Episode 268 – The Right thing for the Wrong Reasons

December 15, 2018 1 Comment

Today, we cover one of the most unusual stories of WWII: the policy of saving and protecting Jews pursued by some among Japan’s military leadership. How did anti-semitic ideas about a global conspiracy convince some in Japan that the Jews could be their allies? How many were saved? And what does it all mean?

Sources

Goodman, David and Masanori Miyazawa. Jews in the Japanese Mind: The History and Uses of a Cultural Stereotype.

Shillony, Ben-Ami. Jews & The Japanese

Gao, Bei. Shanghai Sanctuary: Chinese and Japanese Policy Toward European Jews

Images

The synagogue in Harbin, Manchuria
children in Shanghai during the Second World War

One of the main streets of the Shanghai Ghetto in 1943.
This image gives you some idea of how cramped living space was in the Shanghai Ghetto. 
Polish refugees arriving in Shanghai
Yasue Norihiro, one of the two leading men behind the initiative to protect Jews within Japan
Inuzuka Koreshige, also a leader in the initiative to protect Jews within the empire
Despite having been proven a forgery back in the 1920s, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion remains a go-to for anti-semites in Japan and around the world. This edition was edited by Japanese anti-semite Ota Ryu in the 1990s. 

1 thought on “Episode 268 – The Right thing for the Wrong Reasons”

  1. It’s pretty fun listening to this one vis-a-vis Laszlo Montgomery’s multi-part series on the Shanghai Ghetto. Were you two secretly collaborating?

    I’ve also heard that this phenomenon of philo/anti-semitism also occurring in South Korea. It seems that many of them believe that Jewish people “control” the banks and media establishment but that this is something that Koreans should aspire to.

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