In 1945, with the Japanese Emperor's surrender, World War II finally ended with the defeat of the Axis Powers. The fierce Japanese invaders of World War II were brought to trial by the Far Eastern Military Tribunal. In the end, after a trial, seven Japanese Class A war criminals were sentenced to hanging.
Up and down the execution ground, the seven people who had originally flaunted their martial prowess had different looks because of their fear of death, some of them wept and repented, and some of them were ugly. Among them, Hideki Tojo, who is the most familiar to us, has become the laughing stock of everyone.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > verdict was read, which was very gratifying</h1>
After the end of World War II, on January 19, 1946, the High Command of the Supreme Allied Powers of the Far East promulgated the Charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East under the authorization of the Allied Powers, announcing the establishment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East to try Japanese war criminals (also known as the Tokyo Trial) in Tokyo.
The total number of Japanese war criminals of all kinds indicted by China, the United States, the Soviet Union and other allies is 5,423, and 4,226 are sentenced, of whom 941 are sentenced to death. The Tokyo trial lasted 2 and a half years, with 818 trials, 419 witnesses, 779 witnesses, 4336 pieces of evidence, and 48,412 pages of English records, exceeding the scale of the famous Nuremberg trial.
In the late spring of 1946, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East tried for the first time a total of 28 Class-A war criminals, including Hideki Tojo of Japan. According to historical records, the Far Eastern International Tribunal read more than 40 pages of indictments at its first hearing, which contained various crimes committed by 28 people from the 1920s to 1945, showing the depth of the 28 Class A war crimes.
At the end of 1948, after more than two years of investigation and discussion, the Far Eastern Military Tribunal finally pronounced the final fate of 28 Class A war criminals. Sixteen Class A war criminals were sentenced to life imprisonment, two Class A war criminals were sentenced to prison terms, and three were exempt from accountability for mental illness or death during that period.
There were seven remaining, Hideki Tojo, Kenji Doihara, Hiroshi Hirota, Seishiro Itagaki, Shotaro Kimura, Ishigen Matsui, and Akira Muto, who were eventually sentenced to death by hanging.
For example, Hideki Tojo was the former prime minister of Japan, known as the three leaders of fascism along with Hitler and Mussolini; Matsui Ishigen, the decision-maker of the Nanjing Massacre that shocked China and foreign countries; and Kitaro Kimura, who caused the Yangon Massacre in Burma in 1944.
In Nanyang, Muto personally ordered the massacre of 250,000 Dutch prisoners and civilians; Itagaki Seishiro was the leading officer in the "918" incident; Kenji Toihara and Hiroshi Hirota were also staunch adherents and enforcers of Japanese fascism.
It can be said that none of these seven Class A war criminals is not guilty of the most heinous crimes.
As soon as the verdict was announced, the world was in an uproar. Many countries and people who were persecuted by the seven during World War II clapped their hands and celebrated, and major media outlets rushed to Tokyo overnight, waiting to report on the final execution.
But in fact, the military court adopted a form of complete secrecy in the choice of execution time. In order to avoid some unpredictable factors in the process of execution, the final implementation of the trial will not be interfered with.
On the day of the execution, Shang Zhen, a witness of our country, appeared on the trial floor together with witnesses from Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union to ensure the openness and fairness of the trial.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > on the eve of the sentence, overwhelmed</h1>
December 23, 1948, was the final date of execution decided by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. At eight o'clock in the morning, the city of Tokyo entered a state of total martial law. The citizens of Tokyo, though not notified in advance, knew in their hearts what was going to happen.
Naturally, the seven Class A war criminals knew that their death was coming, and that night, for humanitarian reasons, the prison prepared the last exquisite Japanese dishes for them. But apart from Hideki Tojo, no one had the appetite to eat. The dinner that should have been his last memory was hastily made.
It is worth mentioning that before the trial was officially announced, Hideki Tojo had already predicted his fate, and out of fear, he did not want to die on the gallows and chose to use a gun. But the funny thing is that due to the misplaced growth of his heart, the suicide that could have killed him with one shot was eventually rescued by the doctors. Hideki Tojo did his worst and had to be hanged.
The other six were naturally filled with fear and remorse before the official execution.
It is said that before the execution, the six people separately talked to Master Yunshan Qiansheng all night to explain the aftermath. Some of them talked to Master Yunshan Qiansheng about their lives and families, and some people said that their remorse for the war of aggression, although they did not know whether it was sincere or not, but a few people who had flaunted their martial prowess on the battlefield in previous years were now so humble that they could not help but laugh.
At 23:30 on the 23rd, the soldiers escorted seven Class A war criminals into a room in two waves, and asked them to sign the hanging execution book announcing their fate. The first four were Hideki Tojo, Ishigen Matsui, Kenji Doihara, and Akira Muto, followed by the remaining Hiroshi Hirota, Seishiro Itagaki, and Kitamura.
