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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
An excellent book that explains an important story in a way I think children will understand. Great read for kids ready to read longer-length nonfiction books, although it would be better with some teacher or parental guidance to contextualize the story within the larger picture of WW2. Contains an informative and fascinating afterword.
Hiroki Sugihara, the son of a Japanese diplomat posted to Lithuania in 1940, tells how his father suddenly found himself confronted with a terrible dilemma.
Hundreds of Jewish refugees, driven out of Poland by the Nazis after they had invaded and then occupied that country, began to show up at the gates of the Sugihara home, which doubled as the Japanese embassy. The Sugihara's, Hiroki, his younger brothers Chiaki and Haruki, his Auntie Setsuko, and his parents lived upstairs, and his father, Chiune Sugihara, worked downstairs.
Men, women and children, dressed in layers of clothing despite the July heat, were seeking visas that would enable them to travel through Russia to find asylum in Japan. Sugihara knew he had to do something, so he asked the crowd to choose five people to come inside and talk with him.
The next day, Sugihara cabled the Japanese government asking if he might be allowed to issue visas to the desperate refugees. His country refused his request, leaving Sugihara with a tough moral decision - turn away the people outside his gate and leave them to certain death at the hands of the Nazis or disobey his government.
Sugihara chose to issue visas to each and every person outside his gates, disregarding Japan's order. Day after day, from early morning to late in the evening, Sugihara hand wrote about 300 visas per day. Even after the Nazis and Soviets began to close in on Lithuania, visas were written, right up until the family was ordered by Japan to leave when Sugihara was reassigned to Berlin.
In telling his father's story, Hiroki writes in the Afterward that it is a story that he believes "will inspire [readers] to care for all people and to respect life. It is a story that proves that one person can make a difference." His father remained a diplomat for many years after the war, eventually leaving the Foreign Service. In the 1960s, Chiune Sugihara began to hear from some of the people to whom he had given visas, and who referred to themselves a Sugihara survivors. He ultimately received the Righteous Among Nations award from Yad Vashem in Israel.
Dom Lee's sepia-toned illustrations provide close detail and give a feeling of dimension and authenticity to the story being told, seemingly based on old photographs of the July 1940 events. They are done by an very unusual method. Lee applied encaustic beeswax to paper, scratched out the image he wanted and then added oil paint and colored pencil.
Passage to Freedom is indeed an inspiring story and one that should be shared with young readers. Sugihara was a real hero, a man who put human life above politics, even at a time when Japan was at war with China and relations were already contentious with Great Britain and the United States. One thing that did amaze me was that his government didn't call him back to Japan to censure him.
An extensive PDF Classroom Guide Passage to Freedom is available from the publisher, Lee & Low books.
This book is recommended for readers age 7+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
This review was originally posted on The Children's War
Hundreds of Jewish refugees, driven out of Poland by the Nazis after they had invaded and then occupied that country, began to show up at the gates of the Sugihara home, which doubled as the Japanese embassy. The Sugihara's, Hiroki, his younger brothers Chiaki and Haruki, his Auntie Setsuko, and his parents lived upstairs, and his father, Chiune Sugihara, worked downstairs.
Men, women and children, dressed in layers of clothing despite the July heat, were seeking visas that would enable them to travel through Russia to find asylum in Japan. Sugihara knew he had to do something, so he asked the crowd to choose five people to come inside and talk with him.
The next day, Sugihara cabled the Japanese government asking if he might be allowed to issue visas to the desperate refugees. His country refused his request, leaving Sugihara with a tough moral decision - turn away the people outside his gate and leave them to certain death at the hands of the Nazis or disobey his government.
Sugihara chose to issue visas to each and every person outside his gates, disregarding Japan's order. Day after day, from early morning to late in the evening, Sugihara hand wrote about 300 visas per day. Even after the Nazis and Soviets began to close in on Lithuania, visas were written, right up until the family was ordered by Japan to leave when Sugihara was reassigned to Berlin.
In telling his father's story, Hiroki writes in the Afterward that it is a story that he believes "will inspire [readers] to care for all people and to respect life. It is a story that proves that one person can make a difference." His father remained a diplomat for many years after the war, eventually leaving the Foreign Service. In the 1960s, Chiune Sugihara began to hear from some of the people to whom he had given visas, and who referred to themselves a Sugihara survivors. He ultimately received the Righteous Among Nations award from Yad Vashem in Israel.
