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“I am happy to say that today the Japanese diplomat Chijun Sugihara returns to Kaunas and Lithuania. Today in Kaunas we are unveiling a monument to a man whose humanity and courage have long become a guide for our lives,” said President Gitanas Naus atda at the ceremony.
PHOTO GALLERY. A sculpture of Chiune Sugihara was inaugurated in Kaunas
The President drew attention to the path that Lithuania had taken since World War II and stressed the importance of indifference to the pain of others.
“We have become more sensitive to human rights and freedoms, and today it is important for us to overcome not only the pandemic, but also other threats facing humanity. We must decontaminate not only the coronavirus, but also the viruses of anti-Semitism, the national, racial and religious hatred (…) There are fewer and fewer distant nations in the world, and there should be no external pain, ”said the President.
G. Nausėda was delighted that “the memory and moral legacy” of the Japanese diplomat unites Lithuania with Japan, Israel, the United States, Australia and other countries that share the values of humanism.
“May this monument always remind us that we must learn from Cap. Sugihara’s actions and the painful experience of World War II ”, the president wished.
The friendship between Japan and Lithuania was also emphasized by the speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan, Tadamori Oshima, whose speech was received by the ambassador of this country in Lithuania, Shiro Yamasaki.
“In the extreme circumstances of the Nazi genocide of the Jews, Chijun Sugihara performed a bold humanistic act while listening to the voice of his conscience. Indeed, it is very significant that the peoples of present-day Japan and Lithuania can jointly remember and honor this humanistic activity.” said the leader of the Japanese parliament.
“This shows that both countries share universal values, such as democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights,” he said.
T. Oshima regretted not being able to come to Lithuania due to the coronavirus situation, but said that he was celebrating this occasion while in Japan.
“I am very sorry that I cannot attend today’s commemoration event with you due to the circumstances caused by the coronavirus, but I celebrate this great occasion with you in Japan and sincerely wish that people will continue to remember the humanism fostered by Chiuy Sugihara and further promote. mutual relationships based on mutual understanding. understanding, “said Oshima.
Š. Jamasaki BNS said it was crucial for Ch. To mention Sugihara’s activity exactly where he lived, in Kaunas.
“The winch is a very important symbol in Japan and it is a symbol of peace. The winches fly here in the sculpture, a really very impressive and wonderful monument ”, said the ambassador happy with the sculpture.
The sculpture’s author, Martynas Gaubas, said he chose the winches precisely because they symbolize freedom.
“And those origami winches, each one with the stamp of Chiyune Sugihara, invading freedom to become not only a reflection of that time, but also a symbol of freedom for all of us,” said the sculptor at the ceremony.
He said the original idea was invented two and a half years ago, and has changed since then, but after consulting Ch. Sugihara’s son decided to choose a more abstract piece.
“What I wanted most was the mood it could have been in, and I wanted the feeling of chaos, the fragility and the sharpness, as soon as it sticks together, everything seems to be built on such tiny dots,” Gaub told BNS.
According to him, the production of the sculpture has been underway since January of this year and although technical challenges were not lacking, the work was a great success.
In Gaubas’s play “In Memory of Chijun Sugihara”, origami-shaped winches made of platinum bronze are depicted spinning skyward in a circle. The base of the sculpture will remain forever Č. Sugihara’s seal and the words “Save a life, save the whole world”, that is, the activities of the Japanese consul, recorded in Lithuanian, Japanese, English and Yiddish.
The then Vice Consul of Japan in Kaunas in 1940 issued numerous transit visas to Japan, allowing Jews to escape the threat of fascism. Even after the consulate closed, Ch.Sugihara signed the so-called life visas at the Metropolis Hotel and continued working until the last moment until his train left Kaunas station. The last visas he signed were said to have been delivered through the train window.
Laisvės Alley already has a light installation in memory of the Dutch diplomat Jan Zwartendijk. In 1940, J. Zwartendijk, who worked in Kaunas as Honorary Consul of the Netherlands and representative of the Philips company, issued 2,400 visas for the islands of Curaçao to Lithuanian and Polish Jews. These visas made it possible in Kaunas Č. Sugihara to issue transit visas to Japan.
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