（对华援助协会）
立陶宛中南部的重要城市考纳斯，1940年7月8日。
“那时大约是快六点的时候。突然，在我卧室窗外临街的地方，我听到人群的高声喊叫，起初喊声模糊不清，随着更多人到来，喊声逐渐变得洪亮起来。于是我迅速拉开窗帘往外看，眼前的景象是：许多面容各异的人，有男有女，有老有少，衣着破旧，大约有一百多人，他们倚在住宅大门口，冲我说着什么。”
日本驻立陶宛副领事杉原千畝和他的妻子幸子这样描述那一天的情景，当时他们被眼前几十上百名波兰、立陶宛及其他犹太人挤满日本领事馆（也是他们住处）门口的景象震惊了。
当时，这个波罗的海小国是为数不多仍愿意接纳逃离德国入侵波兰的犹太人的国家。每个人都希望能获得一张日本签证，从而逃离即将到来的入侵。
杉原千畝做出了决定。短短几天内，他签发了数百张出境签证，直到他在回忆录中写道：“我的手指都磨出了茧，从手腕到肩膀的每个关节都疼痛不已。”
东京方面对于这些签证感到震惊，因缺乏明确指令而迟迟未作决定，这使得他得以继续签发签证。
1940年8月3日苏联吞并立陶宛后，日本领事馆和其他外交人员被要求在三周内离境。尽管被禁止签发签证，杉原在9月4日离境前，仍以惊人的速度继续签发签证，先是在大都会饭店的大厅里，后来在火车站，甚至在开往柏林的列车上继续签发。
最终，他签发的签证总数达到了2140份。
之后，他辗转欧洲，先到布拉格，后到布达佩斯，直至与家人一起被苏联当局逮捕，拘押了18个月，直到1947年才返回日本。回国后，杉原从外务省退休，转而从事商务咨询工作。
他于1986年7月31日去世，同年被授予长崎和平奖。
在立陶宛考纳斯市，当地为纪念他而树立了纪念碑。以色列犹太大屠杀纪念馆“犹太人大屠杀纪念馆”将杉原千畝授予“国际义人”的称号，以表彰他拯救了约6000人的人道主义行为。
This is Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat, and his wife Yukiko. In 1940, while they were in Lithuania, they spent 18 to 20 hours a day for 29 days—between July 31 and August 28—handwriting and signing thousands of travel visas for Jewish people trying to escape the Nazis. Yukiko later shared what their final days there were like: "He was so tired, like someone very sick. Even though he had orders to go to Berlin, he said he couldn’t do it right away. He suggested we rest in a hotel first. But even at the hotel, Jewish people came to ask for visas. So he kept writing them there too. The next day, when we went to the train station, they were waiting there again. He kept writing visas on the platform until the train began to move. Once we were on the train, people were reaching through the windows, and he wrote a few more. When the train finally left, he couldn’t write anymore. Everyone was waving goodbye. One person shouted, 'Thank you, Mr. Sugihara, we will come see you again!' and ran after the train. I couldn’t stop crying. Even now, when I think about it, I still cry."
As the train pulled away, Sugihara said, “Please forgive me. I can’t write anymore. I wish you all the best.”
It's believed that because of what Chiune and Yukiko did, around 100,000 people are alive today.
After the war, Sugihara was removed from his job and had to take simple jobs just to survive—like selling light bulbs door to door. He lived quietly for many years, unknown to the world, until 1968. That year, an Israeli diplomat finally found him and helped bring attention to his heroic actions.
Sugihara never talked about what he had done—not even to his closest friends. He once said, “Maybe I disobeyed my government, but if I hadn’t, I would’ve disobeyed God. In life, do what’s right just because it’s right—then let it be.”
张平X @pingzhang632，译自脸书账号 History Icon