How Did Chiune Sugihara Help Jews In The Holocaust

The Righteous Gentiles, also known as the Righteous among the Nation were people who stood out among the rest in the attempt to save the Jews and other victims of the holocaust. Although these people are recognized today as heroes for helping the Jews, how effective were the Righteous Gentiles in actually saving their lives? During the time of the Holocaust the Righteous among the Nation tried to stand up for what was right, through small or extreme actions. In doing so they accepted the consequences of getting thrown into a camp or of being executed if they were caught helping. They took it upon themselves to save people who at heart were just like them. Throughout the investigation, I will attempt to discover if the Righteous Gentiles actually made a difference in the amount of lives lost. To find an accurate answer, information regarding the Righteous Gentiles will be gathered and analyzed. Sources such as survival stories and rescue stories will be looked at. Some of these stories include the story of Mallgorzata and her children, and the story of Bartali. Along with these stories I will watch the movie Schindler’s List to further my understanding on the Righteous among the Nation. This information will then be analyzed and compared to sufficiently support evidence for the research question.

Fred Korematsu also an American citizen of Japanese descent was convicted of not reporting to his concentration camp. His reason was that he was unwilling to leave his sweetheart, Endo. Fred Korematsu was arrested, convicted and also obtained a certiorari of the Supreme Court just like Gordon Hirabayashi.

War can be loud and visible or quiet and remote. It affects the individual and entire societies, the soldier, and the civilian. Both U.S. prisoners of war in Japan and Japanese-American citizens in the United States during WWII undergo efforts to make them “invisible.” Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken hero, Louie Zamperini, like so many other POWs, is imprisoned, beaten, and denied basic human rights in POW camps throughout Japan. Miné Okubo, a U.S. citizen by birth, is removed from society and interned in a “protective custody” camp for Japanese-American citizens. She is one of the many Japanese-Americans who were interned for the duration of the war. Louie Zamperini, as a POW in Japan, and Miné Okubo, as a Japanese-American Internee both experience efforts to make them “invisible” through dehumanization and isolation in the camps of WWII, and both resist these efforts.

The Japanese-American author, Julie Otsuka, wrote the book When the Emperor was Divine. She shares her relative and all Japanese Americans life story while suffering during World War II, in internment camps. She shares with us how her family lived before, during, and after the war. She also shares how the government took away six years of Japanese-American lives, falsely accusing them of helping the enemy. She explains in great detail their lives during the internment camp, the barbed wired fences, the armed guards, and the harsh temperatures. When they returned home from the war they did not know what to believe anymore. Either the Americans, which imprisoned them falsely, or the emperor who they have been told constantly not to believe, for the past six years imprisoned. Japanese-Americans endured a great setback, because of what they experienced being locked away by their own government.

In accordance with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s executive order, he has the Japanese-Americans moved to internment camps because he wants to keep them safe from other Americans who are against anyone that is Japanese; however, when claiming that the military is going to protect the Japanese-Americans, the guns are faced inwards towards the Japanese-Americans, not outwards to anyone that can intrude and hurt them (Teaching With Documents: Documents and Photographs Related to Japanese Relocation During World War II). Oskar Schindler, a historical figure shown in Schindler’s List, is well aware of the plans that the Nazis and Hitler have for the Jews; he knows they are going to be killed because of their religion. Schindler, like the military in the United States, knows information that they are keeping disclosed. The United States military wants to hurt the Japanese-Americans or to use them in the European theater so that they will not ally with Japan (Teaching With Documents: Documents and Photographs Related to Japanese Relocation During World War II). Schindler lies to the Jews that works for him because he knows that they are going to be murdered, but he does not think he is meant to be their hero. He is a part of the Nazi party and is not supposed to care for the Jews, so he just uses them for money, giving them the false hope of security. That

Imagine having everything taken away from you, your food, your rights, your family, and your life. That is what happened to Louie Zamperini and other other POWs at japanese prison camps. Louis Zamperini grew up in Torrance being a bad kid that everyone in his town disliked. Later in his life in high school he took on running, being trained by his brother pete. This turned his life around and everyone loved him. He started breaking records and adventally he went to the olympics. He was drafted into the air corp and was a bomber. He got stranded in the ocean and later was taken captive by the japanese, who tortured him. During his life Louie never gave up, he was unbroken. Even through the hardest things he had resiliency and showed redemption.

