Lithuania, July 31: The office/residence compound of Japanese Vice Consul in Kaunas, (central) Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara:
(Lithuania is just south of Latvia. It was a historic cradle of Jewish religious scholarship. In parallel to Latvia’s travail during WWII, Lithuania was occupied first by the Soviets and then by the Nazis.)
Sugihara had been besieged for several weeks by many hundreds of Jewish refugees (from Poland and internally from Lithuania itself) seeking transit visas through Japan, to escape the approaching Nazis.
Lithuania had recently been occupied by the Soviet Army, but was under imminent invasion–threat from the Nazis, who had occupied Latvia just to the north that month (July).
In general, Japan required the presentation of both end–destination visas as well as proof of financial strength, as pre-requisites for issuing transit visas.
The Jews at hand held end–destination visas to Curacao or Dutch Guiana, issued by the Dutch consul in Lithuania, Jan Zwartendijk. These “official end–destination visas” were considered sketchy (as indeed they were) by the Japanese authorities back in Tokyo. In the proof of financial strength department, at the moment at hand, this was not a strong “arrow in the quiver” of these refugees either.
Nevertheless, Sugihara telegrammed back to Tokyo for approval to issue the transit visas. After three rejections in three weeks by the Japanese Interior Ministry back home, on July 31, Sugihara elected to unilaterally issue the visas. Between July 31 and September 4th (when the consulate was literally physically shut down by the Japanese Home Office), Sugihara issued individual or family visas which had the effect of allowing 6,000–10,000+ Jews to cross Russian Siberia and into Japan.
Sugihara single–handedly saved basically the entire Mir Yeshiva, the only European yeshiva to survive the Holocaust relatively intact.
[It is generally accepted that the Soviets charged the desperate refugees almost five times the regular fare to use the aforementioned Trans Siberian Railroad across the Soviet Union.]
(See also prior entry 1938 CE: “SHANGHAI SAFE HAVEN”)