In 1946, the Tokyo Military Tribunal was officially established, and the trial of fascist war criminals by the Allied Powers in World War II was officially put on the agenda.
In the past two years, China has tried to smash the enemy's conspiracy to exonerate itself on many occasions, and has successfully sent 7 war criminals led by Hideki Tojo and Kenji Doihara to the gallowing ground. What last words did they have before they died?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > heinous crime</h1>
In 1946, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMC) was officially opened, with trials lasting 924 days and 818 sessions. That's why the Tokyo court set a world record for the largest and longest session.
The trial at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was the price of Japan's numerous crimes in China and a consolation to the innocents of World War II. From 1931 to 1945, Japan committed heinous crimes in China, a pain that generations of Chinese sons and daughters cannot forget.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="68" > one, cultural invasion</h1>
In 1931, the September 18 Incident broke out and the horn of Japanese aggression sounded. Based on China's national conditions, Japanese officers such as Kenji Toihara proposed the establishment of a puppet regime headed by Puyi in the northeast, which was approved by his superiors.
With the support of the Kwantung Army, the Japanese went to Tianjin to create riots in the local area and take advantage of the opportunity to kidnap the last emperor Puyi. After Puyi was brought to the northeast, Japan established the puppet Manchukuo regime and introduced the policy of "using China to rule China".
After Northeast China became a Japanese colony, the invaders began to promote Japanese culture and fundamentally corrupt the thinking of the masses. Natural resources such as coal and ore have also been continuously transported outwards, and the three eastern provinces have become warehouses in Japan.
After the fall of the three northeastern provinces, Japan planned to expand to north China. They appointed a large number of officers with experience in establishing puppet regimes and became the planners of the "North China Autonomy Movement".
The Japanese ordered many secret service agencies to begin coercing and inducing the heads of government in North China to break away from the rule of the Nationalist government, establish a separate political power, and achieve autonomy. The wartime situation was complicated, the relationship between the heads of government in North China was not harmonious, and the North China Autonomy Movement declared bankruptcy.
The Japanese were reluctant to give up, and in 1935 they went to Beijing again to continue the "North China Autonomy Movement."
The Japanese had secret talks with Yin Rugeng, the Kuomintang's administrative inspector in eastern Jidong, who was obsessed with power and money and was not firm in his mind, and soon became a traitor.
Yin Rugeng
In November, Yin Rugeng broke away from the Nationalist government and established the jidong puppet regime. Later, the Japanese once again obstructed from it, co-opting Song Zheyuan and others to establish a huge pro-Japanese puppet regime. Hurt Chinese with the hand of Chinese.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="69" > second, burn and loot</h1>
In 1937, the Japanese invaders invaded the city of Nanjing, raised their butcher knives in their hands, and 300,000 innocent Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed at the hands of murderous demons. Nanjing, an ancient city with a deep cultural heritage, is therefore a river of blood.
In order to satisfy their own selfish desires, the Japanese robbed the people of their property, set fire to houses and a large number of cultural relics, and raped women. Kill the light, grab the light, burn the light... Countless people have left in pain.
In 1945, the Japanese announced unconditional surrender, but the main participants in the invasion of China escaped responsibility. They returned to Japan and continued to engage in politics, living a life of food and clothing, but never acknowledged the crimes they had committed, nor did they have the slightest remorse.
China's past wounds can only be recovered in a just way.
In 1946, a group of Chinese judges, represented by Mei Ruzhang, went to Tokyo and vowed to seek justice for Chinese. China, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, France... The World Anti-Fascist Allies reunited and became the main judges of the Tokyo tribunal.
Since the trial began, Japanese war criminals such as Ken Toihara have managed to escape responsibility. To this end, China has done a lot of preparatory work.
Foreign priests, foreign professors, American doctors, and Chinese people who witnessed the horrific massacres appeared in court one after another to reveal the heinous crimes of the Japanese government. At the same time, China released images of the Japanese invasion of China.
