‘Schindler on steroids’: New novel tells story of Japanese hero

LINDA MARGOLIN ROYAL is the descendant of Holocaust refugees saved by Japanese diplomat Sugihara. Her first novel brings his story to life.

Linda Margolin Royal knows she only exists thanks to Chiune Sugihara. She is of one more than 100,000 Sugihara survivors and descendants who owe their lives to the Japanese diplomat who repeatedly defied orders from his government and issued 2,139 handwritten visas to refugees desperate to flee Nazi-occupied Europe.

The visas allowed the refugees, including 6,000 Jews, to transit through the Soviet Union to Japan, before being granted passage to safer land, including Australia.

So why did he do it? Royal says the answer is simple: “a strong moral compass”.

“He only did this because it was the right thing to do,” Royal told The Jewish Independent. “He’s like Schindler on steroids… I owe my life to him.”

Royal’s father and grandparents were Sugihara visa recipients, who arrived in Sydney in 1941. Growing up, Royal knew her family lived in Japan for some of the war, but never questioned or was told about the circumstances that led them there. It was only when her dad turned 80 that she decided to interview him about his life and discover the truth.

The result is her debut novel, The Star on the Grave, which interweaves a fictional storyline with a parallel narrative that tells the true story of Sugihara’s life.