Movie about a ‘Righteous’ Japanese diplomat to be shown at JCC

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The biographical movie “Persona Non Grata,” about a Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, will be shown at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center on March 24.

The Japanese film follows Chiune Sugihara from 1934 to 1955, from his early days in Manchuria to his position as Japan’s consul in Lithuania during World War II. Caught between the rigid policies of Japan, a treaty with Nazi Germany and his moral awakening, Sugihara put his career and family at great risk by illegally issuing transit visas to thousands of Jewish refugees to help them escape to Japan.

In 1984, Israel recognized Sugihara with the title “Righteous Among the Nations,” an honor given to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

A representative from the Japanese consulate in Boston will speak before the screening, which is being jointly presented by The Providence Village of Rhode Island and The Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, in Providence, as part of the Baxt Lecture Series.

The movie is in Japanese with English subtitles. The program will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 24, at the Dwares JCC, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence, and will be followed by a coffee hour. The event is free, but preregistration is suggested; email Ada Winsten at awinsten@aol.comto register.   

Jewish Rhode Island staff

SBHEC, Providence Village, Holocaust