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Unique Carnegie Hall concert to honor Japanese diplomat Sugihara, who saved 6,000 Jews
For most of his life, Chiune Sugihara received little recognition for the dramatic actions he undertook as Japanese vice-consul to Lithuania on the eve of World War II: the rescue of some 6,000 Jews from Poland and elsewhere from the Nazi death machine.
For decades, the Jewish world remained largely ignorant of his heroism. When, in 1985, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center located in Israel, honored the unassuming retired diplomat as a Righteous Among the Nations, Sugihara was too old and sick to travel to Jerusalem to accept the award. He died shortly after.
But his renown has grown in the years since his death, and now Sugihara is being celebrated in a new way with an extraordinary piece of music composed to commemorate his heroic actions.
On April 19 at Carnegie Hall, Japanese-American-Israeli cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper will perform this original piece of music — Lera Auerbach’s Symphony No. 6, “Vessels of Light” — accompanied by the New York City Opera Orchestra conducted by Constantine Orbelian.
The gala concert, organized by Yad Vashem and the American Society for Yad Vashem, which commissioned the piece, will pay tribute to Sugihara’s legacy.
Along with the honorary Dutch consul in Lithuania, Jan Zwartendijk, Sugihara issued life-saving visas to the Jews trying to escape Europe through a complex, illegal scheme involving fake transit visas via Japan to the Dutch-speaking Caribbean island of Curaçao.
Not a single Jew actually traveled to that faraway island off the coast of Venezuela, home to the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas. But the operation — carried out under the noses of Lithuania’s Nazi occupiers — enabled thousands of Jews to resettle in Shanghai, leading to eventual freedom.
“Being half-Japanese myself, I understand the culture, and I know as a Japanese person that opposing authority goes against every fiber of our being,” Cooper, the cellist, said this month in an interview near her home in Tel Aviv. Born in New York to a mother of Japanese descent, Cooper later converted to Judaism and moved to Israel. She and her husband, Leonard Rosen, are
raising their three children as Orthodox Jews.
“Everybody’s heard of Schindler, who had a factory. But Sugihara had nothing to gain from this. In fact, he had everything to lose,” said Cooper, a visiting professor of music at Tel Aviv University. “He didn’t want recognition and never spoke to anybody about it. He didn’t even know that he had saved anybody until the very end of his life.”
Cooper, who studied at Julliard and comes from a long line of musicians — her father is a pianist and her mother a violinist and former concertmaster of the American Symphony — has a special personal connection to the Sugihara story.
Her husband’s father, Irving Rosen, was one of the Jews whose lives was saved by Sugihara’s actions. Armed with papers enabling Rosen’s family to leave Lithuania and emigrate to Curaçao via Japan, the entire family traveled via the Trans-Siberian Railway from Vilnius to Moscow to Vladivostok, then by sea to Japan — and eventually Shanghai.
“I became obsessed with this story and wanted people to know about it, especially given everything that’s going on in the world with the rise of authoritarian governments, mass dislocations, refugees, wars, rising antisemitism and anti-Asian hate,” Cooper said. “I’m not a writer, a filmmaker or an actress. I’m a musician. People had asked me, ‘Why not put together a nice concert in tribute to Sugihara?’ But I wanted to write something that could last forever.”
Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. (Courtesy of Yad Vashem)
With the backing of Yad Vashem and the American Society for Yad Vashem, Cooper asked Auerbach to write the piece, a 40-minute composition for solo cello, choir and orchestra involving 130 performers, including Yiddish “whisperers,” allusions to Psalm 121 and an introductory piece by Japanese composer Karen Tanaka titled “Guardian Angel.”
At Carnegie Hall, Cooper, who plays on an Italian-made Guadagnini cello from 1743, will perform Auerbach’s moving, large-scale symphonic work as a soloist. She’ll also perform in Prague on March 27, Los Angeles on May 18, in California’s Napa Valley on July 18 and in Warsaw on October 8.
“Most people do not pay attention to history, because they’re so wedded to current events,” said the Carnegie Hall event’s co-chair, Peter Till, a board member of the American Society for Yad Vashem. “But this is even more relevant today because of the rise of extremist hate groups. They’ll forever deny that it exists, or ignore it, or say it couldn’t happen here, but hate continues
to repeat itself and people have to face up to it.”
