Brief History:  In commemoration of the 20^th anniversary of NJ-ALPHA, in the summer of 2023, officers and other active members of NJ-ALPHA met, discussed, and decided that NJ-ALPHA should continue its objective, because not only that its original objective is still valid, furthermore its importance is even more critical today, because history may repeat itself as the world is moving toward more conflicts and wars, even involving nuclear wars.

First, we want to summarize what NJ-ALPHA has done in the past 20 years in the area of improving education and understanding of the atrocities experienced by millions of Asians during WWII.

When the founding leaders of NJ-ALPHA were contemplating what activities NJ-ALPHA could do to help improve the high school education in their history and civics courses, it was decided that NJ-ALPHA could organize study tours in China and Asia for high school teachers and educators focusing on that part of history, and they can incorporate that part of history in their high school history, civics, and other courses.  Such study tours were initiated by NJ-ALPHA in 2006.  Another such study tour was organized in 2008.  Several participants of these study tours worked together with NJ-ALPHA to develop a Curriculum Guide for Secondary Teachers titled “The Nanking Massacre and Other Japanese Atrocities Committed During  Asia-Pacific War 1931-1945.”  That led to close collaboration between NJ-ALPHA and the “NJ Commission on Holocaust Education,” a NJ state government agency with a core mission to promote Holocaust and related education throughout the state by surveying, designing, encouraging and promoting Holocaust and genocide education and awareness.

Then ALPHA-like organizations in other parts of the U.S. and Canada also joined and expanded the study tours to include other parts of Asia (e.g., South Korea), and helped generate many other educational documents on that part of history.  Therefore, NJ-ALPHA and other ALPHA organizations did make a significant impact in helping to educate American and Canadian high school students on the sufferings and atrocities experienced by Chinese and other Asians during WWII. After a pause of 3-4 years from the Covid-19 pandemic, we want to continue that work.

Path Forward:  Starting with a program planned for late 2023 or early 2024, NJ-ALPHA will be working on more activities toward its objective.  Information on the next Peace and Reconciliation China Study Tour, planned for the summer of 2025, can be found in the “Study Tour” page of the NJ-ALPHA website, or its future updates.

Besides a Peace & Reconciliation China Study Tour in 2025, we may also organize smaller projects that do not require as much funding as a large study tour.  Perhaps we can organize writing competition(s) (e.g., under magazines like Sino Monthly or regional Chinese School organizations) on a related relevant topic (e.g., best allocation of civil-minded projects with limited funds, how best to compensate past atrocities, similarities and differences between different generations of Chinese or Asian Americans, …).  Such projects could lead to better use of the NJ-ALPHA funds which we have worked so hard to get.

During WWII, Japan’s military developed and used numerous biological weapons in China, killing tens of thousands of Chinese civilians, including American POWs.  But intriguingly none of the leaders was ever prosecuted in the ultimate Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. 

Paul Johnson, an award-winning broadcast journalist, explained why and documented how the U.S. exploited Japan’s biological weapons crimes.  Paul also conducted a Q&A remotely via the Internet. Paul has reported in the U.S. and Canada, Europe, Central America and Asia. 

Two Free Public Showings:  Wed. 4/3/19, Monmouth County Library HQ, 125 Symmes Dr, Manalapan, NJ (co-sponsored with the Monmouth County Library HQ), and Tues 4/23/19, Brookdale Community College (BCC), Student Life Center, 765 Newman Springs Rd., Lincroft, NJ (co-sponsored with the Asia Society Club of BCC.

Don Tow, President of NJ-ALPHA, also gave an overview of the various types of massive atrocities committed by the Japanese military in Asia during WWII. Mr. Chang and Don each received over 60 thank you letters from the students.

A public event was held at the Monmouth Country Library Headquarter in Manalapan, NJ which presented the words of American, German, Japanese, and Chinese eyewitnesses describing what they saw and experienced during the Nanking Massacre of 1937-1938.

For the presentation presented that evening, click:

• Powerpoint file (clicking here leads to the Powerpoint file).

Also shown that evening was the 26.5-minute documentary based on John Magee’s home movie filmed during the Nanking Massacre that was smuggled out of China and widely shown in the U.S. and the world in 1938 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7R5N6qWScU).

