Jan Zwartendijk (1899-1979) was a Dutch businessman and diplomat who helped Jews to escape Lithuania during World War Two. This page is about negotiations; for the board game, see Diplomacy (game). ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ...

Zwartendijk was a businessman who directed the Philips plants in Lithuania. In June 19, 1940 he also took a part-time duty as a acting consul of the Netherlands - or, to be exact, Dutch government-in-exile. His superior was a Dutch ambassador to Latvia, de Decker. Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Dutch Philips Electronics Ltd. ... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a countrys legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. ... For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ...

When Soviet Union took over Lithuania in 1940, some Jewish Dutch residents in Lithuania approached Zwartendijk to get a visa to Dutch East of West Indies. With de Decker's permission, Zwartendijk agreed to help them. The word spread and the Jews who had fled from Poland also applied for his help. An entry visa valid in all Schengen treaty countries A visa (short for the Latin carta visa, lit. ...

In defiance of the official diplomatic niceties, Zwartendijk signed a declaration that entering Curacao in the West Indies did not require a visa, while omitting the second part of the standard notice that the entry requires the permission of the Curacao governor. (In fact, the first visas of this kind were issued by de Decker himself, earlier, and Jews approached Zwartendijk after news have been spread about this unusual possibility.) Curaçao and Bonaire are two Caribbean islands Curaçao [pronounced koo-rah-sow] (population 150,000) is an island in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea, one of the Windward Islands of the Netherlands Antilles, a self-governing part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ...

Then refugees approached Chiune Sugihara, Japanese consul, who gave them a transit visa through Japan, also against official diplomatic rules. This gave many refugees an opportunity to leave Lithuania through the Trans-Siberian railway to Far East. Israeli medal for his memory Chiune Sugihara (杉原千畝 Sugihara Chiune, January 1, 1900 – July 31, 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who saved Jews during the World War II when he was a Japanese consul to Lithuania. ... Trans-Siberian line in red; Baikal Amur Mainline in green. ... Far East is a term often used for East Asia and Southeast Asia combined, sometimes including also the easternmost territories of Russia, i. ...

In the following 3 weeks after July 26, Zwartendijk wrote up over 2400 de facto visas to Curacao and some of the Jews copied more. Many who helped only knew him as "Mr Philips Radio". When Soviets closed down his Philips office in August 3, he returned to occupied Netherlands to work in the Philips headquarters in Eindhoven. He did not talk about the matter. July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. ... Eindhoven is a municipality and a city located in the province of Noord-Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, originally at the confluence of the Dommel and Gender brooks. ...

Jan Zwartendijk died 1979. 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

Yad Vashem memorial recognized Zwartendijk in 1997 with the title "Righteous Among the Nations". Yad Vashem memorial sculpture Yad Vashem (יד ושם) is Israels official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust established in 1953 through the Memorial Law passed by the Knesset, Israels parliament. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...