chiune sempo sugihara, japanese consul-general in kaunas, lithuania, 1939–1940, issued thousands of visas to jews fleeing poland in defiance of explicit orders from the japanese foreign ministry. the last foreign diplomat to leave kaunas, sugihara continued stamping visas from the open window of his departing train. after the war, sugihara was fired from the japanese foreign service, ostensibly due to downsizing. in 1985, sugihara’s wife and son received the righteous among the nations honor in jerusalem, on behalf of the ailing sugihara, who died in 1986.