     During this time of crisis in America, the Japanese people in our country were done a huge injustice. They were stripped their constitutional rights, relocated to a location with poor living conditions, and when America apologized it was just too late. The mental and physical health impacts of this event continues to affect tens of thousands of Japanese

My goal with my research is to look into the resistance of both the Jewish people and the others in European society who assisted in Jewish escapes. The perceived image of the Jews during the Holocaust is of “lambs to the slaughter.” The pictured painted of the rest of European society is one of either knowing accomplices or silent spectators. The Jewish people had many forms of resistance, some small and some large. While many of their neighbors were silent spectators, but many people were actively resisting the tyrannical Nazi government by assisting Jewish escapes. Each of these individuals risked their lives and the lives of their families and friends to aid these hunted individuals. They all deserve to have their stories heard and honored. In a time of complete chaos and destruction many people would not have the ability or fortitude to save the life of another person. The people that I will discuss in this paper were not only able to take that step, but put themselves and their families in real and eminent danger for the life, at times, of a complete stranger.

After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese that propelled the U.S. into World War II, paranoia causes President Roosevelt to sign an executive order forcing all people of Japanese ancestry; including those born in the U.S. to be moved to concentration camps. Even in the towns where the camps were located, stores would post signs saying “No Japs Allowed”.

Two months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt authorized “Executive order 9066”. Which made More than 110,000 Japanese in the U.S to relocate to internment camps for reason of “national security”. The United States feared that they’re could have been Japanese spies inside America so the government relocated most Japanese immigrants to camps. It was one of the saddest moments in America that the government of America took actions on innocent people just because their heritage. America’s internment camps are similar yet different to Hitler’s concentrations camps.

In Elie’s situation, the police officers let the germany army take all the jewish people to the ghettos first, then to the internment camps (Wiesel). Jeanne and her family experienced almost the same thing Elie did in reference to their police officers taking them to camps. The government of any country is supposed to be trustable and safe for all of their people, no matter what their religion or race is. Because of racism and hate in each country, Jeanne and Elie’s governments because became unsafe and difficult to trust for the japanese in America and the jewish and Germany. After the wars were over and the camps were closed, each country made efforts to right their wrongs but there is no argument on which country tried redeeming themselves more (Byrd). The German government made and still makes efforts to fix what was done to the Jewish people during the time of Hitler. A few things they've done are giving millions of dollars as compensation to people and families affected by Hitler’s actions, holding trials against certain people who committed crimes against jewish people during this time, started remembrance days and teaching about it in schools to educate people about the wrongs they did. In america, Japanese americans who were forced to live in the relocation centers were publicly apologized to,given $25 when leaving the camps and given more money as

Her story is an example of a person who struggled with adversity but searched for a reason to hope. She has used her remarkable survival as an inspiration for those who have no reason to believe they can overcome struggles. She has a foundation named Citizenship Counts which teaches students about their rights and the importance of their citizenship. She has written many books about her experiences and her belief that hope will help a person overcome darkness. She travels the world today telling people her story to increase their knowledge of the Holocaust. Her story of survival serves of as an inspiration to people who are suffering and are looking for a reason to have hope.¹

When one looks through the history of the last century, many great atrocities can come to mind. However, the one that is the most common is that of the Holocaust during World War II. People often wonder how something like this could have been allowed to happen. These same people wonder this without realizing that something similar has happened, right within their own shores. Not only this, but they do not realize how previously close we could become to having this happen again.

Fujitani does not solely describe the cruelty exhibited by the Japanese and the Americans; he includes positive measures that were taken by both as well. Fujitani claims that “A historically responsible and empirically sound critique of wartime racism in these two nation-state-based empires cannot simply deny their life-enhancing efforts, but must somehow account for the uneasy fit between what can only be recognized as their gross cruelty toward minority and colonial subjects and their apparent concern for the life, reproduction, welfare, and sometimes even happiness of these same peoples” (Fujitani 13). The paradox that exists is dutifully acknowledged as Japan and the United States are not treating the minority populations with complete respect, but consequently, respect them out of necessity.

More than half a century has passed since the end of World War Two and to this day it is still difficult to fully understand the severity of what was by far the most destructive war in human history. More than sixty million people were killed during World War Two and more than half of those were innocent town’s people. Among the dead were over six million Jews, which was two thirds of the total living race in Europe at the time. Beyond these general statistics were thousands of stories of crimes committed against soldiers and civilians. These crimes against humanity included cases of prisoners of war being murdered, sent to concentration camps and abuse as well as harmless civilians being rounded up and