Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who served as the Vice-Consul in Lithuania during World War II. He is best known for issuing thousands of transit visas to Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust, allowing them to escape to safety in Japan and other countries. His actions saved an estimated 6,000 lives. Despite facing pressure from the Japanese government to stop issuing visas, Sugihara continued to help refugees until he was forced to leave Lithuania in 1940. His humanitarian efforts were later recognized, and he was honored as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.