The Axis of Evil have committed horrendous crimes against humanity throughout the course of World War II. Because of these crimes, it makes sense that these nations were severely punished after the war by the victorious Allied Powers. However, these consequences varied in nature due to a myriad of factors pertaining to the different goals of the Allied countries. These differences have led to three distinct reactions from the Axis powers when it comes to their acknowledgement of their crimes. Germany faced a heavy punishment with the Nuremberg Trials, a groundbreaking event in the world of Transitional Justice, and in turn have adopted a very apologetic approach to their crimes. Japan faced punishment as well in the Tokyo Trials, however not to the extent that Germany faced due to some assistance from the US, and have somewhat adopted an apologetic stance, although it is not as encompassing as Germany’s. Italy, because of the US and UK’s fear of communism, was able to hide their crimes and escape widespread prosecution and resentment from the global communities. I want to explore how varied factors have contributed to the consequences faced by the Axis, the actions they have taken since then in order to atone for their crimes, and the global responses to each.
Axis Wartime Crimes
The Second World War, both in its actions and subsequent reactions, was a deeply defining era in the world, especially through the lens of transitional justice. States and scholars have extensively studied the actions of the axis powers, Germany, Japan, and Italy alike to learn from and prevent future actions like this from occurring ever again. Their committing of horrid, never before seen crimes against humankind have left a mark on the world, and we will see how they all acted when the light was shown on this dark era.
Germany’s start of World War 2 can by widely traced to their invasion of Poland in 1939, mobilizing the rest of Europe to react. What followed was years of horrific crimes against humanities in what was simply known as the Holocaust. From 1939 until the Allied victory in 1945, Germany’s Nazi army conducted the systematic torturing and killings of over six million people, the vast majority of whom were Jewish, through its usage of concentration camps.[1] These camps carried out atrocities that still have an impact on the world today, with an example being the horrid human experimentations headed by Nazi doctor and official Josef Mengele, also known as the Angel of Death. In just a single example of his depravity, he would inject the eyes of prisoners, including young children, with various substances such as adrenalin in an attempt to change their eye colors, leading to various people experience blindness and death. “Injections of adrenalin resulted in itching, inflammatory pain, and suppuration of the eyes, and in a number of cases, the subjects lost their sight. Mengele even performed these experiments on newborns. Austrian prisoner Doctor Ella Lingens-Reiner reported the death of a newborn boy in 1944 after Mengele injected a substance into his eyes.”[2]
Japan has also committed various crimes against humanity throughout the course of the war as well. Despite the European front mobilizing in 1939 to combat Germany, it’s stated that the actual start of the war began when Japan invaded China in 1937 (and some put their earlier invasion of the Manchuria region of China in 1931 as the start).[3] From their various crimes, two stand out the most amongst the public, The Nanjing Massacre and the army’s Unit 731. The Nanjing Massacre (also referred to as the Rape of Nanjing) is the name given to Japan’s 1937 invasion of the Chinese city of Nanjing (sometimes stylized as Nanking), in which the Imperial army is reported to have killed 300,000 civilians and raped close to 20,000 women.[4] In addition, Japan also conducted crimes via its infamous Unit 731, where they researched and developed biological weapons. According to researchers, thousands of innocent people experimented on and eventually killed through barbaric means, including freezing, deliberate infections, and plagued bombs.[5]
Italy, despite not having a large-scale event that reaches those grand levels of cruelty exhibited by its partners in evil, have still conducted various crimes against humanity across Europe and Africa. Several examples have been given of the military under Mussolini committed disgusting acts, such as being the burning down of houses, murdering of innocent civilians, and raping of young girls in the Balkans[6], as well as similar massacres and concentration camps in Greece. One such event was the Domenikon Massacre, in which at least 150 men, aged 15 up, were murdered by the occupying Italians as a reaction to a rebel attack in the village. This has also led to a more extreme approach as well from the Italians moving forward, “These places should be subjected with ‘maximum urgency’ to aerial bombardment and heavy artillery fire, to the pillaging of their food supplies (justified as the impositions of ‘heavy fines in food to be distributed to [the] troops’), and to the deportation to concentration camps of the village chiefs and all of the men who made up the community council.” [7] However, despite these crimes and their obvious alliance with the other axis powers, Italy’s crimes have been overlooked, both by the country itself after the war and by the wider global community.
