Japanese lady didn't know about ww2

Now that you mention it, I don't think I was ever taught WWII in school either. I remember one unit on Chinese and German history. The German history stopped in 1939 or thereabouts, and never went onto WWII... Most of what I know of WWII comes from documentary-films.

 

And I'm older than you by a bit, I see and the same is true of my educational experience. I took time off between high school and college to work full-time for several years, and by the time I got into college I was the oldest person in the day classes, except for some of the grad students. Imagine my amazement when, as a history prof approached the topic of "The 60s" and asked what it meant to everyone in class, I was the only one to respond. The prof then asked for a show of hands as he called out birth years, and I was the only one there born before 1960 -- and not by a little Did I feel old! LOL!

Someone has now mentioned the differences in current attitude/response between younger generations of Japanese and Germans, i.e., that the younger Germans seem to be going out of their way to apologize for WWII while the younger Japanese seem to know little if anything about it. IMHO, there are at least a couple of big differences between the two countries -- first, the US occupied Japan for quite a while following their surrender, so there's probably a general feeling (among the people living at that time) that they paid their dues (as it were) by being the good occupied country. Also, avoiding unpleasantness is a big part of the Japanese culture -- and probably a welcome part to those who would prefer to forget about WWII altogether -- and get to decide what goes into history books and what does not. I have not met a Japanese person who would out-and-out say, "so-and-so was wrong" -- that kind of talk is reserved for very private conversation.

Germany was not occupied, post-war, by the victor(s) -- it didn't need to be. It is not, like Japan, physically isolated; the pressures to "keep their noses clean" this time came from very close quarters, all around. The Nurnberg Trials lasted for four years, so the German people were subjected to shame on a worldwide scale during that time. Second, culturally, Germany is much closer to other First World countries insofar as having the ability to look back and give voice to the opinion that what went before was wrong.

 

For what it's worth, I'm taking a unit in second-semester university this year called "Australia in the Two World Wars".

I wonder what it will be like. I picked the unit because I've been looking for some WW units to study for a long time, and this was the only one I could find.

 

The problem with learning any history in school is they teach you (what I consider) to be the boring stuff such as politics and hows and why's noting really about specifications of units and battle formations and so on, so if it dones turn out like that just let us know

 

It is the how and why by all countries, combined with a telling of incidents of villainy and heroism which educate those willing to listen, so that our populations don't become like the lady who knew nothing about the Second World War or the actions of the Japanese. More importantly, it is also about ensuring that each generation knows what to monitor in their own and other country's political behaviours which appear to be following dangerous paths; hopefully, citizens then speak up to their own politicians to decry it.

The specifics of tactics tends to be more of a specified study, most likely taught at military colleges. Or learnt through self-study and interacting with individuals like the many on this forum who have acquired expertise in historical tactics (and I suspect in many cases, applying their own military education to those same tactics).

By the way, I'm glad this thread was started. It's been educational!

Shangas, please share what you learn. I know a little about Australia's military history, but not enough; too much has been learned ancillary to British or general Commonwealth history or from movies or novels.

Michelle

 

Please keep in mind, I did say SECOND semester. And that's at least four or five months away. So it will be a long wait. And yeah Tom, you're right, but I'm HOPING that this will include something a little more interesting. The thing that interests me about WWI & WWII is mostly the civilian aspects of the wars, more than the actual military aspects, although they're also extremely fascinating.

 

Don't misunderstand me I think that politics and the theory behind ww2 is very important to any new generation because as you said we need to know these things to try and 'better' ourselves and increase not only awarness amongst the generations but also the ablilty to see these probelms and defuse them before they esculate in world wars. I just think that if we try and teach students not only about politics but about what these soldiers went through and not just our own countries for eg. I was taught in school that a Nazis is a german, which as we all know is not true, not every German is a nazi I learned otherwise through my own research.

Also what troubles the soldiers faced such as the power of propaganda or the power if which one country holds over another such as puppet nations. Or maybe something like this forum, this forum is full of infmormation about everthing about ww2 from politics, what if's to general discussions and even has veterans from the war, imagine a school child being able to log on somewhere like here to read and learn and ask questions to these answers which arn't explained in school.

 

Since we're all here and talking about this, I'd like to know something...

One of my high school history teachers told me that in Germany, it's customary for teachers to take their students on excursions to Auschwitz and tell them about the history of the Second World War and the holocaust to shock them into making sure such atrocities never happen again.

Is this true?

