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public visitors. Citizens of more than thirty countries were interned in the camps, including Hungarians, Poles, Gypsies, Russians, and one Chinese, who
remains only a number—181292—without further information.
On 27 January 1945, the Russian Red Army liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau and set more than 7,000 survivors (including more than 130 children) free.
More than 1.5 million perished in the camps. The Russian Red Army found 7.7 tons of hair and personal belongings from victims, including suitcases,
shoes, and glasses.
Angel of Death: Josef Mengele
In Auschwitz, SS Capt. Dr Josef Mengele, nicknamed the ‘Angel of Death’, carried out human experimentation and genetic experiments as terrible as the
crimes Unit 731 committed in China. In his book Deciphering the History of Japanese War Atrocities: The Story of Doctor and General Shiro Ishii,
American scholar Kenneth Port mentions Josef Mengele: ‘Shirō Ishii and the doctors of Unit 731 committed horrors on human subjects that only the Dr
Mengele of the world might contemplate. Ishii accomplished what Mengele could only dream about’. 1
At the end of the Second World War, Josef Mengele was released from a POW camp by falsifying his identity. Wanted for war crimes, he was unable
to live freely in Germany, so he escaped to South America and evaded trial. With the help of Nazi sympathisers, Mengele continually changed his identity
to hide from German police and the Mossad (Israeli intelligence) blacklist. He travelled to Brazil, Paraguay, and other places, and eventually died at the age
of sixty-nine of a stroke while swimming. Mengele was never able to return to his motherland. In 1972, Mengele wrote in his diary: ‘Aber wie ist heute
meine Heimat? Und ist sie noch meine Heimat? Wird sie mich nicht als Feind empfangen?’ (‘What is my homeland today? Is it still my homeland? Would
they not see me as enemy?’)
No matter if they were babies or elders, Mengele killed Jews and others in human experimentation without mercy. In this, he and Shirō Ishii have many
similarities: the two were both supporters and perpetrators of human experimentation and both escaped international trials for their war crimes.
Shirō Ishii was not pursued by the Soviet Union, the Chinese government, or the Japanese police. His name is unheard by the post-war generation.
When the Second World War ended, Shirō Ishii enjoyed privileges with a prestigious job and stable life. Josef Mengele would have envied him had he
known of Ishii’s tranquil post-war life in Japan.

Preservation of Ruins and Museum

Just before the end of the Second World War, the Nazis set fire to their camps in order to destroy evidence. The wooden floors, doors, and windows
burned, but many structures survived the fire.
Documents that survive include lists of roles played by Nazis and victims, lists leaked by the war criminals in some cases. These precious materials
became useful trial exhibits to document Nazi crimes as well as historical displays that reveal what took place in the camps.
On 2 July 1947, the historical site of Auschwitz became the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Its permanent exhibition halls utilise photos,
relics, and historical documents to depict its tragic history. One showcase about 30 metres long contains human hair and shoes from little boys and girls,
men and women. Those who died in the camps left only these nameless belongings, as if they were never alive in this world. I dare not to guess what
feelings Jews today hold toward Germany and her people. As a Chinese citizen, knowing how my countrymen suffered such similar disaster, I was not able
to act like the ordinary visitors touring the concentration camps in a hurry without any emotional reaction.
On 7 December 1970, Chairman of the Federal Republic of Germany Willy Brandt fell to his knees when he visited a monument to the Nazi-era
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. With this gesture, the ‘Warschauer Kniefall’, he was awarded the 1971 Nobel Peace Prize for his act of contrition for his
countrymen and their crimes. In 1979, UNESCO listed Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp as a world heritage site to spread the message ‘love peace,
no war’ to the world. In 1996, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl proclaimed 27 January as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to remind
countrymen to never forget their history of Holocaust.
In the same year, the ruins of the US atomic attack on Hiroshima, Japan, were listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Based on UNESCO’s
criteria that such sites ‘… be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a)
significant stage(s) in human history’, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Hiroshima easily qualify.
In 2012, the historical ruins of Unit 731 in Harbin were included onto the preliminary list from China for submission to the UNESCO. This action came
late, in our opinion, but it reflects the desire for peace, freedom, and human rights by Chinese people.
Germany does not forget its history of great contributions to a better world, it also does not ignore mistakes its countrymen made in the past. This
allows citizens to study their own history in a critical way from the perspective of human rights and ethics. This is what we consider a civilised country. We
do not think it is necessary for a national leader to make a public display in another country, although Willy Brandt’s act of sorrow represented, indeed, an
apology and deep reflection from his heart. Actions, not words, are more meaningful and convincing.
In today’s Japan, meanwhile, some scholars and politicians endeavour to cover the truth and fabricate history to deceive the public. The silent members
of Unit 731 are the opposite of the honourable Germans who are brave enough to admit their errors. Some forty years after Brandt’s gesture, on 12 May
2013, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe boarded a trainer jet numbered ‘731’ in Matsushima city at Miyagi Prefecture. He smiled and posed with thumbs
up for a photo. Released by Japanese media, this image drew great international attention. Abe was undoubtedly aware of the sensitive nature of the
number on the jet. The incident reflects the Abe administration’s attitude of not admitting, not reflecting, and not apologising for Imperial Japan’s war
crimes. We concur with the comment from South Korea’s Joong Ang Daily on the incident: ‘Abe’s behaviour is unbelievable. Imagine if the leader of
Germany rides on a trainer jet in a Nazi uniform…’

Remembering Auschwitz
I left Auschwitz through the gate inscribed with ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ (‘Work Sets You Free’), realising the irony of the word ‘frei’ (‘freedom’) at any
concentration or extermination camp. The two words have no connection. History, however, linked them together: ‘frei’ was taken away and ‘Arbeit’ was a
pretext for massacre.
I could not calm myself as I rode back to Krakow that rainy autumn afternoon. I thought of the buildings, and how terror saturated their bricks. I had
walked floors once bathed in blood and crime. I could not recall the camp objectively.
On the soil of Auschwitz, we are no longer scholars or visitors, but human beings who look at history with mercy and conscience. We learn about the
conflicts between people and nations. Such remaining sites as these camps test the conscience of human beings. They evoke the history of disaster and the
countless lives of men and women, young and old, taken without reason.
It is a history that can never be accepted: Europeans created much of civilisation from the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution and introduced the
concepts of basic human rights, freedom, and equality. How and why did some of Europe turn to brutality and inhumane treatment of other nations, acts
that provoked war and rewrote the history of their world with blood? Following the end of the Second World War, some Germans chose not to marry or
have children, others refused medical treatment as a way to punish themselves and their countrymen who violated world peace on such a massive scale.
I have studied books, official documents, photos, and documentaries that reveal the facts about the Japanese invasion of China. I have met Japanese