After the Allies emerged victorious in 1945, the question now remained considering the atrocities that were committed throughout the previous half-decade: what next? For Germany, the post-war response has been well documented and the greatest example of a nation transitioning from a brutal regime. It began with the Nuremberg Trials in November of 1945. In it, twenty-four prominent Nazis were held on trial by the newly formed International Military Tribunal (IMT) for the crimes committed by the party throughout the Second World War. After months of trial, twelve members were found guilty and subsequently hanged, while 7 were imprisoned, and 3 were acquitted on the charges.[8] This event was wildly seen as the start of modern-day Transitional Justice, with its use of an international committee to hold members of a former regime accountable for their crimes regardless of former power or national laws. The trials were just one of the ways that Germany faced retribution for their wartime actions, which can be seen as a considerable influence on the steps that they have taken since then to atone for their actions.
Germany: Post-War
One of the most notable features of Germany’s post-war response has been its strong emphasis on apology and restorative measures. In addition to the monetary reparations that were to be paid by all the former Axis powers, as well as the occupation and influence from the Allies immediately following post-war discussions, there was a very hardline approach in its expression of a national guilt of sorts, so much so that the Germans have their own word for it, Vergangenheitsbewältigung, roughly meaning ‘’to overcome the past”.[9] This has encompassed many notable actions throughout the mid-20th century and beyond both in effort to “de-nazify” Germany from within and to mend relations with affected nations and groups. This includes passing legislation that outlawed Nazi imagery and ideological support[10], creating memorials to honor the victims of the holocaust, and profusely apologizing and accepting national blame in an effort to learn from the past and regain trust from the international community. This continuous effort has been groundbreaking in the sphere of transitional justice measures. Germany has made extensive use of tools such as reparations, both material and symbolic, along with an intense focus on educational resources and preventative measures to eliminate, or at least reduce, the risk of regression.
Japan: Post-War
Japan’s war related responses have also been topic of many debates throughout the decades, however not for the reasons that Germany’s was. While Germany accepted full responsibility for their crimes and have gone all-out to atone for them, Japan took a more controversial approach when it came time to them. One of the biggest controversies seen regarding the post-war response starts with Japan’s lax (relative to Germany) punishment at the hands of the Allies. When it came time to punish the captured scientists of Unit 731, one may assume the trial to go similarly to those in Nuremberg, a fair assessment in transitional justice. However, the United States conducted a backdoor deal with captured scientists, allowing them to escape prosecution in exchange for the data gained from their human experimentation. For comparison, the Soviet Union held trials in Khabarovsk in which they sentenced twelve captured scientists to years of hard labor, leading the US to refer to the trials and testimonies regarding Unit 731 as propaganda. [11]
Like Germany, they have issued many formal apologies over the years across multiple governments to countries affected by their crimes. These formal apologies seem to follow the same framework that Germany has, with promises of reparations with nations and claims of non-regression. However, some apologies have come under fire for several reasons, including but not limited to certain vocabulary used that may suggest lack of full accountability for some parties, and a lack of nationwide shame similar to that of Germany.[12] In addition, there is quite a wide sentiment of denial amongst prominent members of the Japanese government, as well as its society at large.[13] When it comes to the methods used by Japan in regards to transitional justice, the reception seems mixed. There have absolutely been steps taken to ensure a sense of remorse and promises made, and kept, to ensure non-repetition of these atrocities. However, the global debate surrounding the culture of denial among members of Japanese society, as well as a lack of symbolic measures such as memorials and educational materials have made it difficult to consider this as a runaway success in this field. One such example that even seeps into the 21st century is the controversy over an attempt for Japanese textbooks to omit the war crimes committed by the army during the war. Despite most textbooks in the 90’s referencing various crimes committed in the war, like Unit 731, Nanjing, comfort women and more, there was a movement by the Liberal View of History Study Group that aimed to rectify that, stating “history stop being treated like a court in which the figures and actions of the past are called to judgment.” However, despite a fairly strong push by the group, almost every Japanese school district rejected the LVHSG’s revised books, showcasing that despite the nature of several prominent individuals and groups in Japan, the majority of society seems to recognize and acknowledge the country’s disgraceful past.[14]
Italy: Post-War
