Japan S Holocaust

Japan’s Holocaust is a comprehensive exploration of Japan’s mass murder and sexual crimes during the Pacific and Asian Wars from 1927 to 1945. Japan’s Holocaust combines research conducted in over eighteen research facilities in five nations to explore Imperial Japan’s atrocities from 1927 to 1945 during its military expansions and reckless campaigns throughout Asia and the Pacific. This book brings together the most recent scholarship and new primary research to ascertain that Japan claimed a minimum of thirty million lives, slaughtering far more than Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Japan’s Holocaust shows that Emperor Hirohito not only knew about the atrocities his legions committed, but actually ordered them. He did nothing to stop them when they exceeded even the most depraved person’s imagination, as illustrated during the Rape of Nanking as well as many other events. Japan’s Holocaust will document in painful detail that the Rape of Nanking was not an isolated event during the Asian War but rather representative of how Japan behaved for all its campaigns throughout Asia and the Pacific from 1927 to 1945. Mass murder, rape, and economic exploitation was Japan’s modus operandi during this time period, and whereas Hitler’s SS Death’s Head outfits attempted to hide their atrocities, Hirohito’s legions committed their atrocities out in the open with fanfare and enthusiasm. Moreover, whereas Germany has done much since World War II to atone for its crimes and to document them, Japan has been absolutely disgraceful with its reparations for its crimes and in its efforts to educate its population about its wartime past. Shockingly, Japan continues, in general, to glorify is criminals and its wartime past.

New edition with foreword by Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu: “How extraordinary that this humble suitcase has enabled children all over the world to learn through Hana’s story the terrible history of what happened and that it continues to urge them to heed the warnings of history.” In the spring of 2000, Fumiko Ishioka, the curator of a small Holocaust education centre for children in Tokyo, received a very special shipment for an exhibit she was planning. She had asked the curators at the Auschwitz museum if she could borrow some artifacts connected to the experience of children at the camp. Among the items she received was an empty suitcase. From the moment she saw it, Fumiko was captivated by the writing on the outside that identified its owner – Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Waisenkind (the German word for orphan). Children visiting the centre were full of questions. Who was Hana Brady? Where did she come from? What was she like? How did Hana become an orphan? What happened to her? Fueled by the children’s curiosity and her own need to know, Fumiko began a year of detective work, scouring the world for clues to the story of Hana Brady. Writer Karen Levine follows Fumiko in her search through history, from present-day Japan, Europe and North America back to 1938 Czechoslovakia and the young Hana Brady, a fun-loving child with a passion for ice skating. Together with Fumiko, we learn of Hana’s loving parents and older brother, George, and discover how the family’s happy life in a small town was turned upside down by the invasion of the Nazis. Based on an award-winning CBC documentary, Hana’s Suitcase takes the reader on an incredible journey full of mystery and memories, which come to life through the perspectives of Fumiko, Hana and later Hana’s brother, who now lives in Canada. Photographs and original wartime documents enhance this extraordinary story that bridges cultures, generations and time. Ideal for young readers aged 9 and up. Hana’s Suitcase is part of the award-winning Holocaust Remembrance Series for Young Readers.

Japan was a party to the Axis Alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. However, it ignored repeated German demands to harm the 40,000 Jews who found themselves under Japanese occupation during World War Two. This book attempts to answer why they behaved in a relatively humane fashion towards the Jews.

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is almost certainly fiction, but its impact was not. Originating in Russia, it landed in the English-speaking world where it caused great consternation. Much is made of German anti-semitism, but there was fertile soil for "The Protocols" across Europe and even in America, thanks to Henry Ford and others.

Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul in Kovno, Lithuania, honored in 1984 by Yad Vashem as a “Righteous Among the Nations,” issued transit visas to thousands of Jewsin 1940, saving them from almost certain death in Nazi-occupied Europe. From extensive archival research and interviews — of survivors, fellow students in Harbin, China, diplomats who knew Sugihara and family members —, Hillel Levine reconstructs the fascinating story of this diplomat, spy and Russia expert who singlehandedly built a “conspiracy of goodness.” “Mr. Levine dug deep into wartime archives and traveled all over the world in search of Sugihara’s friends and relatives, and surviving eyewitnesses of his extraordinary acts ... [researched] Japanese culture, folklore, diplomacy, imperialism and attitudes toward Jews and the West ... In Search of Sugihara finally inspires you to believe that in a time of great evil a good man threw caution to the winds and acted out of simple humanity.” — Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times “This remarkable biography is, in the author’s words, a study of the ‘banality of good.’ Honored in Israel and Japan, yet still largely unknown in the West, Japanese diplomat and spy Chiune Sugihara, with this book, joins the ranks of Raoul Wallenberg, Oskar Schindler and other rescuers of Jews escaping Nazi persecution ... In Levine’s compelling analysis, Sugihara’s rescue effort was motivated by love of life and a strong sense of justice, not by any special relationship to Jews or driving obsession — an ordinary man turned extraordinary hero.” — Publishers Weekly “On the basis of considerable research, including interviews with survivors, friends, and relatives, official records, and Sugihara’s scant memoirs, Levine presents the available facts ... Sugihara’s story is ultimately a fascinating addition to Holocaust literature and a valuable historical footnote.” — Kirkus Reviews “One of a handful of landmark books in our desperately needed process of just beginning to explore the strange mystery of human goodness.” — M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled “Sugihara is unique because he demonstrated that every individual is empowered to resist tyranny and that one can act in accordance to the dictates of a higher moral authority that advocates justice, humanity, and compassion to all mankind. Hillel Levine is to be commended for bringing attention to this unsung hero of the Holocaust and for telling us, with historical depth and literary eloquence, of the unknown dimensions of this incredible story.” — Tom Lantos, US Congress “This is history as it was, and history as it might have been. Hillel Levine has relentlessly uncovered one of the most thrilling and unknown stories of World War II and the Holocaust. He has shown what one courageous diplomat in one small country did to make a real difference in those darkest of times. He has also given us the account of an improbable but genuine hero whose name should be inscribed with the other great figures of the resistance.” — Harvey Cox, Thomas Professor of Divinity, Harvard University

