The Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara is assigned the role of Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Kaunas, Lithuania, during World War II. His superiors also give him the dangerous task of relaying German and Russian troop movements back to Japan, as they suspect Hitler of withholding information from his allies. Meanwhile, Sugihara puts his career at risk by using his position to write over 6,000 transit visas for Jewish refugees, allowing them to escape from Nazi Germany to Japan.