스가모 프리즌에 수감된 BC급 전범의 전쟁책임인식

Abstract

This study focused on BC-class war criminals, including general soldiers who went to the battlefield under the order of the state, in which war criminals are aware of their war responsibility. The Sugamo Newspaper (すがも新聞) was used as a major data to track the accidents of BC-class war criminals. Sugamo Newspaper was a prison newspaper published by BC-class war criminals from June 5, 1948 to March 29, 1952. The BC class war criminal was tried by GHQ in 49 military courts around the world, including Yokohama and Manila. In the BC-class war crimes trial, 5,700 people were prosecuted and 984 were sentenced to hanging or firing squad. Since the Japanese government and occupation forces decided not to hold the Emperor accountable for war in the Asia-Pacific War, BC-class war criminals were not recognized for war crimes ordered by their superiors and were held accountable as individuals. However, BC class war criminals did not resist or reject this situation until the end. The BC class war criminal thought that the sin was not in the war, but in each human being in the war. Therefore, both A-class and BC-class war criminals admitted that all human beings who participated in the war had war crimes. A peace treaty with Japan was signed, but nothing has changed about the BC-class war criminals imprisoned in Sugamo Prison. BC-class war criminals were highly expected to be released when the peace treaty was signed, so their disappointment was indescribable when they confirmed that they would continue to be detained under the management of the Japanese government even after the peace treaty was signed. Therefore, from this point on, there is no issue at all about how to take responsibility for the war against the Asian countries they invaded while focusing on their own release. This flow of thinking has become a factor that hinders the close review of war responsibility not only for BC-class war criminals but also for the Japanese.