If Germany’s post-war response was great, and Japan’s mediocre, one may be able to guess where Italy’s may rank, especially if you consider that the average person does not even know what occurred to them immediately following the war. Unlike Germany and Japan, there has not been an international tribunal held by the Allies to punish, or do business with, perpetrators of war crimes conducted by the Italian military. As to why, the answer lays in the west’s fear of communism. The socialist, anti-fascist party of post-war Italy had attempted to prosecute the war criminals of Mussolini’s army. However, due to resistance faced from western backed groups, these attempts faltered, leading to a domino effect of unaccountability and falsities among the public, “The efforts of the leftists to try Italian war criminals, in particular senior military officers and fascist party and administration high officials, failed very early on in the face of resistance from the military, the crown and the moderate anti-fascist parties supported by the British government.”[15]
Because of the coverup, unsurprisingly, there has been a lack of accountability taken by the Italian government in regard to its wartime atrocities. Many of the perpetrators of these crimes, including gassings and massacres, have lived long lives back home, and are sometimes even celebrated as heroes within their communities.[16] It makes sense that the poor nature of this (lack of a) response can be seen as an absolute failure in transitional justice, from an angle of reparations and retribution. What can be seen positively is perhaps the non-regression into fascism and bloody regime, but when the other Axis power also did that plus much more, it’s hard to brag about doing the absolute bare minimum, especially when three other powerful nations left them with no choice.
Effect of German Response
Germany’s apologetic responses have led to smooth sailing for them in the international sphere currently. As of this writing the United States considers Germany to be “… one of [its] closest and strongest Allies in Europe.”[17] Similar sentiments have been shared internationally as seen by Germany’s prominent position in the world stage, both as a political and cultural leader in many organizations such as the European Union and United Nations, for example. Their mended relationships with the rest of Europe has been signaled by an important change in philosophy, as Professor Peter Katzenstein states plainly, “The Germans have eliminated the concept of “power” from their political vocabulary. They speak the language of “political responsibility” instead.”[18] In addition to their return to Europe’s good graces, Germany also worked for their forgiveness among the Jewish population. In addition to being good allies with Israel, Germany has consistently showcased its remorse and responsibility to the Jewish community in many official approaches, as elaborated by the official site of Germany’s Washington Embassy, including its inclusionary culture and landmarks made to commemorate them.[19] Connected to my writing several paragraphs above, Germany’s full attention to having itself be more in line with peaceful values in an effort to prove its full intention to non-regression has worked wonders for its relationships globally. Compare that with Germany after their defeat in the First World War, and one can see how the difference in reaction, from both the nation itself and the world at large, have heavily contributed to these different responses.
Effect of Japanese Response
Japan’s relationship with other Asian countries have been notably tense since the end of the war. As stated earlier, many in China and South Korea have both expressed dissatisfaction with Japan’s response to their crimes, if there was even one. As recently as April of this year, officials from both China and South Korea have expressed discontent with several Japanese representatives, including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which houses several convicted war criminals.[20] This had led to South Korea’s foreign ministry expressing “Japan’s responsible leaders have once again sent offerings to and paid respects at the Yasukuni Shrine which glorifies Japan’s history of war of aggression and enshrines war criminals… Our government strongly urges Japan’s responsible figures to look direct into their history, and show through action their humble reflection and sincere remorse of its past history,” as well as China’s foreign ministry stating, “The Chinese side urges the Japanese side to earnestly keep its promises, reflect and face up to its history of aggression, completely cut itself off from militarism, and win the trust of its Asian neighbours and the international community with practical actions.” In addition, citizens in Seoul have been holding weekly protests since 1992 (over 1,000 in total) in front of the Japanese embassy in an effort to get them to recognize the Japanese military’s use of Korean sex slaves, known as ‘comfort women’, throughout World War 2.[21]
Their relations with the United States, however, have gone significantly smoother. Similar to Germany, the US considers Japan to be one of its closest allies, which isn’t hard to see considering the influence they have had in their post-war rebuild (like Germany and Italy). An interesting facet of this relationship is the US’s attempts to help broker peace between Japan and South Korea, another ally of theirs, although America’s growing rivalry with China throws a bit of a wrench in regard to that connection.
