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At the beginning of the Second World War, the Dutch consul in Kaunas (Lithuania) discovered a way to save the lives of thousands of Jews who had fled from Poland: he issued them a visa for Curaçao. The Jews then traveled on the Trans-Siberian Express to Japan, from where they spread throughout the world; almost all survived the war. With the support of the Dutch Ambassador, Jan Zwartendijk aided Jewish refugees by issuing permits for them to enter Curaçao, a Dutch colonial possession in the West Indies.