Japanese atrocities in WW2

What separates the Japanese and German atrocities is that like what KJ Jr mentioned, it was very "bureaucratic," and very systematic. The killing and persecution was systematically organized and became a part of the state's policy. There were camps, railroads, government offices, etc. that acted as a part of this large 'system' that was fueled by anger and hatred towards a specific people, primarily the Jews. That is another things that separates the Japanese and German atrocities. The Germans persecutions and killings were fueled by a very deep hatred for people who they believed did not fit in with their society and were 'degenerate human beings.'
The Japanese on the other hand didn't make it a systematic and 'bureaucratic' policy to kill people. It wasn't a major part of their policy. There were little to no government offices designed to carry out these killings as there were in the Nazi government. And they didn't necessarily focus their killings on a specific people. They committed their atrocities against anyone whom they conquered if the opportunity was available as well if they were given the orders to from the military. And as bronk mentioned, they didn't necessarily have the infrastructure that the Germans had access to.
That's why we seem to focus more on the German atrocities rather than the Japanese. Because the Germans were able to make the killings and persecution a part of the Nazi government's policy and structure. The Germans were able to make the killings and persecution practically a large scale organization.

 

Well the Japanese did evidence a significant lack of respect of human life of any sort. The contest between two Japanese officers to see who could kill the most with a sword was widely reported in the Japanese press and I'm haven't heard of any condemnations of it from those sources nor were the officers penalized at all from what I recall reading.

 

The Japanese were probably more savage and barbaric in their cruelty and atrocities. The rape of Nanking and Unit 731 were brutal. Even the Nazis tried to step in and slow down the Nanking massacre.

 

7904
I think it was Richard Franke, in his work 'Downfall'? who stated that the Pacific War was costing the lives of 10,000 humans A DAY in August 1945.

Mainly probably Chinese, but a human is a human and goes into the total. Also of course LOTS of "innocent civilians" in Japan, mainly again mothers and babies.

JMO


john

 

It's easy to get caught up in the Japanese or German atrocities debate. One can say that a government who systematically killed millions as more barbaric.
However the Japanese had an archaic violent bloodlust. Regardless of the comparisons, this generation endured some of the most evil regimes in history.

 

The Japanese wanted to systematically kill millions of Asians on the main continent in order to conquer their resources and people as slave labor, and to make room for their "Master Asian Race."

 

This is one atrocity that I need information about. The Japanese did several attacks against Hospital ships which is against the Hague Conventions. One was the Australian hospital ship AHS Centaur that killed 268 people including 11 of 12 nurses on board. The Australians claim their ship followed the rules of the conventions, their ship was painted white and adorned with Red Crosses. Survivors in the water told that they saw a Japanese submarine running on the surface, but the exact culprit of the attack was never identified, and the Japanese government denied responsibility.

In another attack on the USS Comfort off Okinawa, On 29 April 1945 a suicide plane strafed the ship then plunged into the ship killed 28 people, including six nurses.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm curious to know if the Japanese attacked any other hospital ships.

 

One of the problems of war is that we in hind site try and analyze war with logic. War generally is not logical. In bombing raids, I am sure that US and British bombers attacked/destroyed hospitals during raids on cities even in inadvertent. Artillery I would imagine hit hospitals in Dusseldorf. The city was a shambles. Japanese suicide attacks late in the war weren't always done with skilled experienced pilots. The Soviets had issues feeding their own civilians in war zones. I do know that in areas that POWs gave food to starving civilian children. I've met some of the children as elderly adults. Japanese soldiers often didn't have enough food for themselves. Japan had a plan. Their plan largely was not to provide assistance. Not planning is basically death.

One should read about 101st Airborne WW2 hero Julian Ewell in Vietnam and operation Speedy Express. Reasonable estimates are that 7k of the 11k "casualties" were civilians. He was ruthless in dismissing subordinates who didn't kill about anything that moved. As a child I can very much remember hearing vets talk about the sub human Vietnamese. Rape by US soldiers was rampant.

No Gun Ri in Korea. Korea was a bloody mess. Often missing is an analysis of the traumatized (killing in general) and injured brain (concussions) on impulse control.

That is completely different than statistics on US black soldiers and the death penalty and that of white for rape in France.

Even at Camp Dodge in Des Moines, 3 black soldiers were executed in 1918 for rape. The guys very well may have been guilty. They were executed because they were black. What is especially disturbing is reading news accounts and court proceedings.

War is brutal. Soviet atrocities are well documented. Some of my best friends today are former Soviet officers. I would imagine they would be quite different today had they served in combat in Afghanistan.

 

At least one US sub torpedoed a hospital ship. It turned out that the ship wasn't where it was suppose to be and may not have been marked properly and the sub fired on a radar bearing at night I believe. The skipper got in a fair amount of trouble but none of that would come to one attention if you just looked for attacks on hospital ships. The Japanese attacks may have been deliberate or not but I suggest looking closer at the incidents before forming conclusions. Along similar lines I have heard it said that they deliberately targeted medics but I have not seen any definitive sources to support it.

 

Agreed, but the methods differed. Regardless of the method, the intent was there.

 

I believe the ship you were referring to is the [SIZE=25.2px]USS Queenfish (SS-393) captained by Commander [/SIZE] Loughlin and they sank the Awa Maru after it had offloaded the mercy supplies and was travelling in fog without using its fog horn. Loughlin was removed from command, court-martialled, and found guilty of negligence and given a Letter of Admonition, but that didn't prevent him from obtaining flag ranking later in his carerr.

There was another case where the Bueno Aires Maru was attacked by a B-24 Liberator. A bomb hit its port side and it sank in forty minutes. There is one report stating that the bomber circled back and machine gunned the lifeboats.

