The Deception In German President Von Wezsacker’s 1985 Address

Summary

The issue of war guilt continues to plague the losers of World War II, 60 years after
surrender. Despite gestures of goodwill and contrition by Germany and Japan, there are
those who still wish to inflict psychic if not financial damage. Those who say that neither
country has sufficiently repented paint both Japan and Germany with the same black ink
of evil. Even a superficial comparison of the National Socialists and Japanese
government points out the divergence in conduct of war and social policy.
Careful consideration by the public of the German and Japanese situations is obviously
lacking. There is a popular notion that Germany has made serious apologies and
reparations, whereas Japan has not. In fact, the opposite is true. Specifically, Germany
has not made any direct compensation to any country for “war crimes” but for “crimes
against humanity”. Furthermore, the Third Reich went beyond “war crimes” with deeds
that had no significant strategic value – such as a systematic campaign to ethnically
cleanse Europe. In contrast, Japan did not even contemplate racial annihilation and, so,
was not charged with “crimes against humanity” at the end of the war. Also, the
Japanese have directly compensated affected countries and expressed as a group
“collective responsibility,” whereas the Germans have repeatedly pointed out that war
guilt rests on individual Nazis and not on the German people as a whole.
If one were to objectively assess the application of “war crime” to all participants of
World War II, it will be clear that the term has been selectively applied only to the Axis.
Obviously, the Allies did not have a monopoly on virtue.
In the future, there will probably be more demands for “apologies” from those who cry
“war criminal”. However, serious reflection, rather than reflexive contrition, of historical
facts should occur prior to any act of apology, a spiritually humbling act.