Visa for Life

This visa, which reads“Visa to the Netherlands after landing at Tsuruga - valid for 10 days,issued by Sugihara Chiune,Acting Consul in Kaunas on July 31, 1940 (Showa 15)", was carefully preserved by Dr. Sylvia Smoller, a bioscience Researcher in the U.S.

Dr. Smoller is a Jewish individual from Poland who fled to the U.S. with her parents after receiving a visa from Sugihara when she was 7 years old. Dr. Smoller donated this visa to Yaotsu-cho saying, "I am here today only because Mr. Chiune Sugihara saved our lives. He not only saved our lives then, but also saved my son’s and the lives of the other children who were born thereafter, as well as so many other people’s lives. Just imagine how many people Mr. Sugihara saved...”

The passport of Alexander Haftka and visa signed by Sugihara.

Sylvia Smoller, the daughter of Alexander Haftka, donated this passport to Yaotsu-cho,
Gifu prefecture where Chiune Sugihara was born to continue his ideals of
humanitarianism and philanthropy. ( Gifu Prefecture, Yaotsu-cho Collection ).

* The passports are in the Yaotsu-cho, Gifu Prefecture collection.