The Sugihara story is especially compelling, Till said, because it’s the first event of its kind that links Holocaust survivors with Asia in general — and Japan in particular.
“This is as much about the music as it is an expression of humanity, of people from diverse cultural backgrounds coming together to save lives,” he said. “For Yad Vashem, this is a very important event because it shows the depth of understanding.”
Of the roughly 28,000 non-Jews who’ve been designated by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, only 40 were diplomats. Sugihara is the only Japanese citizen so honored.
“On the whole, the eligibility process for diplomats is slightly different than for ordinary rescuers, because they had immunity,” said Joel Zisenwein, director of Yad Vashem’s Righteous Among the Nations Department. “In most cases, they were not at physical risk. But many of them had defied the guidelines and official policies of their foreign offices. Sugihara is even more interesting because he represented an ally of Nazi Germany.”
Zisenwein said Sugihara provided between 2,100 and 3,500 transit visas, though the exact number is not known.
“Literally, all rescuers from the Holocaust era have passed away, so people accepting the award are generally descendants or even grandchildren of the recipients,” Zisenwein said. “It’s interesting that Sugihara received his award for actions prior to the German invasion of Lithuania. Most of the Jews he rescued were Polish refugees who had fled there in 1939. Many countries claim to have their own ‘Schindlers.’ But here indeed was an individual who saved thousands of Jewish lives.”
Japanese-American-Israeli cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper has a special personal connection to the Sugihara story. (Vardi Kahana)
The evening’s master of ceremonies will be Zalman Mlotek, who is also artistic director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. Tickets and sponsorships are still available for the event.
“It’s not just the people Sugihara saved. It’s the worlds of those thousands of people,” said Mlotek, whose father, Joseph Mlotek, was a 21-year-old Yiddish poet working at a newspaper in Warsaw when World War II broke out. After fleeing to Lithuania, the family heard about Sugihara and was able to obtain transit visas to Shanghai, where the elder Mlotek and his brother Abram spent the war years.
“My father became a Yiddish activist here in New York and set up a network of 200 Yiddish schools all over the country. He published books with my mother and did concert tours for Yiddish musicians,” said Mlotek, 71. “I look at myself today, as artistic director of the Yiddish theater for 20 years, carrying on this same legacy that would have been decimated had it not been for the heroism of Sugihara.”
Auerbach’s composition had its world premiere last November in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas (known in Yiddish as Kovno), where Sugihara’s story took place. Additional performances are scheduled for cities around the world through 2024.
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The post Unique Carnegie Hall concert to honor Japanese diplomat Sugihara, who saved 6,000 Jews appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Poetry in drama: Sutzkever’s stories come alive on the stage
יעדע פּיעסע איז נישט נאָר אַן אױפֿפֿירונג פֿון אַ סקריפּט, נאָר אױך אַן אינטערפּרעטאַציע דערפֿון. דאָס איז נאָך מער שײך אַ פּיעסע װאָס איז אַן אינסצענירונג פֿון די שאַפֿונגען פֿון אַ פּאָעט.
די פֿאָרשטעלונג „נאַכט־מעשׂיות“, װאָס שפּילט אין מאַנהעטן ביזן 11טן יאַנואַר, איז כּדאַי צו זען נישט נאָר צוליב די געניטע, פּרעציזע אַקטיאָרן װאָס שפּילן אין איר (שײן בייקער און מרים־חיה סגל), און נישט נאָר צוליב דער מוזיקאַלישער באַגלײטונג פֿון אורי שרעטער, נאָר אױך, און לױט מײַן מײנונג אפֿשר דער עיקר, צוליב די געלונגענע פֿאַרשטאַנדן פֿון אַבֿרהם סוצקעװערס װערק װאָס דער רעזשיסאָר משה יאַסור שטעלט אַרױס אױף דער בינע.