A third Japanese hospital ship, TACHIBANA MARU, was intercepted by American destroyers USS CHARRETTE and USS CONNER. Before boarding the ship, the Americans saw sailors throwing weighted bags over the side. A boarding party, with a medical officer, went onboard and inspected the ship. There were many patients that were deemed to be in good health, but the search found mortar, machine gun, and small arms ammunition in Red Cross boxes and labeled as 'medical supplies'. This being a clear violation of the conventions, a Marine guard and a prize crew were placed on board and the Tachibana Maru was escorted to Philippines where 30 tons of ammunition was off loaded.

 

I believe that was indeed the case I'm thinking about. I believe the captain was exonerated after the war due to a number of facts about the case surfacing including:
1) The Japanese had given us the course and timing of the ships journey but it wasn't adhering to said course and timing.
2) Some or all of the info didn't make it to the Quueenfish at least in a timely manner.
3) The Japanese ship was carrying military supplies and personnel which removed its protected status.

 

First off, the Awa Maru never was a hospital ship. She was given free passage to carry Red Cross parcels for Allied POWs from the Soviet Union to various Japanese held territories.

With regards to...
1) AFAIK, the Awa Maru was operating according to her course and schedule. After all, she had been given free passage to transport her goods, so deviation from course and schedule would be a very unwise move.

2) The info did make it too the USS Queenfish in a timely fashion. However, the initial message/s with the Awa Maru's saling route and times was never shown to Captain Loughlin. The final message to give Awa Maru free passage between March 30th and April4th. However, it was directed to all submarines, so Loughlin did not give it more than passing attention.

3) If the Awa Maru had been a hospital ship, then you would be correct. However, this instance is special...The Awa Maru's free passage had been guaranteed by the United States because she was carrying Red Cross packages for Allied POWs being held by the Japanese. That the Japanese used a ship capable of carrying some 11,000 tons of cargo to haul some 2,000 tons of Red Cross supplies is simply a benefit for them - it does not make null and void the US guarantee of safe passage - As the Awa Maru was diligently carrying out delivering the Red Cross parcels to her various destinations.

 

According to the one survivor of the Awa Maru, they had deposited their relief supplies in Singapore and took on cargo of rubber and nickel, and there is a story that she also took on gold, diamonds, and other stolen valuables. The there were passengers of stranded merchant officers, military personnel and diplomats. There were no other relief supplies on board where the Awa Maru was sunk, at least according to the one survivor.

 

Perhaps I was unclear in my earlier response. The Awa Maru was guaranteed safe passage throughout her entire route - leaving Japan for the Soviet Union, from the SU to her various port destinations and back to Japan, not just while she was carrying the Red Cross parcels. She was in the process of returning to Japan when she was sunk, hence the US guarantee of safe passage was still in force.

Whatever additional cargo or passengers she was carrying or picked up along the way is immaterial, and in no way, shape, or form, voids the US guarantee of safe passage.

You left out the fossilized remains of the "Peking Man."

The diamonds and stolen valuables is a story. That she was sunk with the gold on board is a story. That the Awa Maru did carry gold on this journey...Well, that is another matter.

The Awa Maru carried Japanese bullion destined for her "allies" and conquered territories because Japanese paper money was becoming quite worthless. As such, they became increasingly adamant about fees being paid, partially or in full, with gold. The safe passage guarantee was seen as the most effective way of delivering this gold, and so it was done. The first Red Cross parcel carrying ship, the Hoshi Maru, carried some 15 tons of gold which was delivered to Shanghai - She was not sunk on the journey, so history ignores her presence. The second ship, Awa Maru, carried some 10 tons of gold, and was to be offloaded at Saigon. However, the Japanese figured that the French authorities would not be able to keep the gold delivery secret. So, the decision was made to offload the gold at Singapore for overland transport to Bangkok - where, I should add, it did safely arrive.

All of this was confirmed by US codebreakers working on the Japanese diplomatic traffic. Unfortunately, the Chinese communist government(which did salvage the Awa Maru), nor the various treasure hunters(which attempted to salvage the Awa Maru) were privy to this information.

 

Interesting. Thanks for the additional and correcting information.

 

As I remember about the Awa Maru, a fortune was spent trying to explore and salvage the wreck for what was thought to be a fortune in stolen gold, diamonds and other valuables looted from Japanese conquests. The Peking Man was also thought to be on board, but they never found it. When the ship was positively identified, they only salvaged run and tin from the hull along with personal items that were returned to Japan.

There was a documentary made about a submarine that was lost on the way to Germany thought to be carrying a load of gold and other valuables in exchange for German technology such as radar and jet engines, but it was sunk by Allied aircraft. That wreck was also located and explored. They found rubber and tin and metal blocks, but no gold.

 

Yes, The People's Republic of China spent a fortune, estimated to be about $100 million, for their secret and then open salvage effort, and a group of Western salvagers, not knowing of the ongoing Chinese salvage effort, tried to raise another fourtune to salvage the Awa Maru.

What neither party knew was that the Americans had tracked the Awa Maru gold via Ultra & Magic code intercepts from it's leaving Japan to it's safe arrival in Singapore, and then to it's final destination in Bangkok.
https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/cryptologic_spectrum/sinkingawa_maru.pdf

I-52. Paul Tidwell found the submarine and did some salvage, then was supposed to have returned to the wreck in the mid-2000s, but IIRC, the funding fell through. So the two tons of gold is still sitting on the ocean floor some 17,000 feet down.
Mr. Tidwell's website: http://www.i-52.com/