Hawaii filmmaker Robin Lung investigates the case of Li Ling-Ai, the un-credited female producer of KUKAN, a landmark color film that revealed the atrocities of World War II in China. This public event was held at Brookdale Community College with Robin Lung present for the Q&A. Robin was a participant of the 2014 Peace & Reconciliation Asia Study Tour.

On the afternoon of Oct. 21, 2017, a public event was held at the YMCA at Berkeley Heights, NJ to hear the reports of the four NJ participants of the 2017 Peace & Reconciliation Asia Study Tour:

• Sue Elfenbein (Adjudicator, NJ Dept. of Labor): “Nanking Massacre Survivor and Museum”
• Bill Hegerich (Head, Social Studies Teacher, Ocean County Vocational and Technical School): “Sex Slaves”
• Felicia Panny (Social Studies Teacher): “Germ Warfare”
• Lisa Wiater (English Teacher, Ridgewood High School): “Upstanders: John Magee, John Rabe, Minnie Vautrin”

The 2017 Peace and Reconciliation Asia Study Tour took place July 14-27, 2017 (14 days/13 nights). There were 16 participants accompanying Don Tow on this Study Tour.

For a full report, see the Study Tour page.

The next Peace and Reconciliation Asia Study Tour will be in the summer of 2020. There is no study tour in 2019.

In the 19^th century, under the leadership of Ambassador Anson Burlingame and Secretary of State William Seward, the U.S. for a brief period changed its foreign policy toward China from one based on “unequal treaties” to one based on “equality of nations.”  Are there lessons that we can learn from the 19^th century that can be applied to U.S.-China relationship in the 21^st century?

This talk was based on Don’s article published in March 2017 in the China-U.S. Focus Digest  with the title “U.S.-China Relationship Can Use Another Anson Burlingame”

Don talked about the forgotten holocaust of WWII.  He talked about the massive and inhuman atrocities in Asia, especially in China, during WWII.  He emphasized that there were many eye witnesses, foreigners and Chinese, who recorded what they saw and experienced in diaries, film, photos, and articles.  He read several of the quotes from these eye witnesses.

Mr. Chang recalled his own experience as a 14^th year old Nanking Massacre victim and survivor, and the tragedy his family experienced when his mother, 80-year-old great grandmother, and 11-year-old sister were raped, and his great grandmother was also killed.  He ended his talk with the remark “In spite of the atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers against my family, I am not seeking any revenge, and do not hold any animosity against the Japanese people. The fact that I have become a Christian has helped me to forgive the Japanese. I tell my three children and nine grandchildren that they must not hate, but they must never forget this part of history. I don’t want this kind of things to happen again to anyone else in the future.”

You can read the transcript of a similar earlier talk by Mr. Chang at:   https://www.nj-alpha.org/Reference_Information_Articles/HTML_Articles/Chang_Chu_Yeh_English.html

or you can see another similar earlier talk by Mr. Chang at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlSxKO5Da2Y

Don received 99 thank you notes from the approximately 200 students and teachers who attended the program.  Mr. Chang also received a similar box of thank you notes.

In April 2016, we had a series of events in NJ and NY featuring Tamaki Matsuoka, known as the “Conscience of Japan.” Tamaki Matsuoka, a Japanese elementary school history teacher who during the last 28 years has tried to find out just exactly what happened in Nanking during the Nanking Massacre (December 1937 – January 1938). During this process, she has become a journalist, researcher, and activist. She interviewed more than 250 former Japanese soldiers who fought in Nanking during that period, and over 300 Nanking Massacre Chinese survivors. She has traveled between Japan and China more than 90 times during this period.

She has written numerous articles, produced several documentary films, and published several books, including the just published (March 2016) English book Torn Memories of Nanking. The awards she has won include:

• Japan Congress of Journalist Prize (2003)
• The Nanking Massacre Contribution Award (2004)
• Her documentary film Torn Memories of Nanjing was nominated for the Documentary Film Section at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2010.

Click on “Tamaki’s Bio” to access the file “Tamaki Matsuoka Bio-English.pdf.” For more information about Tamaki and her new English book Torn Memories of Nanking, see the article “Torn Memories of Nanking: A Must Read”: http://www.dontow.com/2016/06/torn-memories-of-nanking-a-must-read/.