Sugihara House
The Kaunas house where a Japanese consul wrote thousands of visas that let Jewish refugees escape the Holocaust - a small museum to a great rescue.
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In 1940, from this house that served as the Japanese consulate, Chiune Sugihara wrote transit visas by hand, day and night, against his own government's orders, allowing thousands of Jewish refugees to flee across the Soviet Union to safety. The small museum in his former office and residence tells the story of what became known as the visas for life.
What you actually see
- Sugihara's office - the room where the visas were written.
- The visa story - documents and testimony of the refugees he saved.
- The residence - the consul's home preserved as a memorial.
- The wider history - the fate of Lithuania's Jewish community around it.
When to go
Year-round; an indoor visit suited to any weather, and a natural companion to the Ninth Fort for the fuller history. Quiet and reflective on most days.
Honest expectations
It is small, a single house and a focused story, so it is a short but moving visit rather than a large museum. Its power is in the human account rather than grand displays. Pairing it with the Ninth Fort gives the fuller, harder picture of the era.
Nearby
Central Kaunas and its modernist streets are close; the Ninth Fort memorial tells the darker side of the same years.
What to pack for Sugihara House
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
