Thanks again everyone for coming back.

Lauslle Montgomery here with part five of this handy Vespocut guide to the history of the

Jewish refugees in China during the first half of the 20th century.

Well, between the time Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, up to about 1941,

as many as 30,000 Jews had managed to make their way to the city of Shanghai,

most via Lloyd Tristino cruise ships departing from Italy, the Trans-Siberian Railway, and by any other means possible.

Some use Shanghai as a jumping off point to other destinations, but for most, Shanghai was where they decided to tough it out. By 1941, China had already

admitted more Jewish refugees than Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India combined.

As we get closer to December 7, 1941, the numbers pretty much start to set,

and those Jews who didn't get out of Europe in time prepared for the worst.

I wanted to start off this episode by speaking about one other person.

I mentioned Khifungan in part three. The one I'd like to introduce

now was another diplomat who offered a lifeline to a group of Jews who might not have considered Shanghai before but now saw it as their final hope.

The man, his name was Sukiharachioni.

He had quite a life.

He was a graduate from the Harbin Gakuin, Japan's training ground for future

Soviet experts, of which Sugiharah was one. He was the government official who led the

deal team that negotiated the North Manchurian railway away from the Soviets and was director of the foreign ministry in Manchuquo.

It was fluent in Russian.

In November 1939, two months into the war, he was sent to Kovino, Lithuania to go keep

an eye on the Russians and Germans there and report back to Tokyo on diplomat posted to Lithuania, becoming the Japanese

diplomat posted to Lithuania, becoming the Japanese Vice Council in the capital, Kaunas.

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