TOKYO: To mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Soka University will premiere a new exhibition specially created for Japanese audiences: The Courage To Remember: The Holocaust 1939-1945.The Bravery of Anne Frank and Chiune Sugihara, to be shown from October 8-13, 2015, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater in Ikebukuro.

The exhibition is based on "The Courage to Remember," the Simon Wiesenthal Center's powerful educational exhibit about the Holocaust, with a focus on the life of Anne Frank and an additional section on Chiune Sugihara. It  provides a compelling historical account of the Nazis' murderous campaign in which 6 million Jews and other victims of the Nazis were targeted and killed between 1939 and 1945.

Chiune Sugihara (1900-1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul in Lithuania during the early years of World War II. In 1940, he helped Jewish refugees desperately trying to flee persecution by the Nazis by issuing as many as 6,000 transit visas so that they could travel to Japan though most had entry visas for no third country.

Soka University, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Exhibition Steering Committee are coordinating the October presentation of this exhibition, with support from key embassies in Tokyo, the UN Information Centre and the NPO Chiune Sugihara Visas For Life. Following the initial showing in Tokyo, it is hoped that it will be shown in further locations throughout Japan from 2016.

At a February 3 meeting in Tokyo to launch preparation for the exhibition, Soka University President Yoshihisa Baba stated that the exhibition provides an important opportunity for human rights education, saying, "I feel today's youth can learn crucial lessons from the tragic history of the Nazi Holocaust. Now is the time to promote tolerance education in Japan and throughout the Asia Pacific region."  

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, thanked embassy representatives for their support and emphasized that the recent 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz has brought the need to remember the horrors of the Holocaust back to public attention.

A previous version of the exhibition focusing on The Holocaust and the life of Anne Frank was shown from 1994 to 2007 throughout Japan and seen by more than two million people.

Jointly organized by: Soka University, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Exhibition Steering Committee

Supported by: The Embassy of France, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Embassy of Israel, the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, the Delegation of the European Union, UN Information Centre, and NPO Chiune Sugihara Visas For Life

In cooperation with: The Soka Gakkai Peace Committee

CONTACT: The Courage To Remember Exhibition Steering Committee on

Tel: +81-42-691-9442

Fax:+81-42-691-9300

E-mail:publicrelation@soka.ac.jp