The story of a hero who saved a woman's family from the Nazis is "chillingly relevant" today, according to the author.

Linda Margolin Royal, an Australian advertising copywriter, was hesitant about the January 2024 release of her first novel, "The Star on the Grave," due to the global increase in antisemitism following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

The Star on the Grave" is a fictional historical account of how her family was rescued from the Holocaust by Chiune Sugihara, a heroic Japanese diplomat known as "the Japanese Schindler.

Royal was thrilled to discover that her book was the top Australian fiction debut in the month following its release, as announced by her publisher, Affirm Press. However, she confessed to Planet Chronicle Digital that despite her excitement, she still can't shake the unsettling feeling that she's reenacting her own family's history while narrating their story.

Her own words struck her, she said: "Jews run because we learn anyone can become a Jew-hater ... Do you know what a betrayal that is?"

Royal completed her book in September 2023. Upon reviewing it before publication, she remarked to her publisher, "The sentiments in this book are so chillingly relevant that people will think I wrote it after October 7."

Saved the lives of many Jews

Nobuki Sugihara, 75, son of the late Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, shared with Planet Chronicle Digital how his father saved many Jewish people, including the Royal family, from death.

Nobuki Sugihara stated that in 1940, when his father was serving as vice-consul for Japan in Lithuania and Prague, European Jews approached him, expressing their fear for their lives following the Nazi invasion.

Despite government orders, the elderly Sugihara secretly issued 2,100 transit visas, allowing Jews to flee Poland and Germany and escape to the United States, Canada, and Australia via Japan and the Soviet Union.

According to multiple sources, Sugihara and another Dutch diplomat, Jan Zwartendijk, risked their lives and careers to save Jewish refugees. Zwartendijk did so by issuing destination visas to Curaçao, despite being under Nazi rule.

Both men suffered negative consequences in their jobs for going against their superiors.

In 1985 and 1997, Sugihara and Zwartendijk were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

Non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust were given the title "The Righteous Among the Nations."

"He was a man who did the right thing. He was very humble."

According to Yad Vashem, they are awarded The Medal of the Righteous, which bears the Jewish saying: "Saving a single life is equivalent to saving an entire universe" (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5).

Nobuki Sugihara's father was described by Royal, the novelist, as "very caring and loving, and he was a man who did the right thing. He was very humble."

Nobuki Sugihara did not know about all the people his father saved until he read about it in a newspaper article when he was 19 years old.

Michael, the father of Royal, and his own parents originated from Poland and journeyed to Lithuania to acquire transit visas prior to traveling through Japan to Australia, where they decided to make their permanent home.

Her father had "kind eyes" when he met Sugihara at the consulate when he was 11 years old, Royal recalled.

Sugihara rescued as many as 6,000 Jewish people, but Nobuki Sugihara said it's impossible to know the exact figure because one passport was for an entire family.

Including descendants of the survivors, his father could have saved as many as 500,000 Jewish people.

In 2016, The Mirrer Yeshiva Central Institute estimated that his father could have saved up to 500,000 Jewish people, including descendants of survivors.

Emotional meeting

Sugihara's selfless heroism left Royal overwhelmed with gratitude, and meeting his son at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City five years ago was an emotional experience for her.

She said, "I asked the man if I could hug him, and he gave me a sort of smile. I could see that his wife was smiling too, so I knew it was okay."

She remarked, "I told him, 'It's the closest thing to hugging your dad.'"

She stated on Planet Chronicle Digital, "I am alive because of his father, and my children are alive because of his father."

Although Royal never met Sugihara in person before his death at the age of 86 in 1986, she envisioned what it would have been like through Rachel Margol, the 20-year-old headstrong protagonist of her book, "The Star on the Grave."

Margol thanked Sugihara at the Minsk Hotel in Moscow for the lifesaving transit visas he provided to her family and other families, to which Sugihara responded, "I only did what was right... That is all. It’s what anyone would have done."

Margol pointed out that others did not do what he did.

She gives him a letter from her grandmother, Felka, who is named after his own grandmother and is portrayed similarly in the narrative.

Felka and Margol share a bond as close and loving as the one Royal had with her in real life.

Felka was bold, with a signature color of red, and had an exuberant, magnetic presence that drew in everyone.

Felka and Margol celebrated their 60th and 21st birthdays together in Japan. As they danced joyfully among the rice grains, squashing them into the soles of their high-heeled shoes, their feet thumped the red tablecloth, and they linked arms and sang.

"My grandmother was hilarious," Royal said to Planet Chronicle Digital. "She used to dance on tables and drink vodka. That's why she came to life on the page."

She kept her tragic memories hidden from the world, said Royal.

In "The Star on the Grave," Felka, the grandmother, experiences sudden grief and anxiety while assisting her granddaughter in planning her wedding to a Greek Orthodox doctor.

"I noticed there was so much trauma with children of Holocaust survivors."

The revelation of Margol's lack of knowledge about her true identity leaves her stunned, and her past secrets start to unravel.

Margol was informed by Felka about her experience of being a young mother and spouse in Warsaw, Poland, in 1926. Felka portrayed Warsaw as a city brimming with intellectuals, culture, music, and theater, until it underwent a sudden transformation.

Due to restrictions, Felka was unable to continue pursuing a law degree at certain schools.

She told Margol, "Hating us is a European tradition."

Michael made us conceal it because he was concerned you would be harmed. He didn't want you to know you were Jewish.

Margol attempted to discuss her mother, who passed away when she was nine, with her father while on a swing one night. However, her father ended the conversation, causing Margol to reflect, "Being Michael's daughter is a winter without a spring in sight."

‘So much trauma’

Royal disclosed to Planet Chronicle Digital that she sought therapy for her characters in order to comprehend the impact of generational trauma.

She remarked on the significant trauma experienced by the children of Holocaust survivors.

Royal disclosed to a therapist the complexities of her characters' lives, including how Michael's unresolved childhood trauma impacted his parenting abilities. She emphasized the importance of accurately depicting the characters and their relationships with one another.

As Felka wrote the scene, she noticed the grandmother's obsession with having all the tassels on her Persian rug aligned in the same direction.

She inquired of a therapist whether if her external environment was organized, she could manage her internal disorder.

"All this trauma from the Holocaust is resurfacing in their dreams."

The therapist confirmed, "Indeed, you've accurately described the process."

On her wedding day, Felka's anguished expression was visible in the photo that Royal took.

She revealed to Planet Chronicle Digital that she initially thought the photos of her with her grandmother were simply beautiful, but upon researching trauma and revisiting the images, she experienced an electric shock when she looked into her grandmother's eyes. The trauma was evident, and her grandmother appeared completely overwhelmed.

In 2002, when she was 93 years old, Royal's grandmother passed away.

Royal stated that if Anne Frank were alive today, she may struggle to cope with the current rise in antisemitism, as the trauma of the Holocaust may resurface in old age.

Her friends who survived the Holocaust are now experiencing nightmares due to the trauma resurfacing in their dreams.

Inspired by Chiune Sugihara's bravery and selflessness, Royal wants to speak at schools about implementing a "Power of One" educational program or campaign to show that one person can have a powerful ripple effect, such as when it comes to stopping antisemitism.

"Sugihara was a person who stood out from the crowd and followed their own beliefs, just like him. He had a strong moral compass that guided him throughout his life."

One person's power can have significant, far-reaching consequences.

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