6000

Chiune Sugihara (杉原 千畝 Sugihara Chiune^?, 1 January 1900 – 31 July 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Lithuania. During World War II, he helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing transit visas to Jewish refugees so that they could travel to Japan. Most of the Jews who escaped were refugees from German-occupied Poland and residents of Lithuania. Sugihara wrote travel visas that facilitated the escape of more than 6,000 Jewish refugees to Japanese territory, risking his career and his family's lives

On a personal note, one of these was my friend's father.

For more information:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiune_Sugihara