Effect of Italian Response
Italy’s relationship with the world has, surprisingly, not involved their wartime actions much. Italy has become a respected member of the various international organizations surrounding Europe, such as the European Union and the United Nations, like Germany. Despite there crimes in places like Greece, and a disgusting lack of acknowledgement in both sentiment and actions, the two nations are both involved together in diplomatic groups, and there is seemingly no tension between both nations. Of course, Italy has also enjoyed a good relationship with the United States as well, since they were one of the nations that had a heavy hand in their post-war governmental restructuring as explained earlier on. And, despite the crimes, Italy enjoys a solid, fairly peaceful reputation after the war. This was due to the hiding of their crimes from global society at large and their well-executed plan of averting blame. After the war, Italian officials worked hard to scrub Italy’s image of being a main player of the axis power, instead laying the blame on Germany and Mussolini. Focardi and Klinkhammer write, “Not by chance, the most stubborn defence of Italian conduct was the work of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, Mario Luciolli. He wrote that, while the peoples of the countries invaded by the Axis had recognized in the German ‘a ferocious tyrant’, in the Italian they had seen instead ‘a brother struck by a common calamity’, always ready with solidarity and aid. The representation of the Italian soldier as a ‘defender of the oppressed’ did rest on some incontrovertible facts, such as the aid given to the Jews… However, the softened image of the ‘good Italian ‘obscured another… aspect of reality, namely the Italian responsibilities for the war of aggression and the very grave crimes committed by Italians against civilians and partisans, especially in Yugoslavia.”[22] Because of the apparent success of this image change among Italy, we can deduce that it was a huge influence on the relationships they now enjoy with countries that they took part in brutalizing. Unlike Japan, whose handiwork in Asia was conducted solo, Italy was able to quickly shift responsibility to the much more infamous and powerful Germans, and had help from the outside in case anyone wanted to blow the whistle. This also led to an impactful change within the Italian government, with the leftists losing influence due to the combined efforts of this coverup, and perhaps allowing western nations like the US and UK gaining more influence than usual through other parties.
Forms of Transitional Justice Used
The transition of the Axis powers from the world’s greatest villains to peaceful, internationally influenced nations has been an interesting road to dissect. When the second World War ended, we see numerous examples of the mechanisms used (or ignored) in order to ensure a smooth transition for Germany, Japan, and Italy from totalitarian regimes to peaceful democracies.
Germany had made the most use of various tools in the drawer of transitional justice in order rectify its actions and rebuild itself and its reputation. They have utilized an international tribunal, the first of its kind, to prosecute perpetrators of crimes against humanity and set an example that would be follow nearly a century later. Afterwards, their usage of deploying reparations towards their victims, both in money and in symbolic services, helped in proving to their victims that they were remorseful and are profoundly changing from the past. In addition, the constant remembrance that Germany have imposed within themselves with Vergangenheitsbewältigung have helped mend relationships with Europe and the Jewish community. They have also used legal measures as well as educational tool to make certain that the atrocities committed would not be followed up by them.
Japan’s road in transitional justice was a very rocky one. Unlike Germany, they had a bit more of a limited use of transitional methods, leading to some troublesome results. Like Germany, they utilized reparations to the countries they have directly harmed, and they have also abandoned wartime ambitions that have led to their crusade, opting for a more modern, peaceful environment in the global stage. However, Japanese society as a whole has not accepted a type of “national blame” for their wartime actions, despite us seeing that increased amounts of people are becoming more open, aware, and accepting of these atrocities. Japan’s lack of in-country memorials for any of their crimes, resorting in China and South Korea having to create their own, together with their nation’s leaders and officials visiting shrines honoring war criminals are also key factors that make their transition, in terms of victim satisfaction, seem half-baked.
Italy’s transitional justice grade is odd to look at. When it comes to the aspect of non-regression and transitioning to a new, peaceful role, they have executed that well. Like Germany and Japan, they have promised to abandon their war-fueled territorial ambitions, and have followed through with joining key international groups alongside the rest of the world in search of peace. However, their lack of accountability and acknowledgement for their crimes make their current day status and relations puzzling. Like I stated before, Italy lucked out in the circumstances surrounding them after the end of the war and were able to capitalize on them to get to this position. Although there seems to be a growing sentiment of questioning Italy’s wartime actions, which is a great step in the right direction.
