Sugihara

He was born in Gifu on the Islands of Japan
He was sent off to Manchuria, that's how this tale began
His first assignment in the diplomatic corps
Was far-off Lithuania and the European war
My grandfather was from Krakow, the Nazis came, he fled
He sent his family to Vilnius so that they might not end up dead
But the panzers were advancing and he knew they had to go
But he had to have a visa, and all the embassies said "No!"
There was only one, final possibility
The last consulate left open, the Third Reich's Asian ally
There in Lithuania there was no time to lose
They came looking for a visa, thousands of Polish jews
The diplomat called Tokyo: "Can I grant them that reprieve?"
Three times he got his answer: "Tell them all to leave!"
He looked into their eyes, talked to his family;
He and his wife decided: "We must set these people free."
Although I never met him, when all is said and done, I am Sugihara's son
Disobeying orders that they knew to be wrong
Sempo and Yukiko started writing all day long
A month's worth of visas in every 20-hour-day
Sempo and Yukiko could turn no refugee away
Word came from the empire: "It's time to turn it in,
You're closing down your consulate, and moving to Berlin!"
They knew they did the right thing, of this they had no doubt
They threw visas out the windows as their train pulled out
Although I never met him, when all is said and done, I'm Sugihara's son
My grandfather crossed Sibiria for five times the normal cost
Fearing for the future with every minute lost
He got the ferry to Kobe, then to occupied Shanghai
There he spent the war years while back home his people died
Sugihara-san did not seek praise from anyone,
when he died the papers said his neighbours knew not what he'd done
there are forty thousand people living lives today
without Sempo Sugihara I'd not be here now to say
Although I never met him, when all is said and done, I'm Sugihara's son