Chiune Sugihara and Japan's Foreign Ministry, Between Incompetence and Culpability

Chiune Sugihara and Japan's Foreign Ministry, Between Incompetence and Culpability

Author: Seishirō Sugihara

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 9780761819714

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

When the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany partitioned Poland in September of 1939, thousands of Jews fled Poland into Lithuania and fled across the USSR to Japan. With the help of Jan Zwartendijk, acting Dutch consul, and Chiune Sugihara, Japan's vice consul in Lithuania, the refugees obtained documents for their perilous escape from Nazi persecution. From Japan, many refugees moved on to Dutch-controlled Curacao or other final destinations. Decades after the war, and one year before his death in 1986, Sugihara was finally honored by Israel with the "Righteous Among the Nations" Award for the help he gave to the Jews in 1940. He also received the Raoul Wallenburg Award posthumously in 1990. However, in Japan little was known about Sugihara's heroic actions for more than five decades. The author, Seishiro Sugihara (no relation to Chiune), reveals a pattern of deception and obfuscation by Japan's foreign ministry to obstruct recognition of Sugihara's philanthropy. The Sugihara episode, the author contends, is only one in a long line of scandalous cover-ups which have plagued the Ministry, including its ill-fated Twenty-One Demands upon Nationalist China in 1915; and more infamously the failure of its Washington Embassy to follow orders and deliver the "declaration of war" on December 7, 1941 which resulted in the Pearl Harbor operation being stigmatized as a "sneak attack." His book is the first to demonstrate that, while Japan's military was abolished during the Occupation, the Foreign Ministry secured its own future at the expense of Japan and the Japanese people, and deliberately and systematically placed Sugihara's act of kindness beyond public scrutiny.


Bridging the Atomic Divide

Bridging the Atomic Divide

Author: Harry J. Wray

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2018-11-29

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 1498593224

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Harry Wray and Seishiro Sugihara transcend the one-sided Tokyo Trial view of the war in an effort to conduct a balanced exchange on historical perception. This will be of interest equally to both those inside and outside Japan who are perplexed by Japan’s “victimization consciousness.” Through this impassioned and heartfelt dialogue, Wray challenges theories embraced by some Japanese who believe that the US simply “used the atomic bombings to make the Soviet Union manageable in the Cold War,” as alleged by the Hiroshima Peace Museum and in Japanese school history textbooks. They ask why it is the Japanese people don’t recognize how the atomic bombings not only spared the further sacrifice of American and Japanese lives by accelerating the end of the war, but also prevented a wide-scale Soviet invasion of the Japanese mainland, had the war continued into the latter half of 1945. While early censorship of writings about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both outright and self-imposed, continued through the Occupation, Sugihara proposes that, long after the Americans had packed up and gone home, the Foreign Ministry established and nurtured a postwar paradigm which rendered open and critical discussion of war-related issues, such as Pearl Harbor and the atomic bombings, impossible for the Japanese public. It is no wonder then that Japanese attitudes towards the atomic bombings remain mired in victimization myths. Uniquely, Wray and Sugihara attempt to persuade the Japanese to reexamine their attitudes to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to show that the atomic bombings, perversely, brought a swift end to the war and helped Japan escape the act of partition which afflicted postwar Germany and remains an intractable problem in a divided Korea.