The Allied powers played a significant role in the transitioning of these three countries. Alongside several material forms of rebuilding, we also see throughout this paper how they have heavily influenced each of the Axis through the process. They Germany to set a strong example against war crimes and international terror with the Nuremberg Tribunal, the first step of modern-day transitional justice. With Japan, however, more selfish ambitions have reared its head in, with the United States exchanging a chance for justice of countless victims for some data, and even some claims of the Soviet Union going a bit light on captured scientists as well due to lighter sentences compared to German officials in Nuremberg (about a decade of hard labor versus outright executions).[23] Italy’s treatment was even more egregious, with the western Allies tossing aside the very notion of justice in favor of implementing their own, anti-communist desires onto Italy, something that the world would continue to see much more of over the course of the 20th century. Overall, the Allies involvement in the transitioning of these countries, despite leading to some issues in the space of victim restitution and acknowledgement, have been quite important in actually forming these countries into what they are today, peaceful democracies.
Transitional justice is a tough segment in international politics to engage with. There is not an objectively right, or wrong, answer to the questions of which methods work best. The events of World War 2 have fundamentally shifted how the world works, and that includes aftermath introducing the ongoing concept of transitional justice, which to this day is used in a myriad of instances across the world. Despite the argument and different opinions over which measures are effective, what we do know is that the end goal of a transitionary period is peace. Even with its missteps, and though there is still war born tensions involved, I believe that the transitions taken by these nations, Germany, Japan, and Italy, have all led to what the end goal of all transitioning regimes should be, democratic peace.
References
– Brody, Howard, Sarah E. Leonard, Jing-Bao Nie, and Paul Weindling. “U.S. Responses to Japanese Wartime Inhuman Experimentation after World War II.” Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 23, no. 2 (2014): 220–30. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180113000753.
– Devolder, Katrien. “U.S. Complicity and Japan’s Wartime Medical Atrocities: Time for a Response.” The American Journal of Bioethics 15, no. 6 (2015): 40-49. doi:10.1080/15265161.2015.1028659.
– Focardi, Filippo, and Lutz Klinkhammer. “The Question of Fascist Italy’s War Crimes: The Construction of a Self-acquitting Myth (1943 – 1948).” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 9, no. 3 (2004): 330-48. doi:10.1080/1354571042000254755.
– Berenbaum, Michael. “Holocaust: The Events.” In Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed., edited by Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik, 325-343. Vol. 9. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. Gale eBooks (accessed May 21, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2587509137/GVRL?u=cuny_baruch&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=3d963274.
– Robinson, Jacob, Michael Berenbaum, Adina Dreksler, Haskel Lookstein, Guenter Lewy, Sergio Itzhak Minerbi, John M. Snoek, Victoria Barnett, and Robert Kirschner. “Holocaust: Responses.” In Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed., edited by Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik, 352-379. Vol. 9. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. Gale eBooks (accessed May 21, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2587509139/GVRL?u=cuny_baruch&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=fd79167c.
– “Japan and the Two World Wars.” In Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction, edited by John Merriman and Jay Winter, 1492-1496. Vol. 3. Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2006. Gale eBooks (accessed May 21, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3447000486/GVRL?u=cuny_baruch&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=ff781cc2.
– Lidia Santarelli (2004) Muted violence: Italian war crimes in occupied Greece, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 9:3, 280-299, DOI: 10.1080/1354571042000254728
– “German Criminal Code, Section 86a.” German law archive. Accessed May 22, 2022. https://germanlawarchive.iuscomp.org/?p=752#86a
– (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. “Vergangenheitsbewältigung: DW: 12.09.2011.” DW.COM. Accessed May 22, 2022. https://www.dw.com/en/vergangenheitsbew%C3%A4ltigung/a-6614103
– Spitzer, Kirk. “Japanese NHK Official Says War Crimes Made Up.” Time. Time, February 7, 2014. https://time.com/5546/japanese-nhk-officials-world-war-ii/
– Carroll, Rory. “Italy’s Bloody Secret.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, June 25, 2001. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/jun/25/artsandhumanities.highereducation.