די דאָזיקע „מעשׂיות“ זײַנען באַזירט אױף פֿיר קורצע שאַפֿונגען פֿון פּאָעטישער פּראָזע, אַן אָפּקלײַב פֿון אַ צאָל אַזעלכע װאָס סוצקעװער האָט אַלײן גערופֿן „באַשרײַבונגען.“ די דאָזיקע טעקסטן זײַנען נישט קײן געװײנטלעכע קורצע דערצײלונגען. עס פֿעלט אָפֿט מאָל אַ קלאָרער נאַראַטיװ, און דערצו איז די אידענטיטעט פֿון נאַראַטאָר נישט קײן קלאָרע. די אמתע שװעריקײט, בײַם לײענער, שטעקט אָפֿט מאָל אינעם לשון אַלײן. דער װאָקאַבולאַר ניצט אױס די גאַנצע פּאַליטרע פֿון אַ צאָל תּחומען פֿון קונסט, װילנער קאָלאָריט, ייִדישן לעבן, און דער אונטערװעלט. ס׳איז אַ ליטעראַרישער מאָדערניזם װאָס שרעקט זיך נישט פֿאַר קײן טעמע. אױך די זאַצן זײַנען נישט אַלע מאָל גרינג צו דעשיפֿרירן.
מע דאַרף אױך דערמאָנען אַז די מעשׂיות קומען פֿאָר אין אַ װעלט װאָס איז פֿאַרשאָטנט מיטן ייִדישן חורבן, אין אַ מין גרענעץ־זאָנע צװישן דער איצטיקײט פֿון טראַװמאַטיזירטן זכּרון, דעם היסטאָרישן אַמאָל, און די נאָך־װײענישן פֿון אומקום, פֿון די ערשטע יאָרצענדליקער נאָכן חורבן, װען דער מחבר האָט באַשאַפֿן אָט די פּראָזעװערק.
די קאָמפּליצירטקײט פֿון טעקסט, און דער דוחק פֿון אַ קלאָרן סיפּור־המעשׂה, שטעלט צו צװײ געלעגנהײטן, אָדער מע קען זאָגן — שוועריקייטן: ערשטנס, אַז די אַקטיאָרן אַלײן זאָלן באַהערשן יעדן פּרט פֿון דער שפּראַך, און אַרײַנהױכן אין די װערטער די עמאָציעס און זשעסטן װאָס זאָלן העלפֿן אָריענטירן דעם צוקוקער (בפֿרט די װאָס פֿאַרלאָזן זיך אױף די ענגלישע אײבערטיטלען) דורכן טונקעלן װאַלד פֿון האַלב־פֿאַנטאַזירטן, האַלב־היסטאָרישן אומקום.
דער צװײטער ציל בײַם פֿאַרשטיין די פּיעסע איז אַ דראַמאַטישע: װי אַזױ קען דער רעזשיסאָר אינסצענירן די פּאָעטישע טעקסטן אױף דער בינע? יאַסור ספּראַװעט זיך דערמיט מיט קלאָרע באַשלוסן. זײַן טענדענץ איז צו זײַן מינימאַליסטיש. ער פּרוּװט נישט קאָנקרעט שילדערן די מאָדנע אימאַזשן און געשעענישן װאָס שװעבן דורך סוצקעװערס מעשׂיות. דער גראַפֿישער דיזײַן, און די מוזיק, דינען גיכער ווי אַ ציל פֿון סוגעסטיע, דמיונדיקע רמזים. צום קלערסטן קומט דאָס צום אױסדרוקן אין דער ערשטער מעשׂה „קינדערשע הענטלעך,“ װוּ בלױז אַ בילד פֿון אַזעלכע האַנטדרוקן זײַנען מרמז אױף דער גאַנצער סצענע.
אין „לופּוס,“ אַ דיאַלאָג צװישן אַן איזאָלירטן אַלכעמיסטישן פּאַרשױן (אין סוצקעװערס לשון, אַן „איבערכעמיקער“), און אַ באַשעפֿעניש װאָס לעבט אױף פֿונעם שאָטן פֿון אַ מת, איז יאַסורס צוגאַנג אַ געראָטענער: דאָס ליכט װאָס באַלײַכט דעם העלדס עקספּערימענטאַלער אַרבעט װאַרפֿט אַ שאָטן אױף אַ װאַנט, װאָס װערט אַלײן, דורך בייקערס קונציקע תּנועות און באַװעגונגען, דער פּאַרטנער אין דעם שמועס. בכלל לאָזט זיך אױס, דורך יאַסורס רעזשי, אַז לופּוס איז מחיה־המתים — זיך אַלײן. זיכער איז דאָס נישט דער אײנציקער אופֿן צו פֿאַרשטײן די דאָזיקע מעשׂה, נאָר מע װערט דערפֿון איבערצײַגט, און נתפּעל.