It is said that after signing, their fearful appearance made the soldiers feel funny, and they simply gave each of them a glass of wine to embolden the gallows next. Subsequently, they were dressed in specific costumes and handcuffs.
In order to make the execution faster, the soldiers also handcuffed seven people to their own thighs to prevent them from clutching the execution rack and dying.
One of the Seven War Criminals Itagaki Seishiro
The execution site was set up next to the prison where several of them usually lived. When the soldiers took seven men there, they thought the execution had been temporarily cancelled and they were going back to prison to continue their lives. But it wasn't until the soldiers led them through the prison and saw a panoramic view of the execution chamber that several of them looked dead.
The gallows were made of ironwood and were cold and solemn. To the south of the platform are steps with handrails, each of which is made up of the resentment and anguish of countless war victims. The top of the platform is a movable platform composed of 4 boards. As soon as the executioner pressed the electric button, the wooden board was turned to the side. This is also the official beginning of hanging.
One of the Seven War Criminals Kenji Toihara
Seven knotted ropes have been hung on top of the platform, waiting to be stripped of the right to live of the seven Class A war criminals. Opposite the gallows was the platform where the commanders and witnesses sat, protected by the soldiers.
There is naturally a tight guard outside the prison to prevent accidents. In the passage to the execution chamber, two soldiers with guns guarded every ten meters, waiting together for the final moment.
One of the Seven War Criminals, Hiroshi Hirota
At 11:40 a.m., the warden, the executive officer, the enforcement gendarme, the gendarme on duty, and the forensic doctor solemnly entered the execution ground. After a second examination by the forensic doctors and gendarmes, all the facilities at the execution site were operating normally, and the warden announced that the lights were turned on to meet the execution witnesses from various countries.
At 11:50 a.m., the responsible persons of China, the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries responsible for the prison entered the seat, and the prison director also accompanied them to sit down. The lights were as bright as day, and the faces of the seven Class A criminals were even paler. Some have even closed their eyes, afraid of seeing the terrible firing rack and the roses that have been prepared for their death.
One of the Seven War Criminals Matsui Ishigen
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > full of fear and ugliness</h1>
While waiting, the clock in the execution ground finally sounded the chime. Twenty-four o'clock, the time of execution is coming.
In the same order as when signing the execution confirmation, Hideki Tojo, Ishigen Matsui, Kenji Doihara, and Akira Muto were first pressed onto the execution table. The execution gendarmes made a final verification of the identities of the four of them, and then signaled to the chief executive officer that they could begin.
At this time, Hideki Tojo seemed to have drunk wine, and the fear on his face was less. He gathered his courage and whispered, "Matsui, lead everyone to shout long live the emperor!" When Matsui Ishigen heard this, he shouted out long live the emperor, and the other three followed suit.
The commanders watching the executions were even more impatient when they saw this, and instructed the gendarmes to begin the executions as soon as possible, lest these people still fantasize about Japanese militarism before they die.
The first to be executed was Kenji Doihara, and the gendarmes first told him to walk forward to the execution rack and then turn around. While Kenji Toihara was not looking, the gendarmes quickly put a black cloth hood on his head, and then another gendarme took a rope and put it around his neck.
After doing this, the two gendarmes retreated from the execution rack, greeted the commander on the steps, and handed over the next step to the commander. The chief executive, Krinimus, solemnly pressed the electric button. Then Toihara's body was suspended in the air in an instant, and the rope hanging around his neck swirled and swayed, and finally returned to calm. This is 00:07:30.
One of the Seven War Criminals, Kitaro Kimura
The forensic doctors then stepped forward to identify the body of Toihara. I saw that the face of the soil fertilizer had lost its vitality, her eyes were closed, and her tongue was half-cut out of her mouth, like a big dog that tried its best to breathe.
Six people were subsequently hanged in this form, and the most ridiculous of them on his deathbed was Hideki Tojo, whom we know. In fact, before being escorted to the execution ground, Hideki Tojo had already shown his cowardice and fear compared to the other six. First there was a suicide attempt, and then in prison, he acted autistic and fearful, not talking to anyone else, just thinking about how to defend himself.
Hideki Tojo was the second to be taken to the gallows, and the execution time was only 20 seconds later than Kenji Doihara.
At first, Hideki Tojo acted expressionless, trying to hide his fears. But when the executive pressed the button and suspended him in the air, Hideki Tojo's heart was finally completely occupied by fear, and he let out a scream with all his might, and then began to flutter left and right.
After struggling for 12 minutes and 30 seconds, Hideki Tojo finally left the world that had spurned him for so long. When the forensic doctors removed his body for an autopsy, everyone could not help but raise eyebrows. Hideki Tojo's body still contained the snot and tears that flowed from the fear of the execution, and the lower part of his body was incontinent, and a foul smell came from it.
