Germany's Apology to Its War Victims
and
Japan's Homage to Its War Criminals

During an official visit as chancellor of West Germany to Poland in 1971, Brandt won the praise and respect of the whole world as he knelt in front of the monument built to the memory of Poles fallen as victims of the Nazis. (Contributed by T. W. Kwan)

About Willi Brandt.

THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT HAS DECLARED JANUARY 27TH A NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST IN WORLD WAR TWO.

German president Roman Herzog said the observance of what is being called the "Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism" is meant to express sorrow for suffering and loss, to remember the victims and to guard against renewal of Nazism.

In a statement issued Wednesday in Bonn, the president said the Nazi terror must never be forgotten. He added, the memory must also remind future generations to be watchful.

The date was chosen to mark January 27th, 1945, the day Soviet soldiers liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The day will not be a public holiday, but will be marked in schools. Germany's Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, also plans a special commemoration to mark the national day.

03-jan-96 8:44 am est (1344 utc) Source: VOA

Japanese diet members commemorating war criminals including General Matsui Iwane who was responsible for the Nanjing Massacre.

Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's homage to war criminals

Comparing the two different attitudes

An article in GB Chinese

Why No Japanese Apology? (29/7/96)

Lee Wha Rang

The Legacy of War in Germany and Japan

Robert Orr, Jr

About Willi Brandt

Willi Brandt (1913-1992), German Statesman and Nobel Laureate was born in Lübeck in 1913. He was originally named Herbert Frahm and later changed to Willy Brandt just to escape the persecution by the Nazis. After the Second World War, Brandt became an important political figure of the then established Federal Republic of Germany (BRD, also known as West Germany). He was elected mayor of West Berlin from 1957-1966. In 1969, he was elected chancellor, and he retained this office in the general election of 1972. In 1974, however, Brandt resigned assuming responsibility for the infiltration of an East German secret agent who was working on his staff. Willy Brandt was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his contribution to the relaxation of tension between Western and Eastern Europe (so-called détente or Entspannungspolitik).

(Reference: Encarta, Microsoft)

Contributed by Tze-wan Kwan, RIH, CUHK

June 25, 1995.

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