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Israelis Honor an Unsung Japanese Hero Who Saved Jewish Lives in World War II
(Japan Forward-Sankei Shimbun) A member of the Israeli parliament and the Israeli Ambassador to Japan visited a Tokyo nursing home on May 22 to present a letter of appreciation to Teruko, 91, the daughter of Setsuzo Kotsuji, in honor of her father's achievements. Teruko's father was a scholar of Hebrew culture. The "visas for life" issued by Chiune Sugihara, the vice-consul for the Japanese Empire to Lithuania during World War II, are widely known. Through these visas, thousands of Jews escaped persecution from Nazi Germany by fleeing to Japan. The man who did his utmost to protect these Jews from the risk of deportation by sending them to other countries, such as the U.S., was Setsuzo Kotsuji. He risked his life for this enterprise and was even tortured on suspicion of espionage. Kotsuji was born to a family of Shinto priests, but he converted to Judaism after reading the Bible and studying Hebrew in the U.S. Kotsuji rests in a grave in Jerusalem. He left these words to his family: "Within a hundred years, someone will come along who will understand me."