Vergangenheitsbewältigung

Jeffrey Herf, writing in the New Republic about a German film called Der Baader Meinhof Komplex / The Baader Meinhof Complex opened his article with a reference to Vergangenheitsbewältigung.

There is an ungainly German word, Vergangenheitsbewältigung, that has no equivalent in the English language. It means "coming to terms with past," and it was coined to refer to the efforts of German intellectuals, journalists, and even some politicians who, over the past half century, insisted that facing unpleasant truths about their country's history was both a moral and political necessity. As a result of these efforts, Vergangenheitsbewältigung has become part of the core political culture of contemporary Germany.

It is quite a good description, even better than Wikipedia. It is a good means towards reconciliation and other countries have similar though not as formalised means of approaching unpleasant aspects of their histories.

Unfortunately, similar processes were not applied in Japan after World War II.

In hindsight, the American occupying administration (General Douglas MacArthur) let the wartime Japanese government off very lightly, being more concerned about the emergence of communism.

Compare this to what happened in Germany with the Nuremberg Trials. The Germans will always be reminded of its history by its culture of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, so that it will never be repeated. There is a sense of collective national guilt.

In contrast, many younger generations of Japanese have no knowledge of its history during the same period. This upsets the Chinese, as in their eyes there has been no atonement. The Chinese have very long memories which can stretch hundreds of years, and they do not easily forgive. (See BBC and The Independent about Nanjing).

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I watched Brick Lane on DVD today. Brilliant.