History repeats itself,” Karl Marx once explained, “first as tragedy, second as farce.” In the case of Holocaust denial, historical tragedy is overshadowed by the farcical nature of egregious conspiracy theories. Some say it should be a crime; I disagree. Punishing these incendiaries sends a questionable message: that reality is too fragile for their hollow words, and their mindless banter could, in fact, come true. But what if German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly denied the Holocaust? Then the scenario would be different—the hollow words substantiated from the most inappropriate source. We realize then that the unfortunate nature of history is that the truth is surprisingly malleable and often exploited by those with the most to lose by it.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent comments questioning the existence of comfort women is the most recent and prevalent example of this principle. The term “comfort women” is the greatest euphemism in our modern vernacular and describes the roughly 200,000 women, mostly from Korea and China, who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. In 1991, these women demanded a formal apology from Japan, prompting the United Nations to conduct a full investigation. It concluded: “Japan violated customary norms of international law concerning war crimes, crimes against humanity, slavery, and the trafficking in women and children.” Japan responded with an informal apology, but the government never officially assumed responsibility.
The most disturbing thing about Abe’s sentiments, besides the obvious insult to the integrity of the women, is its reflection of an aspect of Japanese society that favors altering history rather than accepting it. Many conservative Japanese are lobbying to strike references to comfort women and other notorious war crimes from school books. “Our campaign worked, and people outside the government also started raising their voices, creating a national trend,” commented former education minister Nariaki Nakayama, who also claims the Nanking Massacre of 300,000 Chinese civilians was a “pure fabrication.” The end results of such propaganda could be disastrous: a whole generation of children indirectly oblivious to an entire chapter of their history.
Abe’s statements relied heavily on the fact that “there is no evidence to prove there was coercion” of comfort women, leading international scholars to argue over the semantics of “coercion”. What a pointless debate: Whether the comfort women were recruited through coercion or not is irrelevant—the fact is that once they became comfort women they were stripped of their freedom and subject to unspeakable abuse.
Thousands of comfort women still reside in Asia, but many of them are reaching the twilight of their lives. This sense of urgency helps fuel the movement, as supporters responded to Abe’s statements by demonstrating in major cities from Seoul to Manila. Even in the United States, steps are being taking to ensure that Japan remains accountable for their past actions. A recently introduced bipartisan resolution by Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, urges Congress to pressure Japan to issue a formally apology.
In a past column, I defended the often-vilified Japanese soldier as being unfairly dehumanized by a community appalled by events of the past. Japan’s history cannot be boiled down to such atrocities, but they are certainly a part of it. Japan is at a crossroads: One path, paved by those who acknowledge past atrocities, leads to reconciliation, the other, built by those who ignore history, descends further into the oblivion. There are human consequences to this decision—for many comfort women, their last wish is closure on a painful history they cannot purge from their lives.
As of this past Saturday, Abe has rescinded his latest remarks and expressed sympathy for the women, standing by the 1993 apology. It seems that Abe realizes that if Japan truly wants to rid itself of its deplorable past and take a responsible attitude towards history, it has to start by acknowledging it. And while one side painfully yearns for the day their tragedy is realized and the other doggedly clings to the remains of a farcical dream, both comfort women and Japanese politicians now share a common realization: In history, nobody can escape the truth, no matter how painful or shameful it might be.
(This is my weekly column that appeared in the Daily Californian. You can also read it here)
August 2, 2008 at 11:17 pm
the victor has the lucky privilege to write history. since the Germans lost both world wars, the holocaust is heavily frowned upon. since japan lost wwII, their actions toward China and Korea are also put to shame. however, US history does not exactly embody humane treatment either. just because we use to be a powerhouse nation in the time of war does not mean the acts of the Red Scare should be justified during the cold war. or the interment camps during wwII. though openly unsure if the US government have made formal apologies, atrocities as such should not be forgone simply because it was for our citizen’s “protection.”