Kenji Toihara
The evidence is overwhelming, but Japan still does not forget its sophistry. "I went to the northeast to help Chinese get rid of our suffering... Japan is the older brother, and China is the younger brother. The older brother's starting point is to be good for the younger brother, but the younger brother is not appreciative. "Japan is so shameless, but also let the international community stunned.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="70" > justice and never absent</h1>
At the Tokyo Trial Court, Western countries led by the United States colluded with the Japanese Government, which brought great obstacles to the trial of war criminals.
In March 1946, at a meeting of all prosecutors of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Chinese prosecutors read out indictments and listed Matsui Ishigen and others as the first list of war criminals.
Matsui Ishine
For a while, there was a lot of noise at the meeting, and prosecutors in britain, the United States and other countries even laughed in the hall. "Based on the facts, the court asked Chinese witnesses to present empirical evidence of the Japanese killings and arson." U.S. prosecutors said.
After the meeting, the Chinese delegation was puzzled. The numerous crimes committed by Japanese war criminals during the period of aggression against China are well known, so why does the United States question them?
Compared with the indignant indignation of others, Judge Mei Ruxuan was very calm, and he said sadly: "The weak country has been deceived!" At this point, people realized that bringing Japanese war criminals to court was far from as simple as they thought.
Mei Ruxuan
If China fails to produce conclusive evidence, these Japanese war criminals are highly likely to escape. The information on the invasion of China is complex, and Japanese war criminals have destroyed a large number of them in order to exonerate them, so how can they find new evidence in a short period of time?
Ni Zhengyi, a member of the delegation, said: "I am afraid that the government will not have the heart to take care of the investigation and collection of evidence. The crowd fell silent, and the negotiations reached an impasse for a while.
At this moment, the young lawyer Qiu Shaoheng stood up, he shook his arm, and said: "I will do my best to safeguard the integrity of the nation and the dignity of the law!" "Yes, Qiu Shaoheng embarked on the road back to China.
Puyi (left) and Qiu Shaoheng (right)
The most direct way to get Japan to commit war criminals is to find out japan's crime of invading Nanjing. At that time, Nanjing had just been liberated, China was devastated, and all the work was in disarray. How easy is it to find evidence of a fatal blow to the enemy from a large number of documents?
Qiu Shaoheng had to personally visit, collect information on the survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, and go door to door to inquire to find the most direct physical evidence. After 20 days, Qiu Shaoheng got enough strong evidence.
On April 1, at the second plenary meeting of prosecutors, Qiu Shaoheng displayed a large number of physical evidence of the Japanese invasion of China, and the American and British prosecutors who had previously scoffed were dumbfounded.
In his later years, Qiu Shaoheng
In order to protect its own face, the United States even changed its mouth on the spot: "The atrocities committed by the Japanese army in Nanjing are unique in this great war." In this way, the Japanese war criminals who committed the most heinous crimes have been condemned.
In the end, 11 judges, 6 voted for the death penalty and 5 voted not guilty. In 1948, the jury sent 11 Japanese war criminals to the guillotine by one vote. Before his death, what were the last words of the notorious Japanese war criminals?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="71" > Erhe White Road</h1>
Kenji Toihara's last words are taken from the Chinese Buddhist aphorism: Erhe Baidao.
In the Pure Land Sect's Great Virtue And Good Guidance, the Buddhist Sutra on The Immeasurable Life says: "The two rivers of water and fire are used as a metaphor for the greed and anger of sentient beings, and the white path in the middle is used as a metaphor for the pure heart that wishes to live in the afterlife." ”
Buddhists believe that when a dusty person enters the Pure Land of Buddhism, he needs to cross two rivers that symbolize greed and anger: the "river of water" and the "river of fire." In the middle of the two rivers, there is a slender "white road", "white road" has no distractions, and is the pure land to which Buddhism aspires.
