Adam Exelbierd

4. Witold Pilecki: Pilecki was a Polish resistance leader during World War II in the Secret Polish Army. In September 1940, he deliberately allowed himself to be arrested by German troops during a Warsaw roundup, with the intent of being sent to Auschwitz. Inside Auschwitz, Pilecki organized a resistance movement, secretly drew up reports detailing German atrocities, and used the identity documents of Tomasz Serafiński. In 1942, Pilecki's resistance movement used a homemade radio transmitter to broadcast details on the conditions in the camp. On the night of April 26, 1943, Pilecki and two comrades overpowered a guard and escaped, eventually reaching a safe house, after which they compiled a detailed report about Auschwitz which was then distributed by the Secret Polish Army. Pilecki was executed on May 25, 1948, for his anti-communist sentiments, as Poland had begun to come under Soviet sentiment. His heroics came to light post-1989, and he was posthumously awarded the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1995.

5. Chiune & Yukiki Sugihara: Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara and his wife Yukiko spent 20 hours a day writing & signing transit visas by hand in Lithuania for thousands of Jews for 29 days from July 31 to August 28, 1940. Yukiko described their last days in Lithuania: "He was so exhausted, like a sick person. Even though he was ordered to go to Berlin, he said he couldn't make it to Berlin and suggested we go to a hotel and rest before leaving. When we got to the hotel, the Jewish people came looking for us there. So he wrote some more visas in the hotel. The next day when we got to the train station, they were there too. So he wrote more visas on the platform until the train left. Once we were on board, they were hanging on the windows, and he wrote some more. When the train started moving, he couldn't write anymore. Everyone was waving their hands. One of them called out, 'Thank you Mr. Sugihara, we will come to see you again,' and he came running after the train. I couldn't stop crying. When I think about it, even now, I can't help crying." As the train left the station, Sugihara said, "Please forgive me. I cannot write anymore. I wish you the best." It is estimated that the actions undertaken by him and his wife are responsible for the present lives of around 100,000 people. After the war, Sugihara was forced to resign and work menial jobs (selling light bulbs door to door). He languished in relative obscurity until 1968 when an Israeli diplomat managed to find him and finally got him the recognition that he deserved. Sugihara never told anyone what he had done during the war. Even his closest friends had no idea. "I may have disobeyed my government, but if I didn't, I would be disobeying God. In life, do what's right because it's right, and leave it alone."