World War II Reparations Compared
German and Japanese Responses to War Crimes and Atrocities
World War II ended in 1945. Nazi Germany surrendered first on May 8th. Imperial Japan on August 15th. Although the Allies were very familiar with specific acts of atrocity, later to be defined as war crimes, the extent of those crimes only became clear as war trials were held, documents accessed, and witnessed questioned.
In the wake of those discoveries, Germany began the long process of reparations, healing, and putting into place laws to ensure such atrocities would never again happen. The recent deportation of 89-year old John Demjanjuk to Germany to stand trial for war crimes is indicative of Germany’s continued resolve to punish the guilty. In contrast, Japan has never taken such steps and has even attempted to erase their atrocities from their history books.
The Results of German “De-Nazification”
The most vivid reminder of the Nazi period is the concentration camps, open to public visitation. They remind Germans of a very real past and act as a deterrent to any possible totalitarian notions. German students are required to visit a camp as part of their educational experience. Additionally, Germany has criminalized “Holocaust denying.” According to German government information sources, total financial compensation to the victims of the Nazi regime surpasses fifty million Euro (100 DM before the Euro conversion).
With help from the German government, historic synagogues have been restored and Holocaust memorials erected such as the recently opened Berlin memorial designed by Peter Eisenman. Any form of Anti-Semitism is rejected and public displays of Nazi symbols like the swastika are legally banned. Guilt from that terrible period has even resulted in new religious orders formed as atonement for the Holocaust, like the Evangelical Sisters of Mary headquartered in Darmstadt.
Japanese Reaction to World War II
In stark contrast, Japan continues to deny the atrocities of the past such as the notorious “rape of Nanking” or the treatment of Koreans. In 2004 Miyako Masuda, a 23-year veteran teacher, dared to teach the truth about Japan’s role in Korea in her history class; she was removed from teaching. Her actions came in response to a Tokyo politician’s public statement that “Japan never invaded Korea.”
During the Japanese occupation of Korea, however, thousands of Korean women were used as “sex slaves” by Japanese soldiers, a fact documented in many sources and poignantly discussed by Chinese-American historian Iris Chang whose study of Japanese atrocities in China are the definitive source on the subject. These Korean victims were known as “comfort women.”
When US President Ronald Reagan visited the Bitburg cemetery in Germany widespread outrage ensued because the cemetery held the graves of former SS soldiers. Yet Japanese politicians habitually visit the Shinto Yasukini shrine in which the ashes of known World War II war criminals are kept. These actions have prompted regular diplomatic protests from China and South Korea.
Human Experimentation and POW Slave Labor
The grotesque experiments of Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele are well documented. Yet the experiments by Japan, often using POW’s or indigenous populations, have been denied by the Japanese government. These included bio-chemical experiments on human groups and were extensively conducted in occupied Northern China. To date, no one has ever been tried as a war criminal for any of these activities.
POW’s were used as slave laborers by Japan. Yet survivors have been unable to bring cases to court against such giants as Sony. Other suits have been attempted as class action remedies such as the 1995 suit brought by Miami-based Center for Internee Rights. Japan’s defense continues to be denial.
The United States was instrumental in rebuilding both Germany and Japan after World War II. De-Nazification worked and German compensation and reparations attempted to offer some measure of atonement. This same attitude must be adopted by Japan as well.
Sources:
- Douglas Botting, From the Ruins of the Reich: Germany 1945-1949 (Crown Publishers, Inc. 1985)
- Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (Basic Books, 1997)
- “Japan orders history books to change passages on forced World War II suicides,” Boston Herald.com, March 30, 2007
- Robert Marquand, “Tokyo teacher embattled over war history,” Christian Science Monitor, November 22, 2005
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