NARRATOR We would have fewer stories to share… fewer survivors to learn from were it not for the extraordinary courage of ordinary individuals: Rescuers. In the rarest of instances, an entire nation could pull together, as we learned with the people of German-occupied Denmark. However, more commonly, rescue efforts came from people acting entirely on their own—using the resources at hand to help others survive. A number of brave diplomats used their special status to save tens of thousands of Jews from deportation—in most cases, against the orders of their superiors and at risk to their own safety. Chiune Sugihara of Japan could have been speaking for all of them when he said: MALE VOICE After much struggle and torment, I ultimately reached the conclusion that humanity and compassion come first. I risked my career and duly executed my mission without hesitation. I’m confident even now that I did the right thing. NARRATOR Survivor Edith Hamer’s family were saved by his efforts. “By 1940, the situation had gotten desperate and, somehow, they heard that in Kovno, there was a man—a Japanese counsel from Lithuania named Chiune Sugihara and they heard he was giving out visas, exit visas. It was necessary to obtain exit visas to leave Lithuania as well as a visa to enter another country. […] On July 24, 1940, they received an exit visa from Chiune Sugihara. My father received the exit visa number 7; my mother received the exit visa number 8, and I was a child on my mother’s passport.” NARRATOR Another rescuer, Hannah Szenes, parachuted into Nazi territory to help Jewish resistance. After she was captured, tortured, and killed, a poem was found in her prison cell: FEMALE VOICE I could have been 23 next July; I gambled on what mattered most, The dice were cast. I lost. NARRATOR Like Hannah Szenes, Irena Sendler worked to support the efforts of resistance; however, she did so in the Warsaw Ghetto, rescuing 2,500 children and hiding them in orphanages. She was also captured and horribly tortured but was rescued by her resistance allies. In addition to saving at least 2,000 refugees, American journalist Varian Fry used the power of his pen to awaken the still-neutral USA to the catastrophe in Europe. Each of these rescuers—and the many whose names will never be known—put their beliefs into action… in the spirit of the Upstander.