The International Tribunal for the Far East sentenced seven war criminals to death, and kenji Doihara was the first to be executed in the order of the draw of lots. Nikawa Shiramichi, this was Kenji Toihara's last wish before his death.
He had always scorned Chinese culture, and after mutilating countless Chinese, he asked for the Buddha's forgiveness, and now it seems sad. Kenji Toihara, who committed a lot of crimes, died a long way.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="72" > prison is like a purgatory on earth</h1>
"The sincere one, the way of heaven, the one who thinks sincerely, the way of man." These were the last words of The Japanese war criminal Hideki Tojo. Hideki Tojo, who, like Kenji Toihara, who had a deep understanding of Chinese culture, recited Mencius's famous sayings.
Mencius said that honesty is a natural law, and the pursuit of integrity is the law of being a human being. Obviously, the word integrity has nothing to do with a war criminal who has invaded another country. As a dying man, Hideki Tojo used this as a desperate poem, but only to seek peace of mind.
After Japan announced its surrender, Hideki Tojo, as a war criminal with the most heinous crimes, was bound to be tried by a military court. In order to escape responsibility, Hideki Tojo decided to commit suicide.
He asked a private doctor to draw a circle around his heart, and when the arresting men arrived, Hideki Tojo fired a shot at his heart.
Hideki Tojo
However, Hideki Tojo could not stop shaking when he fired the gun, and the bullet was eventually deflected, and after all-out rescue, Hideki Tojo recovered as before. Ironically, Hideki Tojo tossed and turned and was eventually sent to court-martial.
In prison, Hideki Tojo experienced a life worse than death, nestled in a room with less than 100-watt light bulbs every day, seeing no sunlight or hope.
In order to gain a glimmer of life, Hideki Tojo began to believe in Buddhism. And the brutal Hideki Tojo, the Buddhist gate will not take it in.
As the second person to be executed, before being sent to the hanging ground, Hideki Tojo recited words in his mouth, mentioning tendo. Heaven is clear, retribution is not happy, cruel as Hideki Tojo, the most unworthy of mentioning the Heavenly Dao.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="74" > refuse to repent</h1>
"Mighty man Haojie, how can you be reckless and steal your life", this is the last words of the third Japanese war criminal Muto Akira who was hanged. Before his execution, Akira Muto was a Japanese lieutenant general with the lowest rank among the 7 war criminals.
Although Muto Akira was a "small man" among the seven war criminals, the heinous crimes committed in the war of aggression against China were no less than those of other murderous maniacs.
In December 1948, Akira Muto was hanged. Before his death, Muto expressed his thoughts about his wife and children, but he did not know how many families were torn apart because of him. For the crimes committed in the past, Muto Akira is still unrepentant.
He calls himself a "heroic hero", but in fact he is a murderous demon who does not blink. Before dying, he did not forget to struggle, and Muto Akira had more to lose.
Akira Muto
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="75" > equal to others</h1>
"Equality from others" originated in Buddhism and means not to forget. Since his arrest by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Matsui Hashigen has been trying to escape responsibility for himself. Yet the crimes he committed can never be forgiven.
The International Court of Justice has pronounced Matsui Ishigen guilty of 55 crimes and is about to be hanged. When he was taken to the gallows, Matsui Ishigen was already sweating profusely and his face was pale.
After a full 12 minutes of struggling in the air, Matsui Ishigen left this world forever, paying the price he deserved for his crimes.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="76" > blessing to China</h1>
The fifth war criminal to be hanged was Seishiro Itagaki, the only one among the seven war criminals to mention China.
In 1945, Itagaki Seishiro was arrested and imprisoned in Tokyo Prison. In the end, the military court sentenced Itagaki Seishiro to death on ten counts, including homicide.
