THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 6, 1995 TAG: 9504060021
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
The recent report on Unit 731 and the Japanese biological warfare crime against humanity and civilization during World War II was long-awaited. It came just in time - during this 50th anniversary of V-J Day - to remind us about the tragedies and atrocities that were committed during the war. Like Nazi Dr. Joseph Mengele, the notorious Angel of Death at Auschwitz, Japan had its own ``Doctor of Death'' - Dr. Shiro Ishii, the head of Unit 731.
At a time when there are people in this country attempting to alter history, we need to remind everyone who was the evil party responsible for those tragedies. Unlike the German government, which apologized for its war crimes and compensated its war victims, or the U.S. government which even compensated the Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II, the Japanese government has neither apologized nor paid a single penny to its victims in Asia and in the Pacific. Moreover, Japan is attempting to deny its war crimes through revision of its history.
PING TCHENG
Norfolk, April 2, 1995 by CNB