Tracing the path of their mother, who escaped the Holocaust with help from some defiant Japanese, New Yorkers Deborah and Shelley Reed experienced myriad emotions on their first visit to Japan during the peak cherry blossom season last month.
It was around the same time of year in 1941 when their mother found a safe haven in the city of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, after a long and complicated journey.
Sonia Reed, whose maiden name was Gertler, was born and spent her youth in Poland. She was one of about 6,000 Jewish people fleeing Nazi persecution who were granted visas by then-Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara in Kaunas, Lithuania, according to existing records.
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