Between Incompetence and Culpability

Between Incompetence and Culpability

Author: Seishirō Sugihara

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780761807780

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This study of the Pearl Harbor attack clarifies the debate in two important ways: first, it definitively exposes who delayed Japan's notice of war to the United States, a serious blunder which stigmatized Japan for launching a premeditated "sneak attack", and second, it examines how the Foreign Ministry has dealt with this blunder from the immediate postwar period to the present. Sugihara's aim in both instances is to reevaluate just how costly this error by the Foreign Ministry has been for Japan, and to show how its cover-up and mishandling have distorted postwar Japanese diplomacy.Sugihara demonstrates how the protracted cover-up of the bungled war notice to the United States has severely distorted the way Japan understands its recent past. Deeply concerned with the Ministry's continuing lack of apology to the United States (and the Japanese public) for causing the "sneak attack", he presents its misguided handling of several war-related issues, such as its role in the portrayal of the Nanking Incident in high school textbooks, and its treatment of ministerial visits to Yasukuni Shrine. While due credit is given for the Ministry's overdue attempt in November 1994 to address this shameful episode, the author suggests future directions for Japanese diplomacy and delivers a strong moral message about diplomacy and justice.Significantly, Sugihara's is the only extensive analysis in English that exploits newly-declassified documents concerning the suppressed 1946 internal Foreign Ministry investigation of the blunder. Under mounting public pressure, the Ministry in November 1994 made these materials public, and they reveal for the first time precisely when Ministry officials determined whose negligence had caused the delay at Japan's Washington embassy. Critically, the author shows that the ultimate blame for the drawn-out concealment of these documents lies with former prime minister Shigeru Yoshida, whose shameless protection of Katsuzo Okumura and Sadao Iguchi, the embassy officials responsible for


World War II [5 volumes] [5 volumes]

World War II [5 volumes] [5 volumes]

Author: Spencer C. Tucker

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2005-02-23

Total Pages: 1860

ISBN-13: 1851098585

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Designed with the more visual needs of today's student in mind, this landmark encyclopedia covers the entire scope of the Second World War, from its earliest roots to its continuing impact on global politics and human society. Over 1,000 illustrations, maps, and primary source materials enhance the text and make history come alive for students and faculty alike. ABC-CLIO's World War II: A Student Encyclopedia captures the monumental sweep of the "Big One" with accessible scholarship, a student-friendly, image-rich design, and a variety of tools specifically crafted for the novice researcher. For teachers and curriculum specialists, it is a thoroughly contemporary and authoritative work with everything they need to enrich their syllabi and meet state and national standards. Ranging from the conflict's historic origins to VJ Day and beyond, it brings all aspects of the war vividly to life—its origins in the rubble of World War I, its inevitable outbreak, its succession of tumultuous battles and unforgettable personalities. Students will understand what the war meant to the leaders, the soldiers, and everyday families on home fronts around the world. Featured essays look at Pearl Harbor, the Holocaust, the atomic bomb, and other crucial events, as well as fascinating topics such as signals intelligence and the role of women in war. A separate primary source volume provides essential source material for homework, test preparation or special projects. With a wealth of new information and new ideas about the war's causes, course, and consequences, World War II will be the first place students turn for the who, what, when, where, and—more importantly—the why, behind this historic conflict.


2002

2002

Author: Susan Sarah Cohen

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-11-30

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 3110944170

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This work includes international secondary literature on anti-Semitism published throughout the world, from the earliest times to the present. It lists books, dissertations, and articles from periodicals and collections from a diverse range of disciplines. Written accounts are included among the recorded titles, as are manifestations of anti-Semitism in the visual arts (e.g. painting, caricatures or film), action taken against Jews and Judaism by discriminating judiciaries, pogroms, massacres and the systematic extermination during the Nazi period. The bibliography also covers works dealing with philo-Semitism or Jewish reactions to anti-Semitism and Jewish self-hate. An informative abstract in English is provided for each entry, and Hebrew titles are provided with English translations.


Shelter from the Holocaust

Shelter from the Holocaust

Author: Mark Edele

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 2017-12-04

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 081434268X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This pioneering volume will interest scholars of eastern European history and Holocaust studies, as well as those with an interest in refugee and migration issues.


