Here's a controversial question about WW2?

Question

I am not asking to incite hatred but I am curious as to know why the massacre of Nanking isn't acknowledged on the same scales as the Holocaust in Germany. In Europe it's a criminal offence to deny the Holocaust happened. Many victims and their families have received apologies, reparations and compensation not only from Germany but also from the companies who profited from slave labour at the time. But many victims of Nanking haven't received anything. I read somewhere that this particular part of history isn't even mentioned in some of the history books in Japan. Is that the case? Also what does today’s generation of Far East Asians think about the situation?

Shermynewstart, what do you mean by my group? Yes there are loads of atrocities that have been carried out throughout history there is no denying that. But I am asking about this one in particular?

Also I never mentioned anything about Jews I said victims if the Holocaust including everyone who was killed there.

Answer 1

I have read that Japan has generally been far less willing to discuss its actions in WWII than Germany has been.

Answer 2

The question is a worthwhile one, and I think the answer concerns our expectations of other ethnic/national groups.

It is regarded as more shocking that the Germans should have behavied with such barbarity because we see the Germans as belonging to the same civilisation as ourselves (we are Anglo-Saxons, after all).

We simply do not make the same assumptions of civilised values about the Russians or indeed the Japanese, and are far happier with the idea that they might be nothing more than a bunch of savages.

There are other factors; that of distance: China is simply much further away, and, as already been mentioned, the rapid inclusion of Japan into the American family of nations.

However, the Chinese do often draw attention to Nanking. Indeed the omission of the the massacre from Japanese shool text books recently was a cause of diplomatic controverst between the two states.

Answer 3

That is not controversial, it is a fact that is denied by a Majority either out of ignorance or out of disinformation. Bad things happened and will happen again. The scale of the bad is not what we are taught to notice.We are taught to notice whatever the people that now have control want us to notice. If it is in the interests of a person to know, but it is not in the interests of the Ruling Party for the information to be known, people will not know. And some that do, will deny it ever happened. There are people today that will deny there parents were involved with the Hiroshima Bombing, but it took more than 9000 people to Research,Develop,Build and Deliver that bomb. And lest we forget, there were two that were dropped on Japan.
How many Japanes fathers and mothers tell there children about the murder and the rape that they did in Nanking? How many fathers and mothers tell there children about the German Invasion of anyplace?
The killing of people is bad, the killing of bad people is good. Where is that line drawn and who does the killing, Humans do.
We are all to accoutanble. When will it stop, when Humans do. Puzzles are FUN!
Look busy.

Answer 4

I think it is just a matter of scale. While the "rape of Nanking" was a horrible event, it was not on the scale of the Holocaust. The best estimates I have seen put the number of killed at around 50,000 during the "rape of Nanking", while the Holocaust killed 6 million Jews.

World War II was full of atrocities. Many get overlooked because the largest ones tend to get all the attention.

Answer 5

Excellent point! You should also look at the slaughter in the area around the USSr's western front. Germany lost so nobody refers to it. The slaughter of the Jewish people by the NAzi's should be remembered but the Rape of NAnking should also be remembered. Part of it was because it did not involve the US, Britain or the USSR. Most history books in the West cover the parts of the war that took place after the western powers were engaged or athat involved those powers.

Answer 6

The Japanese have never apologised fot the atrocities they did at Nanking or for what they did in Malaya and Singapore.
they teach their children nothing about the warcrimes the caused and the treatment of prisoners of war they were animals during the second world war.
they did not recognize the Geneva convention and therefore it gave them carte blache to commit atrocities but we know .
just a small fact during the first world war they were enemys of Germany and they treated the German p.o.w s excellently so what changed in 30 years or so funny that

Answer 7

I think, but am not sure, that it has more to do with coverage at the time the event was uncovered. Our troops liberated the German camps. At that point there was no hiding the bodies. Nanking was covered up fairly well by the Japanese. In many way the atrocities committed by the Japanese during the war were successfully covered up.

Answer 8

You're not the only group which has been unfairly treated by US history. You started with the Holocaust, so will I. Lots of people besides Jews were slaughtered. Gypsies, etc,even Germans who didn't agree. Then there is the genocide in Africa. How about the needless killing going on right now in Iraq? And let's not forget our own native Americans who were slaughtered for their land after MANY broken treaties. Feel better?

Answer 9

When Japan surrendered to American forces, it instantly became a part of America, US changed japan to western style thinking, to trade amongst the Elite powers of the world. If it was made public at the time, Japan would not be so well developed. Money and Power are the difference between oppressed knowledge and open knowledge.
Thank You, I'm here all week ;)

Answer 10

I guess that since this atrocity involved China and Japan and not the US or Europe, It wasn't focused on in History of WW2 . I would think that the Japanese would apologize. Culturally, the Japanese seem to be perfectionists and don't readily admit to mistakes, even committing suicide to preserve their honor. Hopefully, as their culture has progressed, they would re-think what honor should be and apologize. The same applies to the US for it's treatment of Native Americans and Black people of this country if only to show that we can be a culture with honor.

Answer 11

politics - while rape of nanking was in then national-China, it is now communist China. In China, it is very offensive to deny existence of Nanking. You can see the resentment of Japan whenever China's baseball team go to Japan or Japan visiting or wahtever. The chinese government has asked Japan to do a formal apology, I am not sure if it has happened yet.