoi istorii i kul'tury (Vilnius: Pavilniai, 2013)., 57.