Hidden Atrocities - Japanese Germ Warfare and American Obstruction of Justice at the Tokyo Trial (Hardcover)

In the aftermath of World War II, the Allied intent to bring Axis crimes to light led to both the Nuremberg trial and its counterpart in Tokyo, the International Military Tribunal of the Far East. Yet the Tokyo trial failed to prosecute Imperial Japanese leaders for the very worst of war crimes: inhumane medical experimentation, including vivisection and open-air pathogen and chemical tests, which rivaled Nazi atrocities, as well as mass attacks using plague, anthrax, and cholera that killed thousands of Chinese civilians. In Hidden Atrocities, Jeanne Guillemin goes behind the scenes at the trial to reveal the American obstruction that denied Japan's victims justice. Responsibility for Japan's secret germ warfare program, organized as Unit 731 in Harbin, China, extended to top government leaders and many respected scientists, all of whom escaped indictment. Instead, motivated by early Cold War tensions, U.S. military intelligence in Tokyo insinuated itself into the Tokyo trial by blocking prosecution access to key witnesses and then classifying incriminating documents. Washington decision makers, supported by the American occupation leader General Douglas MacArthur, sought to acquire Japan's biological warfare expertise to gain an advantage over the Soviet Union, suspected of developing both biological and nuclear weapons. Ultimately, U.S. national security goals left the victims of Unit 731 without vindication. Decades later, evidence of the Unit 731 atrocities still troubles relations between China and Japan. Guillemin's vivid account of the cover-up at the Tokyo trial shows how without guarantees of transparency, power politics can jeopardize international justice, with persistent consequences.

General

Imprint:	Columbia University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	A Nancy Bernkopf Tucker and Warren I. Cohen Book on American-East Asian Relations
Release date:	September 2017
Authors:	Jeanne Guillemin
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 34mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Trade binding
Pages:	488
ISBN-13:	978-0-231-18352-9
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Military history Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > War & defence operations > Battles & campaigns Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Weapons & equipment > Chemical & biological weapons Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900 > Second World War Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > Military history Books > History > World history > From 1900 > Second World War
LSN:	0-231-18352-6
Barcode:	9780231183529

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