In September 2015 the Secretariat of the International Commission initiated a national project targeted to the communities of schools with active Tolerance Education Centres (hereafter TEC) “Who was Chiune Sugihara?”
The project gained its momentum at the commemoration of the 75-th anniversary of the events, when in 1940 the Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara issued transit visas for people, mainly Jewish refugees from Poland, who were trying to escape the Second World War in Europe. The project aimed to encourage students to get interested in the works done by the consul Chiune Sugihara and his cooperation with the other diplomats
12 Lithuanian schools from different regions of Lithuania with active TECs had implemented the project “Who was Chiune Sugihara?” (October 2015-January 2016). The students made research on the personality, life, works, and the people, who Chiune Sugihara was surrounded by. Different cross-curricular activities were organised, Sugihara House (museum) in Kaunas was visited. The results of project activities were summarised in the different presentations, such as artistic compositions, presentations, role plays, video films and art work exhibitions. A vast majority of schools introduced their project results to their school and local communities in December and January. The representatives of the International Commission and Japanese Embassy attended these events as well.
On the 11th of February Vytautas Magnus University hosted the final event of the national project “Who was Chiune Sugihara?” Nobuki Sugihara, a son of a former consul Chiune Sugihara and some of his relatives visited the final event of the project.
The event was also attended by a great number of guests: Japanese Ambassador to Lithuania, Toyoei Shigeeda, the First Secretary of Israeli Embassy Yehuda Gidron, Polish Embassy representatives, members of Panevezys and Kaunas Jewish communities, Vytautas Magnus University community members and Kaunas city community members.