Food for Thought

In light of the ongoing debate about refugee's (and the usual "dog whistle" reactions from the media, politicians and the uninformed) here's some food for thought from a chap called Chiune Sugihara. Oh, incidentally this chap managed to single-handedly save about 7500 Jewish refugees (or: "illegal emigrants") from certain death in Nazi concentration camps. He did this against the direct orders of his superiors at the beginning of the Second World War. Did I mention he was Japanese?

"You want to know about my motivation, don't you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes, Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent.

People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people's lives....The spirit of humanity, philanthropy...neighborly friendship...with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation---and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage."