On August 2; 1940; as on every other morning for weeks before; a long line of Jewish refugees waited outside the Japanese consulate in Kaunas; Lithuania. Many had already witnessed Nazi atrocities in Poland and other Axis-occupied lands; and they were desperate to escape. To leave Europe they needed foreign transit visas. And at the window; the smiling Japanese consul was issuing them. Before his government closed down the consulate and reassigned him to Berlin; he would issue thousands of such visas. This is the story of Chiune Sugihara; a diplomat and spy who saved as many as 10;000 Jews from deportation to concentration camps and almost certain death; Because of his extreme modesty; Sugihara's tremendous act of moral courage is only now beginning to become widely known. Unlike Raoul Wallenberg; the Swedish diplomat whose government sent him to Hungary with the express purpose of saving Jews; and Oskar Schindler; the German industrialist who at least initially had a vested economic interest in protecting the lives of "his Jews;" Sugihara had no apparent reason to perform his acts of rescue. Indeed; he acted in direct violation of official Japanese policy; which directed all government and military personnel to cooperate with the murderous policies of their Nazi allies. Examining Sugihara's education and background -- a background shared with the colonial administrators and military men who committed "the rape of Nanjing" -- author Hillel Levine finds nothing that explains his extraordinary behavior. Levine's search has taken him from the old Japanese consul building in Kaunas (now Kovno); Lithuania; to the Australian outback; across Japan from the rice fields ofSugihara's native town to the boardrooms of conglomerates where his younger schoolmates still hold power. But the more Levine sought answers to Sugihara's puzzling behavior; the more he encountered questions. Remarkably; Chiune Sugihara was not the only Japanese official to save Jews. Yet none was ever punished for insubordination. Was there a secret Japanese plan to save Jews from Nazi genocide? Much Holocaust scholarship focuses on the perpetrators of evil; trying to illuminate what drove ordinary men and women to commit horrifying and murderous acts. But perhaps as difficult to understand is the phenomenon of rescue: what inspired courageous individuals to swim against the tide of cruelty and indifference. This sensitive and nuanced biography concludes that there is no link between a person's background and his moral inclinations. Mercy remains a divine mystery despite our human craving to reduce it to behavioristic formulas. This book does not attempt to explain "man's humanity to man." Instead Levine has woven a fascinating narrative of one man's heroic efforts to save lives; in the midst of so many seeking to destroy them.
#885455 in Books Scribner 1975Ingredients: Example IngredientsPDF # 1 #File Name: 0684139243248 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Gettysburg in historically analyzed photographsBy Robert C. OlsonGettysburg in historically analyzed photographs5+ stars. William Frassanito has done an outstanding job in Gettysburg historical photograph research and interpretation. His Gettysburg: A journey in Time is a landmark photo-historical record of that epic battle. He breaks new ground in documentation and research of old civil war era photographs. His analysis of the main photographers of the Gettysburg battle; and his examination of their quirks and techniques sheds valuable new light on the battlefield. His fastidious "then and now" comparison of the actual ground in the photographs is an invaluable aid to those who want to walk that hallowed ground today. Since Mr. Frassanito's publication of Gettysburg: A Journey in Time; the park service has done yeoman's work to return the battlefield to the way it ways on those 3 hot days of July; 1863.An absolute must have for Civil War buffs. Excellent book for anyone interested in Gettysburg. It will help clarify the battlefield an aid in understanding just how the battlefield looked during the battle. Thank you Mr. Frassanito for an outstanding work of Gettysburg historical analysis.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. If you really want to understand Gettysburg on cellular level ...By Carol S.If you really want to understand Gettysburg on cellular level; you look at these photos. You even look at them with a magnifying glass so as not to miss the details. You take in the visuals; and you let them frame the words you read and you will understand. You will know.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Breakthrough research still fresh after 40 yearsBy Clark A.I bought this copy to replace one I gave to a dear friend years a go. I came back to the subject with a renewed respect for Frassanito's research. His story of discovery of the living nature of civil war era photos; from age 9 to publishing this book in the 70's explains the title of the book. The photos and the text of the book will put you back in Gettysburg in 1863 better than anything else I've read since Glenn Tucker's High Tide at Gettyburg.
