A special exhibition and presentation on “Japan’s Biological and Chemical Warfare in China” was held on September 11, 2013 at Brookdale Community College (BCC) in Lincroft, NJ. Click here (link to Attachment 3) for a flyer of that event. Continue reading
May 16, 2013
This program, held at the Monmouth County Library in Manalapan and co-sponsored by the Monmouth County Library, consisted of two items:
Genocide Panel Discussion at the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North in Plainsboro, NJ. It was a very successful full-school-day event for 300-400 10th/11th grade world history students. The program started in the morning with the film “Schlindler’s List.” After lunch, the panel discussion chaired by Dr. Paul Winkler with five panelists: Jerry Ehrlich, M.D. (on Darfur), Dr. Vera Goodkin (on Holocaust), Eugenie Mukeshimana (on Rwanda), Dr. Nuran Nabi (on Bangladesh), and Dr. Don Tow (on Nanking). The students were captivated for over two and a half hours by the discussion of genocides in five different parts of the world by this panel of survivors and activists. The students asked many relevant questions, including how they can contribute to stopping genocides from reoccurring. Everyone involved thought that this event not only increased the knowledge of the students on these historical events, but may also lead to some follow-on actions by these students.
This event shows that with proper support from the teachers and school administrators, worthwhile events such as this could be held at other schools. The event could range from a full-day or half-day program discussing multiple genocides to a one-hour program covering just one genocide. NJ-ALPHA plans to organize more events of this type in 2013 focusing on the Asian genocide.
December 7-8, 2012: A major conference “75th Anniversary Commemoration of the Nanking Massacre” was held at Brookdale Community College (BCC). It was co-sponsored with BCC’s Center for WWII Studies and Conflict Resolution and the NJ Commission on Holocaust Education. For the conference’s complete program, click Program-Final. It received rave reviews by all participants. Here are two written responses received:
– Jerry Iacangelo: “It was fabulous. What a history lesson! Every speaker was brilliant. It was a thrill to meet the “Torn Memories of Nanking” filmaker Tamaki Matsuoka after the movie. I thanked her and applaud her courage. … Robin Lung: A fascinating charismatic woman with a deep passion for her story. … The comfort women: very touching how these women never lost their dignity or grace. You just want to climb into the screen and hug one of them. … The teachers and the student: I’m very impressed with the teachers and even more so by Michael Carter who was very eloquent in his speech. … Japan hurts itself by not acknowledging its evil past. Even Gorbachev ultimately admitted Russia’s role in the Katyn massacre of the Polish military officers. That was good for Russia. … With programs such as this, no one can deny what happened in Nanking.”
– John McLaughlin: “I am almost a a loss for words to describe my enthusiasm for this conference. What a tremendous amount of work and what great speakers. Congratulations on a superb job. I joined the Alliance and would love to play a part in its activities in some form. I have a strong interest in Chinese history. One of the strongest impressions of my research is that there are two countries that were poorly treated by the Allies in WWII, China and Poland.”
One of the highlights of the conference was the showing of the film “Torn Memories of Nanking” and the talk by the film director Tamaki Matsuoka. Ms. Matsuoka is a most remarkable woman who dedicated the past 24 years of her life to find out what happened during the Nanking Massacre. She has interviewed over 300 Nanking Massacre survivors and over 250 former Japanese soldiers who were involved in the Nanking Massacre. For more information about her, click here.”
Another highlight was the talk by our local 89 year-old Nanking Massacre survivor Mr. Chu-Yeh Chang. In spite of the pain recalling that terrible part of his life experience, he was brave and gracious enough to give us another presentation on that subject. The “Reference Information” page of this website contains both the English and Chinese transcripts of a similar talk he gave at the 70th Anniversary Commemoration of the Nanking Massacre.
To honor two people who have dedicated a large portion of their lives to reveal the truth and to educate the world about the Nanking Massacre, NJ-ALPHA presented two special recognition awards to Mr. Chu-Yeh Chang and Ms. Tamaki Matsuoka.
Photo of Mr. Chang receiving award from NJ-ALPHA President Don Tow:
Photo of Ms. Matsuoka receiving award from NJ-ALPHA President Don Tow:
For the wordings (both Chinese and English) of the awards, see below:
– For Mr. Chang’s plaque, Chinese words, click Chang-Chinese
– For the English translation of Mr. Chang’s plaque, click Chang-English
– For Ms. Matsuoka’s plaque, Chinese words, click Matsuoka-Chinese
– For the English translation of Ms. Matsuoka’s plaque, click Matsuoka-English
Well-known American film director Oliver Stone’s talk on 8/6/13 in Hiroshima in which he compared Germany and Japan, and chastised Japan’s leaders for their revisionist policy with respect to what Japan did in WWII. His talk can be seen here:
A 65-year-old mysterious mass-murder case in Japan that may be related to Unit 731’s biological weapons, but now we may never know the truth:
New book Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan’s Sex Slaves by Pei Pei Qiu, Su Zhiliang, and Chen Lifei just published by University of British Columbia Press, 2013. This book features the personal stories of the survivors of the devastating system of sexual enslavement. Offering insight into the conditions of these women’s lives prior to and after the war, it points to the social, cultural, and political environments that prolonged their suffering. Through personal narratives from twelve Chinese “comfort station” survivors, this book reveals the unfathomable atrocities committed against women by Japan during the war.