Welcome to Sugihara House Museum
This house operated as the Japanese Consulate to Lithuania from November 1939 to August 1940. It was from here that Chiune Sugihara issued over 2000 transit visas through Japan, without the explicit permission of his government, saving the lives of countless refugees fleeing Soviet oppression and the upcoming Nazi atrocities.
To commemorate this deed, the Sugihara "Diplomats for Life" Foundation, a non-profit private organisation, established the Sugihara House Museum in 1999.
Visas for Life
Exhibition created by British artist Jenny Kagan in 2024 offers a glimpse into the turbulent period in Kaunas during 1939 and 1940, the life of Chiune Sugihara and the courageous decision he made, and the stories of some of the those who were saved as a result of his actions and those of the Dutch Honorary Consul, Jan Zwartendijk, and a small handful of other diplomats prepared to take a stand.
Casablanca of the North
Casablanca of the North: Kaunas 1939 - 1940 takes visitors to Kaunas, the temporary capital of the time, and the diplomatic life that was brewing there. This metaphorical title of the exhibition is inspired by the content of the top 10 film of all time, Casablanca, which depicts the situation of Jewish refugees in Casablanca in 1941 and their efforts to reach Lisbon, the symbol of the free world.
Few people know that Kaunas became the symbol of the free world in the summer of 1940. The paradox is that in the summer of 1940, Kaunas and Lithuania survived the brutal Soviet occupation, but until the last gasp of freedom, the Lithuanian state and its diplomats abroad tried to help Jewish refugees seeking to escape Soviet persecution and repression.
The exhibition reveals the everyday life of World War II refugees in Lithuania, the efforts of the Lithuanian state to help war refugees, Lithuania's territorial losses due to Nazi occupation plans, and the treacherous recovery of the historic capital Vilnius from Soviet hands. It answers the question why C. Sugihara and J. Zwartendijk life visas were not used by Lithuanian citizens.
Crystal of Kindness
In the center of the exposition is a postcard of 19 March 1941, addressed to Vytautas Žakavičius, one of the Lithuanian Righteous Among the Nations, who, together with his fellow prisoners Bronius Jocevičius, Jonas Petrauskas, and Pranas Simokaitis, was shot in July 1944 for hiding the Jews in Kaunas Fort IX, along with the Jews they had saved, while Jonas Janulaitis, a member of the same group, managed to escape from death.
The exhibition also presents more tragic fates of the Jewish rescuers in Nazi-occupied Lithuania - the rescuers themselves were executed for showing humanity and sheltering Jews who sought refuge.
A postcard sent to V. Žakavičius from Japan testifies that those who received Sugihara's visas reached Japan. However, when the Soviet occupation of Lithuania was replaced by the Nazi occupation, not only were the majority of Lithuanian Jews exterminated, but also some of the Jewish rescuers.
Introductory photo by Andrius Aleksandravičius. Other photos courtesy of Teodoras Biliūnas and Sugihara House Museum.