Subsequently, the prison deputies accepted the death reports of seven people, and General Shang Zhen of our country accepted the death reports of Kenji Doihara and Matsui Ishigen based on the results of the lottery. And Dilibiy Younger, who got the death report of Hideki Tojo, was disgusted and looked down on this villain.
The hanging ceremony officially ended at 1 a.m. The bodies of the seven men were then loaded onto the truck, and although the seven had lost their lives, the crimes they committed were destined to leave them unable to rest in peace after death. What the U.S. military did to the bodies of the seven people afterwards could not help but make everyone clap their hands and applaud.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > last words, and it was too late</h1>
In fact, in the more than two years from the first trial of the Far East Military Tribunal to the announcement of the final trial results, the seven people naturally also had memories and reflections on their past actions. Of course, with the exception of Hideki Tojo, even in his suicide note, he failed to properly recognize the heinous mistake he had made.
In his last suicide note to his wife, Hideki Tojo made it clear that he believed that his sins were only for the Japanese nation and the Japanese people, and that he had failed to lead the empire to victory.
On an international scale, he believes that he was only forced to confess his guilt because of the political situation. Even more infuriating, Hideki Tojo blamed the failure of the war on the failure of the people of East Asia to unify.
After receiving her husband's suicide note, Hideki Tojo's wife reacted even more infuriatingly. Hideki Tojo's wife expressed her admiration and satisfaction that her husband was able to stick to the right thinking before his death, and said that no matter how difficult the days ahead were, she would not forget the happy days she lived with her husband.
As soon as this remark came out, it could be described as an uproar. Many people jointly asked the Far Eastern Military Tribunal to try Hideki Tojo's wife together, but in the end it was not resolved. Hideki Tojo's wife eventually lived to be in her nineties before leaving the world. The descendants of Hideki Tojo are uneven, some people are at ease away from the political circle, and some people are still claiming that Hideki Tojo is a hero of the nation.
Except, of course, for Hideki Tojo. The remaining Class A war criminals reflected on their mistakes while in prison.
According to the recollections of those present at the time, Matsui Ishigen and Itagaki Seishiro also left their last words before their executions, saying that they hoped that the deaths of the two of them could be exchanged for the forgiveness of the people in the invaded areas for Japan. Kenji Toihara sang a poem affectionately at the execution site to show remorse.
Itagaki Seishiro wrote in his suicide note, "Yu hopes that my death will truly make Sino-Japanese relations more friendly, so Yu is willing to gladly punish him." Kenji Toihara wrote, "I pray to God to make China and South Korea prosperous." Before his execution, Kenji Toihara recited a short poem "Dear Chinese People", expressing regret for his past behavior.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > frustrate the bones and ashes, and must not end well</h1>
In the early hours of the morning after the execution, many Tokyo citizens saw two trucks driving out of the prison, but they did not know where to go. In fact, the two trucks were carrying the bodies of seven Class A war criminals. After the execution, according to previous plans, the bodies of seven people will be taken to the crematorium.
There were still a large number of American soldiers guarding the sides of the truck, ensuring that the cremation process would not be hijacked. The truck drove from early morning to early morning, crossed the dark city of Tokyo, and then drove along the Keihin Highway until 7:45 a.m. to yokohama crematorium.
At eight o'clock, the bodies of seven people were sent to the crematorium for cremation. At half past nine, the fire spread, and the flesh of the seven people was finally reduced to wisps of black smoke and piles of white ash. Subsequently, according to the US side, the ashes of the seven people were randomly scattered around the crematorium to ensure that they were not re-collected by others.
However, recently there are also sources that the US side actually handed over the ashes to the Japanese side for secret preservation.
No matter how the ashes of the seven Class A war criminals were disposed of, in the end, with the fall of this matter, the seven finally left the stage of history permanently. But the gesture of their departure is not as they once imagined when the scenery was infinite, leaving their names in qingshi, but being scolded by countless people and then forgotten.
Mei Ruxuan, a Chinese judge who participated in the Tokyo trial, said after learning that 7 Class A war criminals had been executed:
The deaths of the seven important war criminals symbolize the victory of international justice and show the world the uselessness of aggression. This incident has no intention of revenge, but rather indicates that aggression is a road to the gallows, not a glorious one. The death penalty at the place where each was committed was a consolation for the people of China and other countries who had suffered from Japanese aggression.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > references:</h1>
Xu Zhongyou, Mei Ruxuan: Chief Judge of China trying Japanese war criminals at the Far Eastern Military Tribunal. Red Wide Angle, 2015(09): pp. 19-22.
[2]. Li Qiang, Records of the Trial of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Literature Series on the Trial of War Criminals against Japan were published. Anti-Japanese War Studies, 2014(01): pp. 157-158.
[3]. Anon. How many Japanese war criminals were convicted by the Far Eastern Military Tribunal. Monthly Journal of Literature and History, 2011(02): p.33.
Wang Junyan, Conspiracy, playing at the Far Eastern Military Tribunal. World Knowledge, 2006(01): pp. 58-60.