דער צװײטער צוגאַנג װאָס וואַרפֿט זיך אין די אױגן, װידער אױף אַ הצלחהדיקן אופֿן, האָט געהאַט צו טאָן מיט דער פּראָבלעם פֿון נאַראַטאָר אין סוצקעװערס מעשׂיות. אָפֿט מאָל רעדט דער נאַראַטאָר אין ערשטן פּערזאָן, און, װי געזאָגט, איז נישט אַלע מאָל קלאָר בײַם לײענער װער דאָס איז – אַ מאַן, אַ פֿרױ, אַ מת, אַ שד…? דערצו שטעלט זיך אַ פּראַקטישע פֿראַגע פֿון אינסצענירונג: נישט אַלע מאָל איז אינטערעסאַנט פֿאַרן עולם, אַז אײן קול, אָדער אײן אַקטיאָר, זאָל אױסשפּילן אַ גאַנצע דערציילונג װי אַן אײנצלנע דאָמינאַנטע פֿיגור.
איז אַ גליק אַז יאַסור, און די דאָזיקע אַקטיאָרן, שאַפֿן צוזאַמען אַ קלײנע געזעלשאַפֿט מיט בלױז צװײ פֿיגורן אױף דער בינע. אין „דאָרט, װוּ עס נעכטיקן די שטערן“, װערן די צװײ אַ פּאָרל װאָס שטעלט זיך אַרױס פֿונעם קעצישן, אָדער גאָר פֿאַרפֿירערישן זכּרון, פֿון אַ פֿרױ װעמענס אידענטיטעט איז אַלײן נישט קלאָר. די גוטמוטיקע גרײטקײט פֿון בייקער איז דערגאַנצט געוואָרן פֿון דער יענװעלטיקער צעדרײטקײט פֿון סגלס שדיכע־געשטאַלט.
אין דער לעצטער מעשׂה, „פּאָרטרעט אין בלױען סװעטער,“ בײַטן זיך אױס די רעפּליקעס פֿון די צװײ אַקטיאָרן, עלעהײ זײ לײענען בײדע פֿונעם נאַראַטאָרס זכרונות. אַזױ באַקומט זיך אַ פּיעסע בתּוך אַ פּיעסע, בשעת די צװײ אַקטיאָרן שפּילן אױס מעשׂיות איבערגעגעבן פֿון דער מעשׂהס נאַראַטאָר. ס׳איז כּדאַי צו באַמערקן, אַז יאַסור, און די אַקטיאָרן, שפּילן זיך פֿרײַ מיט פֿאַרשײדענע השׂגות פֿון מין (דזשענדער), אױף אַן אופֿן װאָס איז גאַנץ פֿאַרשפּרײט אין טעאַטער בכלל און אינעם ייִדישן טעאַטער בפֿרט. אױך אין דער דאָזיקער מעשׂה האָט מען אַרױסגעהױבן די אַנדערשקײטן פֿונעם װילנער נאַראַטאָר, אין פֿאַרגלײַך מיטן לשון פֿון װאַרשע װוּ דער אײגנטימער פֿון „סװעטער“ זוכט זײַן (צי איר) מזל. אַ „לוטװאַק“, ווי באַקאַנט, װערט נישט אַלע מאָל רעספּעקטירט פֿון די װאַרשעװער….
בײַם אױפֿנעמען די אַפּלאָדיסמענטן פֿונעם דאַנקבאַרן עולם, האָט בייקער באַמערקט מיט אַנטױשונג אַז נישט אַלע זיצפּלעצער זײַנען פֿאַרנומען געװאָרן, כאָטש ס׳איז דער אָװנט פֿון ערבֿ־ניטל, װען מע װאָלט געדאַרפֿט זײַן פֿרײַ פֿון דער אַרבעט און גערן שטיצן אַ ייִדישע פֿאָרשטעלונג. לאָמיר נעמען די געלעגנהײט אַרױסצוהײבן די הויכע קװאַליטעט און אַמביציעס פֿון דער דאָזיקער אױפֿפֿירונג, אױסגעצײכנט געשפּילט און שאַפֿעריש רעזשיסירט, און מוטיקן אונדזערע לײענערס אָנצופֿילן די ערטער.
