Were the Japanese worse than the Nazis during WWII?

Question

The Japanese military killed, tortured, and experimented on more people than the Nazis during the Holocoust. The Nazis were actually shocked at how terrible the Japanese were. Now, most former Japanese soldiers claim they don't regret what they did. Japan still has not apologized for its actions.

Well most of my information is from Peter N. Stears and Jean-Francois Steiner.

Again, my sources are Peter N. Stears and Jean-Francois Steiner.

So maybe the Japanese didn't kill more than the Nazis, maybe they did. The numbers historians are use vary and are only estimants. Numbers are just one part of the question.

Answer 1

Just for the record, the japs, after the invasion of manchuria and the korean peninsula, would rape torture and kill and were indiscrimanate about it, and deserved about 5 more A bombs dropped on them, and in no way should America ever appologize for using everymeans possible to win a war we did not start.

The reason they preffered death over capture was they believed we would be as brutal as they were when they took over a territory.

Between the Germans and Japanese, it is a close call. Most of the people who have answered have not looked into the Japanese tortures. I know of one person my grandfather knew who had his tounge cut out. others had toe/fingernails ripped right out, others burned and kept just barely alive.

This is the reason the Germans were shocked at the Japanese brutality. Plus the germans viewed the English as cousins they would rather not fight. The Brits and Americans and French held in POW camps were not harmed in most cases unless they were problem prisoners. ( All allied troops in german pow camps were problem prisoners, they were just good at keeping escape attempts from the germans).

Answer 2

I don't think it's possible to say that one or the other was the worst. Both the Nazis and the Japanese committed horrible attrocities, both to combatants and non-combatants alike. I believe that the German government has formally apologised for the actions of the Nazi Party during WWII, while the Japanese government is yet apologise for their actions. Until a few years ago, the full history of WWII was not taught in Japanese schools due to Japan being on the losing side. Many Japanese are horrified when they discover what was done by their countrymen during the war.
It should also be remembered that not all members of the German and Japanese populations committed these acts, and some, both military and civilian, subversively resisted the policies of their government. An example is German Admiral Willem Canaris, head of German Intelligence, who I believe assisted many Jews to avoid captivity in concentration camps.

Answer 3

I think the difference is in who did the bad things, and why they did them.

The outstanding thing, when you talk to surviving POWs (very few left now) or read about them, is that it was ordinary Japanese camp guards who were unbelievably sadistic and brutal to the prisoners, not because of orders from above but because they truly believed that, as Japanese, they had the right to treat them like animals or worse. Nothing like this happened in Germany, where of course there was a certain amount of casual brutality from individual bad characters, but most of the time the prisoners were at least acknowledged to be human beings with human rights.

I still don't understand how Hitler managed to brainwash enough ordinary Germans to staff his extermination camps with people who knew what they were doing and still keep doing it. The Germans themselves are still trying to come to terms with it.

The Japanese have never seen any need to come to terms with the horrible inhumanity of their individual behaviour to POWs. They behaved like Japanese, therefore there is nothing to come to terms with. If they ever get the chance, they will do the same again, because for them there is no other way to behave, but I don't think the Germans will.

Answer 4

In Japanese culture a captured warrior has no rights or protection such as the Geneva convention. The Nazis at least held to some of the rules. The Japanese starved and marched there prisoners to death. You have the Ba tan death march and some other such issues. You also have the Japanese using bio-warfare in China they dropped rats infected with plague on Shanghai. They used local women for comfort rooms{brothels}. I don't know if Japan killed more than the Nazis they did try and kill the whole Jewish race. They were both bad but you have to narrow down the way you want to rate them.

Answer 5

Try to get these two books if you really want to learn
Scourge of the Swastika.
Knight's of Bushido.
Written by Lord Russell of Liverpool, not long after the war

These are not suitable for those faint of heart, but it will show you how the German and Japanese committed atrocities

Answer 6

Yes the Japanese were far worse than the Nazis. The main difference is that the Japanese didn’t put any Jews into camps and force them to work. That is why the Japanese atrocities don’t get as much ink and air time as the things the Nazis are accused of.

Answer 7

Well, you see, they were both bad. But the difference is, that this all goes back into Japanese history and I will sum it up for you in one word: HONOR. It meant everything to them. They did what they did and don't regret it because it was all for the honor of their country and name. Also, when they saw their prisoners of war surrender with no dignity or honor, they felt like these people were worse than dogs with no self-respect and so they saw it as a right to end the dishonorable existance of those surrendering people. They will never take it back, because it is a disgrace on their honor. It would be like going against their country. Unlike the Nazis who did all that bad stuff out of feeling all high and mighty, the Japanese did it for their dignity and honor. And even though you may not understand, that's the jist of it. Hope this helped. ^__^

Answer 8

Japanese atrocities by the army didn't compare to the state-sponsored, high-volume mass genocide by the Germans....at least in the numbers. It's hard to judge a baby swinging on the tip of a Japanese bayonet to women and children gassed to death and burned in ovens like an assembly line. They both seem equally evil to me, but maybe that's just me?

Answer 9

All war crimes are evil. The difference is how it was committed and the attitude taken to correct the mistakes made in the past.

Answer 10

War is ugly and war is cruel. I don't think tickle torture would have been a good interrogation technique.All nations have committed similar acts and continue to do so.They are all equally horrible.