When World War II is discussed, a lot of information comes into mind; Nazi’s, Pear Harbor, D-Day, concentration camps. When asked post war events mostly one event comes to mind, which is the Nuremburg trials. The Tokyo Trials almost never comes to mind. The Tokyo trials took place around the same time as the Nuremburg trials, but it is not as well known. Both the Nazi’s and the Japanese committed gruesome acts during the war, but why is the Nazi’s side more publicized? The reason why the Tokyo Trials are not as well-known as the Nuremburg trials is because, the US government protected a lot of high ranking individuals and hid information regarding certain units for Japan. Dachau the first Nazi concentration camp opened in March 1933. The …show more content…
The world knew these individuals, because they were publicized. Many high ranking individuals were never tried in the Tokyo war trials; Emperor Hirohito, all members of the imperial family, and members of unit 731. They were all granted immunity by General MacArthur, before the trials began. General Douglas MacArthur, The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, not only convened the court, but also openly insisted on an exoneration of the Japanese emperor. (Takatori 449) The United States believed Japan could become an ally. To make this process go as smoothly as possible, they decided it would be greatly beneficial if the emperor appeared to be cooperating with the occupying allied power. General MacArthur also wanted the research of biological and chemical warfare. The United States government gave MacArthur permission to grant immunity to Unit 731 members. “Ishii was actually protected by the U.S. government so that the secrets and mostly intact research could be brought to Camp Detrick, Md., the United States' own burgeoning biological warfare research center. Like Ishii, most of his colleagues were never haunted by the danger of a war crimes tribunal.” (Swanger