The post Poetry in drama: Sutzkever’s stories come alive on the stage appeared first on The Forward.
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Explosion at Alawite Mosque in Syria’s Homs Kills Eight
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
Eight people were killed in an explosion at a mosque of the Alawite minority sect in the Syrian city of Homs on Friday, Syrian state news agency SANA said.
SANA cited Syrian Health Ministry official Najib al-Naasan as saying 18 others were wounded and that the figures were not final, indicating they could rise.
The city’s press office said an explosive device had detonated inside the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib mosque and that security forces had cordoned off the area. A local security official told SANA that the identity of the perpetrator and any affiliation to violent groups were still unknown.
Local official Issam Naameh told Reuters the blast occurred during Friday noon prayers.
Syria‘s foreign ministry condemned the blast as a “terrorist crime.” Regional countries including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Qatar also condemned the attack.
Syrian state media SANA published footage of rescuers and security forces examining debris splayed across the mosque’s green carpet.
Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian violence since longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, was ousted by a rebel offensive last year and replaced by a government led by members of the Sunni Muslim majority.
Earlier this month, two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in central Syria by an attacker described by the authorities as a suspected member of the Islamic State, a violent Sunni Muslim group.
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Southern Yemeni Separatists Dismiss Saudi Call to Withdraw From Eastern Provinces
A drone view shows people attending a rally organized by Yemen’s main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), in Aden, Yemen, Dec. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fawaz Salman
Yemen’s main southern separatist group rejected on Friday a Saudi call for its forces to withdraw from areas it seized earlier in December, saying it will continue securing the eastern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra.
Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it remains hopeful the Southern Transitional Council (STC) will end an escalation and withdraw its forces from the provinces, after the group claimed broad control of the south and pushed the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government from its headquarters in Aden.
The group said in a statement posted on its account on X that its military operations in the two provinces were to combat security threats, including cutting supplies to the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists who control the north of the country.
Situated between Saudi Arabia and an important shipping route on the Red Sea, Yemen was split into northern and southern states until 1990.
AIRSTRIKES IN HADRAMOUT
In Hadramout, an escalation of fighting on Thursday killed two people from the STC’s Hadhrami Elite Forces, the group said in its statement.
Armed groups had ambushed STC forces in the Ghail bin Yamin area in the east of the province, but the forces managed to regain control of the area, a source from the group – speaking on condition of anonymity – told Reuters.
Saudi airstrikes followed early on Friday, targeting the STC forces in the area, the source added.
The STC said the “surprising” airstrikes will not “serve any path to an understanding, nor will they deter the people of southern Yemen from continuing their struggle to restore their full rights.”
Saudi Arabia did not confirm the strikes.
The kingdom said in its Thursday statement that a joint Saudi-Emirati military delegation was sent to Aden on Dec. 12 to make “the necessary arrangements” to ensure the return of STC forces to their previous positions outside the two provinces, adding that the efforts were still in progress.
The STC said on Friday that the group was open to any “coordination or arrangements based on guaranteeing the security, unity, and integrity of the south, and ensuring that security threats do not recur.”
The group added that any arrangements should “fulfil the aspirations and will of the people of south of Yemen,” as well as “the shared interests” with Saudi Arabia.
UAE WELCOMES SAUDI EFFORTS
The United Arab Emirates, which supports the STC, welcomed on Friday Saudi Arabian efforts to support security and stability in Yemen, and said it remains committed to backing stability in the country.
“The UAE reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to supporting all endeavours aimed at strengthening stability and development in Yemen,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The STC was initially part of the Sunni Muslim Saudi-led alliance that intervened in Yemen in 2015 against the Houthis. But the group has turned on the government and sought self-rule in the south.
Yemen has already been marred by a civil war since 2014, with the Houthis controlling the northern part of the country, including the capital Sanaa, after forcing the Saudi-backed government to flee south.