– “U.S. Relations with Germany – United States Department of State.” U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, June 23, 2021. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-germany/
– “German Missions in the United States.” Jewish Life in Modern Germany and Historic Responsibility – Federal Foreign Office. Accessed May 24, 2022. https://www.germany.info/us-en/welcome/03-Jewish-Life-Germany
– Halioua, Bruno, and Michael F. Marmor. “The Eyes of the Angel of Death: Ophthalmic Experiments of Josef Mengele.” Survey of Ophthalmology 65, no. 6 (2020): 744–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.survophthal.2020.04.007.
– “22 Years of Wednesday Demonstrations.” KBS World, August 12, 2014. http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/contents_view.htm?lang=e&menu_cate=culture&id=&board_seq=13170&page=2&board_code=trendkorea.
– “China, South Korea Protest over Japanese PM’s Offering to War Dead.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, April 21, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-pm-kishida-sends-offering-controversial-shrine-war-dead-2022-04-21/
– Masalski, Kathleen W. “Examining the Japanese History Textbook Controversies.” Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education, November 2001. https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/examining_the_japanese_history_textbook_controversies#:~:text=The%20most%20widely%20used%20Japanese,issues%20raised%20in%20Ienaga’s%20suits
– Katzenstein, Peter J. “United Germany in an Integrating Europe.” Current History 96, no. 608 (March 1997): 116–23. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45317674.
– House, Juliane, and Dániel Z. Kádár. “German and Japanese War Crime Apologies: A Contrastive Pragmatic Study.” Journal of Pragmatics 177 (May 2021): 109–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.02.001.
Footnotes
[1] Fred Skolnik and Michael Berenbaum, “Holocasut: The Events”, Encyclopaedia Judaica, (Macmillan Reference USA, 2007)
[2] Bruno Halioua and Michael F. Marmor, “The eyes of the angel of death: Ophthalmic experiments of Josef Mengele”, Survey of Ophthalmology 65, 2020, 744-748
[3] John Merriman and Jay Winter, “Japan and The Two World Wars”, Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction, (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2006)
[4] Q. Edward Wang, “Eightieth anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre: Editor’s introduction”, Chinese Studies in History (2017)
[5] Howard Brody, Sarah E. Leonard, Jing-Bao Nie, and Paul Weindling, “U.S. Responses to Japanese Wartime Inhuman Experimentation after World War II.” Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 23, no. 2 (2014), 220–30
[6] Filippo Focardi and Lutz Klinkhammer, “The question of Fascist Italy’s war crimes: the construction of a self-acquitting myth (1943 – 1948)”, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 9:3, (2004), 330-348
[7] Lidia Santarelli, “Muted violence: Italian war crimes in occupied Greece”, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 9:3, (2004), 280-299
[8] Merriman and Winter, “Nuremberg War Crimes Trials,” Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction
[9] Deutche Welle, “Vergangenheitsbewältigung: DW,” (www.dw.com)
[10] German Criminal Code, Section 86a
[11] Brody, Leonard, Nie, and Weindling, 2014
[12] Juliane House and Daniel Z. Kadar, “German and Japanese war crime apologies: A contrastive
pragmatic study”, Journal of Pragmatics 177, (2021), 109-121
[13] Kirk Spitzer, “Japanese NHK Official Says War Crimes Made Up,” Time, February 7, 2014
[14] Kathleen W Masalski, “Examining the Japanese History Textbook Controversies,” Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education, November 2001,
[15] Focardi and Klinkhammer, 2004
[16] Rory Carroll, “Italy’s Bloody Secret,” The Guardian, June 25, 2001
[17] “U.S. Relations with Germany – United States Department of State.” U.S. Department of State, June 23, 2021
[18] Peter J. Katzenstein, “United Germany in an Integrating Europe”, Current History, Vol. 96, (1997), 116-123
[19] German Missions in the United States, “Jewish Life in Modern Germany and Historic Responsibility”, Federal Foreign Office, Accessed May 24, 2022.
[20] Reuters, “China, South Korea Protest over Japanese PM’s Offering to War Dead,” Reuters, April 21, 2022
[21] “22 Years of Wednesday Demonstrations,” KBS World, August 12, 2014
[22] Focardi and Klinkhammer, 2004
[23] Brody, Leonard, Nie, and Weindling, 2014
