Unit 731 Sutray

Compare the Holocaust and the Rape of Nanking in terms of their backgrounds, motifs and historical influences.

It happened, shamefully, under the blanket of silence. Muffled screams of pain and sorrow were unheard to the rest of the world. The blanket smothered it all: hangings, rapings, massacres, burnings, a war. They called the Guatemalan genocide “the Silent Holocaust” (“Guatemala 1982”). But it was not silent to indigenous Guatemalans of all cultures, to Mayans, or to those in the Guerilla Army of the Poor. It was violent and earsplitting. The blanket suffocated the noise and strangled these people like the nooses tied around their necks. Help would not arrive, not when they could no longer be heard, not when they could no longer speak. The Guatemalan government laid heavily on rebelling forces. In seek of a nation perfected, they wished to rid

Farewell to Manzanar, a historical memoir, delivers an inspiring perspective on how Japanese were treated at their time in internment. This book is highly recommended for students who are in curiosity to learn more about the Pearl Harbor bombing and how the Japanese were affected by the way they had to live. While reviewing this book, it was noticed that there was excellent content, sources and perspectives. The author also had an interesting background that inspired her to write this memoir. Although life at Manzanar seemed unbearable and tough, the memoir also describes how the Wakatsukis’ transition from their childhood memories and how they think of Mazanar as adults; especially Jeanne.

On the tragic day of August 6, 1945, US Air Force deployed the first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. A few days later, the second atomic bomb devastated the city of Nagasaki. These bombs were thought to end the war between Japan and America before other countries could get involved. To this day, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still a source of pain and shame for those afflicted and for those who survived. In the poem, “Hiroshima Exit” by Canadian Writer Joy Kogawa presents a flash back of these events that occurred during World War II.

Unbroken is a book that follows the heroic and tragic tale of Louis Zamperini; from when he was an Olympic runner to his time in the U.S. military as a bombardier. Laura Hillenbrand retells his riveting nonfiction tale. Throughout the book Hillenbrand vividly retold Louis life with many enrapturing photos and maps.

The residents of Hiroshima, Japan began their day routinely on August 6, 1945. Some commuted to work or school, some sat down to read a newspaper, and some tended to the needs of their children. At exactly fifteen minutes past eight in the morning, all aspects of life as known to the city’s population of two hundred and forty five thousand people were decimated within an instant; it was an instant in which the first atomic bomb was dropped from an American plane, killing nearly one hundred thousand people and injuring another one hundred thousand more. In its original edition, John Hersey’s Hiroshima traces the lives of six survivors, beginning a few minutes prior to the bombing and covering the period directly thereafter.

In an ever-changing world, never has a war been so innovatively brutal as the First World War. One can speak of dehumanization, animalization and desensitization, evoking images of pain, terror and deadening. In his novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque melancholically, yet beautifully, depicts the absolute horrors of war and the way this gruesomeness affected the common soldier, analyzing both the psychological and the physical aspects, and assessing the ultimate ramification on its often-innocent victims. Through means of his pivotal narrator Paul Baümer, how effective was Remarque’s novel as a critique and debunking of World War I actually?

Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was Divine is a story about a Japanese-American family and their experience in an internment camp in Utah. In the book, the young girl says to her mother “Is there anything wrong with my face?... People were staring” (15). The reader can see from this quote what it was like for the Japanese-Americans during the war. The quote shows how it was not just a national problem; it was a problem for everyone- including making a ten year old girl feel self-conscious. What makes this stand out from the others is that as far as the reader knows, she has not done anything wrong. She also has no clue as to why people are being discriminatory towards her, hence why she has to ask her mom. What she has yet to learn is that

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki lead to the death of many Japanese civilians. These deaths still to this day weight heavy on the hearts of the Japanese people. Geoffrey shepherd's article attempts to persuade his audience that the atomic bombs should have never been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston wrote the book namely Farewell to Manzanar is an autobiographical memoir of writer’s confinement at the place Manzanar that happened to be a Japanese-American internment camp. The book is based on the happenings during the time of America and Japan dispute and what happened to the Japanese families’ resident in the United States of America. It is written by Houston to recollect as well as represent at the same time what happened to the well-settled Japanese families in the doubt of disloyalty. In this book, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston argues by remembering all the major and minor effects of war on her family consisting of her parents, granny, four brothers and five sisters.

The Holocaust was a indeed a big depression for all Jews. Many people had the courage to help throughout this horrific experience, although some did not succeed with their process, there are many people and organizations that brought Jews freedom. This is an important cause because as badly as Jews wanted and needed help, a lot of them got it. Resistance efforts that were that happened during the Holocaust are significant in many ways and saved many lives, for those reasons the people that helped should be given great appreciation. Not only did the Americans lead Jews to freedom but there are people who already had that idea in mind beforehand.

When the atrocities of world war two are brought up, many people think of the biggest travesties the war caused, like the holocaust and Pearl Harbor. They think of the Jews and Americans slaughtered with almost ungodly techniques, and the countries that committed these war crimes. But one such case never comes to the mind of the average Joe, Unit 731 and its founder, Shiro Ishii. Ishii was born into a rich family on June 25th, 1892 in the Kamo district, Chibe prefecture, and southeast of Tokyo (Byrd 15). Shiro joined the military as soon as possible due to his great love for Japan and the emperor (Ammentorp). During his service, he went to Kyoto Imperial University and joined the medical department, where he would prove to be very proficient

In the Pacific Theatre of World War II, Prisoner-of-war camps were a common occurrence. Japan and the United States had POW camps, but the most infamous were those of the Japanese. Japanese POW camps were governed by the country’s military officials, with no international laws being applied to the system. Prisoner-of-war camps were meant to be a place for enemy soldiers to be abstained from the war efforts on either side. However, POW camps in Japan were geared toward the expansion of the Japanese war effort. In Unbroken, the biography of Louis Zamperini recounts his horrific time spent as a prisoner-of-war in Japan. The book discloses how atrocious the prisoners were treated, and how everyday life occurred. Overall, Unbroken explains the role

“The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience” is an article written by Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton, that chronicles the story of the My Lai Massacre of 1968 and the resulting investigation. The article also contains the author's opinions on the military’s stance on following orders, specifically following orders that could be considered illegal. This is also discussed in Marianne Szegedy-Madzak’s “The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal: Sources of Sadism”. In the article she discusses how guards will torture prisoners, because it is excused as a stress-relief tool, and were even congratulated by superiors for their actions. The torturers justified their actions because they believed they were helping the real interrogators out.

As a tv reporter who has traveled worldwide, I believe that the photograph “The Napalm Girl” published in the New York Times on June 9th 1972 expresses the reality on what is happening during wars to children. With this letter, I would like to express my deep concerns that this picture should be known globally to spread awareness of the human capacity of atrocity.