The Holocaust

The Holocaust

Author: Paul R. Bartrop

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2024-05-30

Total Pages: 571

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From genocidal campaigns to careful neutrality to valiant lifesaving efforts, every country's experience of the Holocaust was different during and immediately following World War II. This book profiles 50 nations and territories from around the globe, examining how prewar conditions and attitudes toward Jews influenced the trajectory of that place's wartime experience and its role in the Holocaust. It also explores the aftermath and lasting impact of the Holocaust in these places. Each profile begins with a collection of at-a-glance facts about population, government leaders, wartime status, and more. All profiles begin with a brief introduction, followed by information about the Jewish population in that place, the prewar environment, wartime experiences, and the aftermath of the Holocaust. This standardized format makes it easy for readers to find specific information while also helping them place events within the proper historical context. A curated selection of further readings at the end of each profile and an end-of-volume list of books and Internet resources point readers toward materials for additional study. While often conceptualized as a single event that happened the same way across all Axis or Axis-occupied countries, the Holocaust and reactions to it varied widely from country to country. In many cases, political and economic conditions in the prewar years, as well as the degree of anti-Semitism in a nation, influenced that country's experience of the Holocaust. Even after the war, countries experienced the aftermath of the Holocaust in different ways. Some places, such as Palestine, became a beacon for Jewish refugees, while others, such as Brazil, became a hideout for Nazi war criminals.


Contemporary Authors

Contemporary Authors

Author: Lisa Kumar

Publisher: Contemporary Authors

Published: 2004-06

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 9780787667016

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A biographical and bibliographical guide to current writers in all fields including poetry, fiction and nonfiction, journalism, drama, television and movies. Information is provided by the authors themselves or drawn from published interviews, feature stories, book reviews and other materials provided by the authors/publishers.


Modern Genocide [4 volumes]

Modern Genocide [4 volumes]

Author: Paul R. Bartrop

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2014-12-17

Total Pages: 3894

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This massive, four-volume work provides students with a close examination of 10 modern genocides enhanced by documents and introductions that provide additional historical and contemporary context for learning about and understanding these tragic events. Modern Genocide: The Definitive Resource and Document Collection spans nearly 1,700 pages presented in four volumes and includes more than 120 primary source documents, making it ideal for high school and beginning college students studying modern genocide as part of a larger world history curriculum. The coverage for each modern genocide, from Herero to Darfur, begins with an introductory essay that helps students conceptualize the conflict within an international context and enables them to better understand the complex role genocide has played in the modern world. There are hundreds of entries on atrocities, organizations, individuals, and other aspects of genocide, each written to serve as a springboard to meaningful discussion and further research. The coverage of each genocide includes an introductory overview, an explanation of the causes, consequences, perpetrators, victims, and bystanders; the international reaction; a timeline of events; an Analyze section that poses tough questions for readers to consider and provides scholarly, pro-and-con responses to these historical conundrums; and reference entries. This integrated examination of genocides occurring in the modern era not only presents an unprecedented research tool on the subject but also challenges the readers to go back and examine other events historically and, consequently, consider important questions about human society in the present and the future.


The Rise and Fall of Intelligence

The Rise and Fall of Intelligence

Author: Michael Warner

Publisher: Georgetown University Press

Published: 2014-03-20

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 1626160473

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This sweeping history of the development of professional, institutionalized intelligence examines the implications of the fall of the state monopoly on espionage today and beyond. During the Cold War, only the alliances clustered around the two superpowers maintained viable intelligence endeavors, whereas a century ago, many states could aspire to be competitive at these dark arts. Today, larger states have lost their monopoly on intelligence skills and capabilities as technological and sociopolitical changes have made it possible for private organizations and even individuals to unearth secrets and influence global events. Historian Michael Warner addresses the birth of professional intelligence in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century and the subsequent rise of US intelligence during the Cold War. He brings this history up to the present day as intelligence agencies used the struggle against terrorism and the digital revolution to improve capabilities in the 2000s. Throughout, the book examines how states and other entities use intelligence to create, exploit, and protect secret advantages against others, and emphasizes how technological advancement and ideological competition drive intelligence, improving its techniques and creating a need for intelligence and counterintelligence activities to serve and protect policymakers and commanders. The world changes intelligence and intelligence changes the world. This sweeping history of espionage and intelligence will be a welcomed by practitioners, students, and scholars of security studies, international affairs, and intelligence, as well as general audiences interested in the evolution of espionage and technology.