Monday, August 15, 2005

Table of Germany and Japan Post-War Actions

I have included a table clearly showing some of the reasons many Asians have for feeling that Japan has not done enough in atoning for wartime crimes as opposed to Germany which will hopely allow those who think Japan has done enough to ponder on whether they have been too quick to judge:

Germany:
1958 set up committee which hunts down and prosecutes Nazi criminals who escaped justice in Nuremberg. Operates and continues to hunt for Nazi criminals to this very day with assistance from American govt.
Japan:
Releases ALL warcriminals from Sugamo Prison in Tokyo by 1958 and has NEVER prosecuted any more Japanese warcriminals after Tokyo WarCrimes Trials.

Germany:
NO Nazi has ever held office in govt after WW2
Japan:
Many Japanese warcriminals involving those on the wartime cabinet continued to lead public office after WW2 with many continuing onto the postwar Japanese govt with even one Prime Minister in the 50s having been a high position govt official in the wartime govt.

Germany:
Has paid billlions in reparations to Holocaust and another Nazi victims and will continue to pay for the next few yrs as there are reparation laws passed by the German Parliament.
Japan:
Has paid ZERO dollars in official reparations since many Asian govt who bear fault as well had waived all legal rights to war reparations in exchange for Japanese economic aid.
Refuses to pay ALL individual victim claims with many suits by former slave labours and comfort women being turned down in Japanese courts.

Germany:
Officially apologised many times incl those passed by parliament and even has habit of always visiting Holocaust memorials in Israel whenever Germany ministers visit Israel.
Japan:
Has NEVER OFFICIALLY apologised for crimes during WW2 with exception of 1995 apology which was THE ONLY apology passed by the Japanese Diet and all other individual apologies by PM always insincere as inevitably followed by contradictory actions such as visits to shrine worshipping warcriminals or inflammatory statements denying any Japanese wrongdoing by cabinet ministers INCLUDING former Justice Minister who denied the Nanking Massacre and the current Education Minister who recently in June said there was no such term as comfort women (one can only guess what Japanese children are learning with Japan's highest official in charge of education saying irresponsible and callous things like that).

Germany:
Built many memorials to Nazi victims and Holocaust survivors incl the high profile new Jewish Holocaust Memorial in Berlin which was given high press coverage this year.
Japan:
In stark contrast, not a SINGLE memorial to Asian victims in whole of Japan built by Japanese govt and many devoted exclusively to Japanese victims such as Hiroshima or Okinawa civilian deaths. Has Yasukuni shrine in central Tokyo devoted to 14 Class-A convicted warcriminals including the notorious Tojo and thousands other Japanese soldiers which would inevitably include the countless rapists and murderers that were some of the Japanese soldiers in WW2.

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