 

Babs, the victors occupied Germany during reconstruction. The Allies governed Germany through four occupation zones, one for each of the Four Powers: United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The Britain and US zones were merged into one economic area, the Bizone in 1947. The US Army continued to provide an occupation force until 1955. My father was stationed in Wurzburg from 46-49 and my cousin shortly after.

 

That sounds a little drastic...


Shangas, I know a few books that might interest you. The course i mentioned i took (Interwar Germany, 1919 - 1939) my last semester was very interesting and focused on civilian life in interwar germany along with the politics of the era.

We talked about the role of Women, Culture, etc in interwar germany and how it gradually changed, esp once Hitler took power.

 

I have a wall map of the occupation zones c. 1950s. My father was with the 4ATAF based in Trier in the mid-50s.

I could tell you the exact date if I didn't have everything in our office packed while we revise it to accommodate my burgeoning WWII material!

Michelle

 

Duce, I must respectfully disagree. I beleive the US education system is based on what the teachers are willing to teach. Most teachers I grew up with wouldn't tuch upon subjects they themselves where not familiar with. When I was in grade 7 I had a teacher who's brother had been shot by some drunken Nazi officers when he lived in Italy. It was then we started to learn about WWII. And as a Freshman in high school my history teachers father served during D-day. He even came in and gave a speech about what Utah beach was like when he landed. Granted only major points in the war were taught. Midway, Manhatten Project, D-day, Battle of the Bulge. Nothing before America joined the war.

 

So very true my friend, and so are the looks you get from your classmates when you know every Question.
I remember last year, whenever the teacher asked a question he always had to say, "does anyone besides Joe know the answer?"
I got a few laughs out of that!

Although all we ever learned about WW2 was how it started, Dunkirk and the battle of Britain, then Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Teacher's excuse was we didn't have enough time.

 

That, unfortunately, is probably the usual reason given. Today's educational system has to tackle a lot and can only give a little of what there is to learn. Hopefully, the teacher's are able to engender enough interest and curiousity that other young people will do some reading and researching on their own.

Mcihelle

 

And I'm back.

We studied the Holocaust and Japanese-American Internment in high school (USA school). But nothing beyond that in terms of World War Two.

It irks me that, though we studied those two, we didn't study comfort women or Japanese Scorched Earth policies.

 

Ha Ha Joe, that's funny !!

I'm sure many here have made many a Professor, Teaching Assistant, or Teacher run for cover after opening up a discussion on World War II, or Western Civilization.

They change the subject real fast, or say there's no time to discuss in depth.

Kinda like a "Stuart" busting through a hedgerow and coming face to face with a "Tiger" (looking a different direction).

"Find REVERSE Fred, get us the %#$@ outta here !!"

PC at its ugliest.....forget the past......if it doesn't have "RAINBOWS"

 

Ah yes, the French Zone. The French had also occupied Trier from the end of WWI through 1930. Interesting about the wall map. How were you able to acquire it?

 

I inherited it from my Dad. Until your post I never looked to see that Trier was in the French Zone. When I found it after my parent had both passed away, I learned that Austria had also been divided amongst the US, British, French, and Russians. Teachers always focused on Germany and missed that aspect of post World War education.

The map only has the following in the right corner re the printer:

"Printed by USAREUR. ENGR. INTEL. Center 2983 1 54"

Michelle

 

Ive always thought that our history teachers were woefully ignorant when it came to our countries history. Seriously; One time I got suspended for telling my teacher she was full of "it" (only I didn't abbreviate). When my father showed up for the conference, he asked me why I told her she was full of "it"
I replied that she had told me I was mistaken, that the Union Army (This is 100% true) had NEVER burnt Atlanta to the ground. Honestly, she truly did not know about the burning of Atlanta, and we live in North Carolina!

Thats one of the reasons I am on this forum, and one of the reasons I started a library of WWII books, so that some day when my boys are older, I wont have to worry about some inept teacher 5 months out of college, gleaning over the Bataan Death March, Oradour-Sur-Glane or the Remagen bridge, because she doesn't know anything about it. I want my boys to know that their Great Uncle helped hold the line in the Ardennes, way before the 101 showed up on the scene and got into movies and TV, you know?

Ummmm, sorry about the mini rant guys! Its a current pet peeve of mine; I recently had to have dinner with my Parents, sister and Brother in law, and as is custom, my dad and I discussed history, My brother in Law (the pot smoking, hippy intellect that he is) piped in; "Yeah, what was the deal with the Battle of the Bulge? Didnt the Germans realize you never fight the Russians in winter??.....Anyway, apologies for the rant.