Regina and Charles Joshua are a young couple with four little girls who lived in Surabaya, Indonesia. This story is about a tragic period of history from 1942-1945, when Japan occupied Indonesia. Japanese troops came and took away Charles. Regina was terrified, not knowing what they were up too and if Charles be brought back alive. The next day a truck came and took Regina and her children. They were locked up for the next three and half years, moving from camp to camp. This is a story of faith and courage, about a mother who never gave up on hope and one of the most horrific times in history. Seemah Sassoon was born in Surabaya, Indonesia on December 30, 1939. She is the third child in a family of eight, with six girls and two boys. Seemah went to school in Surabaya, and received a Dutch education. After high school, she took courses in business administration. She speaks four languages: Dutch, English, Indonesian, and Arabic. At the age of seventeen, Seemah married Esrak Mayer Sassoon. He was an optometrist and ran his own business in Surabaya. They have three children, George, Aaron, and Deborah. In 1980 the family left Indonesia and moved to Los Angeles, California. Seemah now has six grandchildren, five boys and one girl. They are very special to Seemah and her husband. Seemah's favorite sports are swimming, badminton, and cycling. She also loves the arts, drawing, flower arrangements, and reading about history.

The New York Times bestselling account of one of history's most brutal—and forgotten—massacres, when the Japanese army destroyed China's capital city on the eve of World War II, "piecing together the abundant eyewitness reports into an undeniable tapestry of horror". (Adam Hochschild, Salon) In December 1937, one of the most horrific atrocities in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking (what was then the capital of China), and within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered. In this seminal work, Iris Chang, whose own grandparents barely escaped the massacre, tells this history from three perspectives: that of the Japanese soldiers, that of the Chinese, and that of a group of Westerners who refused to abandon the city and created a safety zone, which saved almost 300,000 Chinese. Drawing on extensive interviews with survivors and documents brought to light for the first time, Iris Chang's classic book is the definitive history of this horrifying episode.

If someone who is rich and powerful comes to you for a favor, you don't persecute him -- you help him. Having such a person indebted to you is a great insurance policy. There was one nation that did treat the Jews as if they were powerful and rich. The Japanese never had much exposure to Jews, and knew very little about them. In 1919 Japan fought alongside the anti-Semitic White Russians against the Communists. At that time the White Russians introduced the Japanese to the book, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion". The Japanese studied the book and, according to all accounts, naively believed its propaganda. Their reaction was immediate and forceful -- they formulated a plan to encourage Jewish settlement and investment into Manchuria. People with such wealth and power as the Jews possess, the Japanese determined, are exactly the type of people with whom we want to do business! The Japanese called their plan for Jewish settlement "The Fugu Plan". The fugu is a highly poisonous blowfish. After the toxin-containing organs are painstakingly removed, it is used as a food in Japan, and is considered an exquisite delicacy. If it is not prepared carefully, however, its poison can kill a person. The Japanese saw the Jews as a nation with highly valuable potential, but, as with the fugu, in order to take advantage of that potential, they had to be extremely careful. Otherwise, the Japanese thought, the plan would backfire and the Jews would annihilate Japan with their awesome power. The Japanese were allies of the Nazis, yet they allowed thousands of European refugees -- including the entire Mirrer Yeshivah -- to enter Shanghai and Kobe during World War II. They welcomed these Jews into their country, not because they bore any great love for the Jews, but because they believed that Jews had access to enormous resources and amazingly influential power, which could greatly benefit Japan. If anti-Semites truly believe that Jews rule the world, why don't they all relate to Jews like the Japanese did? The fact that Jews are generally treated as outcasts proves that people do not really believe that Jews are anywhere near as wealthy or powerful as they claim. It proves that anti-Semites do not take their own propaganda seriously.