Passage to Freedom by Ken Mochizuki

Digital Book ReportPrepared by Ms. GilClinton-Mendenhall Elementary

Genre

Non-Fiction Biography Narrator is the son

of Mr. Sugihara First-Person

Narration

Setting

Small town in Lithuania

1940’s WWII Nazi occupation

Major Events

Mr. Sugihara is a diplomat from Japan stationed in a small town in Lithuania who has the authority to issue visas.

The Nazis have begun to relocate the Jews (Polish refugees) in this town.

A small group of Jews meet with Mr. Sugihara to request visas.

Major Events

Mr. Sugihara can issue a couple but not the hundreds needed to save this population.

He asks permission from his superiors three times. The permission is denied.

Mr. Sugihara must choose between “disobeying his government, or disobeying God.”

Major Events

He consults his family and decides to issue the visas.

Fatigued, Mr. Sugihara issues hundreds of visas before he is stationed in Berlin, Germany.

He even hands out blank visas from the train.

Causes and Effects

Hundreds of Polish refugees are facing a bleak future in the hands of Nazis.

Superiors deny the request of Mr. Sugihara to request permission to issue extra visas.

Issuing hundreds of visas against government orders in order to save them.

Disobey orders and commit to a higher moral order.

Themes

Courage: Mr. Sugihara disobeyed government orders and put his life and the life of his family in danger to save Polish Jews

Message

Sometimes having moral character means making difficult decisions (that may or may not put your life at risk)