Before the execution, Itagaki Seishiro knelt on the ground with his hands folded and said, "Infinite remembrance, Chinese friends, see you now, east Asia, east Asia." ”
Itagaki Seishiro mentioned in his suicide note: "Pray for the prosperity of China's national fortunes. "Mentioning China before his death, some people speculate that Itagaki Seishiro's move is an attempt to atone for his sins. It is really ridiculous to think that after 14 years of pain, it is not too late, it is already impossible for Itagaki Seishiro to lose his last chance.
Seishiro Itagaki
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="77" > infinite concern</h1>
The sixth to be hanged was the only civilian official among the seven war criminals. During the Japanese invasion of China, Hirota was responsible for disseminating militarist theories and formulating Japan's foreign policy of foreign expansion, and together with Hideki Tojo, he concocted one war after another. Although it was not directly killed, it was also covered in blood.
"I'm going to die, I can forget everything, but I can't bear or want to forget my wife Liangmuzi." Hirota is about to be separated from his wife, and his only wish is that the two can meet in their dreams. Hirota's last words were most worried about his wife.
Hirota Hiroshi
Like Hirota Hiroshi, Kimura, who was eventually executed, was also worried about his wife. "Farewell forever, I hope that my wife Ying Fengzi will not be too sad, and after stepping over the threshold of death, I will get eternal life." Hopefully we can still be together in the next life. ”
After two years of struggle and two years of trekking, China finally sent 7 war criminals to the gallows. History should always remember that those war criminals who committed the most heinous crimes were also forever nailed to the pillar of shame to atone for their sins.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="78" > face history</h1>
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East was a brief victory for China's efforts to try Japanese war criminals. However, the follow-up of the trial work still has a long way to go.
After the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union and the official opening of the cold war curtain, tremendous changes have taken place in the international situation. Japan accepted economic, political, and military assistance from the United States and became America's right-hand man.
In order to escape responsibility for Japan, the United States has also taken pains. The international community began to tacitly reduce the importance and study of the Tokyo trial.
With the death of Tokyo trial representatives such as Mei Ruxuan and Xiang Zheli, the trial experience of war criminals in that year began to gradually disappear from people's memories.
For many years, in order to get rid of the image of the aggressor, the Japanese right-wing has been trying to negate the Tokyo Trials and overturn the case for the Japanese war criminals of that year.
Japan once published a book called "The Tokyo Trial is Fabricated", which denies the crimes that Japan has committed in China, and the so-called study of the Tokyo Trial is still aimed at denying the Tokyo Trial.
The Japanese continue to carry forward the spirit of the former "hooligans", declaring that the Tokyo Trials were slanderous to Japan and the indiscriminate killing of innocents, causing psychological trauma to generations of Japanese. From the aggressor disguised as a victim, the Japanese exonerated themselves by means of ridicule and generosity.
When it comes to diplomatic relations with China, the Japanese continue to make small moves. In 1978, the Japanese government moved the spirits of 14 war criminals, including Hideki Tojo, to the Yasukuni Shrine and asked all walks of life in Japan to pay homage.
In this way, war criminals who invaded China have a lofty social status in Japan. China has repeatedly condemned the Japanese government's actions, but they have not been moved.
In a sense, the Tokyo trial is a gulf between China and Japan. If Japan ignores history and implements national nihilism to the end, the relationship between China and Japan will never completely break the ice.
In the face of a partner who lies and refuses to admit his mistakes, how can China pay sincerity? At the same time, the Western capitalist countries led by the United States began to "whitewash" Japan in the international community.
There is no shortage of trial data in historical research, but in recent years of international writings, Western researchers have always asked, "Why study the Tokyo Trial?" "Words are full of disdain and sophistry.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="80" > conclusion</h1>
Today, with China's strong rise, Japan and other Western capitalist countries feel greatly threatened and challenged. Because of this, they can only redeem their long-lost dignity through denial.
In the face of its past history, China has acknowledged its backwardness and struggled to catch up, while also remembering the pain of that year. Do not indulge in pain, but remember history, never tolerate. In this way, China can also move towards a more brilliant future.