Dom Lee's sepia-toned illustrations provide close detail and give a feeling of dimension and authenticity to the story being told, seemingly based on old photographs of the July 1940 events. They are done by an very unusual method. Lee applied encaustic beeswax to paper, scratched out the image he wanted and then added oil paint and colored pencil.
Passage to Freedom is indeed an inspiring story and one that should be shared with young readers. Sugihara was a real hero, a man who put human life above politics, even at a time when Japan was at war with China and relations were already contentious with Great Britain and the United States. One thing that did amaze me was that his government didn't call him back to Japan to censure him.
An extensive PDF Classroom Guide Passage to Freedom is available from the publisher, Lee & Low books.
This book is recommended for readers age 7+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
This review was originally posted on The Children's War
A story of diversity, tolerance, compassion, and morality, PASSAGE TO FREEDOM will engage readers of all ages. Written expressly for children ages six to eleven, the book lends itself to being read aloud by a primary care giver or teacher, providing an opportunity for age appropriate discussions.
Written in first person prose, the author takes the reader to Lithuania in 1940 where Hiroki Sugihara's father is a Japanese diplomat. The family lives in an upstairs dwelling, and his father works on the ground level of the building. When the building is surrounded by Polish speaking Jews seeking visas to escape persecution by the Nazis, the young boy peeks through the curtains of his home, and witnesses the desperateness of the situation. The Jews want to travel east through the Soviet Union to seek asylum in Japan. His father has the ability to write visas for their travel and he is left with a decision. Will he obey the leaders of his own country who have told him not to write the Visas or will he follow his heart and attempt to give them the paperwork they need to travel?
Through a series of events, the whole family becomes involved. As the story unfolds, not only do the decisions made affect the lives of the refugees, but Hiroki's life is impacted as well. This book has the ability to make a lasting impression on its readers.
Expertly crafted and engaging, the story is an excellent resource to approach a difficult subject with younger readers.
Written in first person prose, the author takes the reader to Lithuania in 1940 where Hiroki Sugihara's father is a Japanese diplomat. The family lives in an upstairs dwelling, and his father works on the ground level of the building. When the building is surrounded by Polish speaking Jews seeking visas to escape persecution by the Nazis, the young boy peeks through the curtains of his home, and witnesses the desperateness of the situation. The Jews want to travel east through the Soviet Union to seek asylum in Japan. His father has the ability to write visas for their travel and he is left with a decision. Will he obey the leaders of his own country who have told him not to write the Visas or will he follow his heart and attempt to give them the paperwork they need to travel?
Through a series of events, the whole family becomes involved. As the story unfolds, not only do the decisions made affect the lives of the refugees, but Hiroki's life is impacted as well. This book has the ability to make a lasting impression on its readers.
Expertly crafted and engaging, the story is an excellent resource to approach a difficult subject with younger readers.
This is a very interesting story that I had not heard before about the Japanese consul in Lithuania during World War ll who wrote Jews visas so that they could go to Japan and escape the Nazis. The story is touching and well told and the sepia toned illustrations are excellent.
I never knew about this hero who forced Japan to allow thousands of Jews to seek refuge there. A warm, inspiring story about a dark period in history.
My son brought this book home from the library. Everyone should read it. This man was an amazing WWII hero, although he was never a soldier.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
It is simply amazing too me how many stories there are of people from disparately different backgrounds coming together to save Europeans from the Nazi regimes.
This is the story of just such a man, well, actually a family. He was a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania who wrote visas for thousands of people to go to Japan as a way of escaping the Nazis... And all without the approval of his country, but with the brave and proud approval of his family. I love that he was able to save so many, and I love that there is a statue erected in Japan to honor the sacrifice.
I need to shelf this with the picture book about the Jews who escaped because they were hidden in the Paris mosque.
This is the story of just such a man, well, actually a family. He was a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania who wrote visas for thousands of people to go to Japan as a way of escaping the Nazis... And all without the approval of his country, but with the brave and proud approval of his family. I love that he was able to save so many, and I love that there is a statue erected in Japan to honor the sacrifice.
I need to shelf this with the picture book about the Jews who escaped because they were hidden in the Paris mosque.