In 1939, during one of the darkest times in human history, Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat stationed at the embassy in Lithuania, saved thousands of Polish Jews from the Nazi threat by issuing them exit visas.
For many years, his defiance of his own government remained an obscure detail of the war, until the people he saved spoke out, sharing his story with the world.
The media praised his courage, and authors were inspired to call him the ‘Japanese Schindler.’
In recognition of such heroes, the Israeli government had been planting trees in their honor. When it came to Sugihara, the plan was to plant a grove of cherry trees, Japan’s national tree.
However, officials decided that cherry trees were not enough to symbolize his bravery. Instead, they planted cedar trees, a sacred tree used in the construction of the First Temple.
Only after the trees were planted did they discover that in Japanese, ‘Sugihara’ means… a grove of cedar trees.