Hello Bob,   
      
   >LL>The Land of the Rising Sun is filled with wonderful people, a people   
   >LL>who deserve far more credit than what they have received.  For example,   
   >LL>during WWII, the Japanese people gave refuge to many Jews, thus saving   
   >LL>them from certain death at the hands of the Nazis.   
      
   BB>Yes, in Shanghi.   That was an open city for many years, that is   
   BB>anyone could enter without papers - thus filled with white Russians   
   BB>and Jews.   
      
   China had been carved up by foreign powers thus making it suitable   
   for outsiders.  Furthermore, entire countries were carved out of what   
   once was China.  In a way, Chinese and Japanese are the same people,   
   given the Japans were settled by Chinese runaways.   
      
   BB>But the story about not turning over their Jews can be traced to   
   BB>a very wise Jewish Rabbi, that found out that the Nazi's were   
   BB>indeed asking the Japanese to round up the Jews living there.   
   BB>He went to the Japanese commandant and said the only reason   
   BB>they're asking for us is because they believe we're inferior just   
   BB>like they look at YOU!  To them, only blue-eyed blondes are the   
   BB>chosen ones.   
      
   That is the Jewish version.  The Japanese version is much different.   
   In short, Japan invaded China in order to free the Chinese from   
   oppression.  For the Japanese, freeing Asians from the yoke of white   
   colonialism was their calling.  People in the West fail to understand   
   the Japanese mind, as their culture is too different to comprehend.   
   For example, the phrase "comfort girls" is not what you think ...   
      
   BB>Well, now ya gotta conflict as the Japanese feel that's   
   BB>their role - the chosen ones. :)  So bottom line is no Jews   
   BB>were rounded up.   
      
   Only because the Jews had no "comfort girls" to offer.   
      
   BB>End result is yes, Jewish lives were saved, but there was an   
   BB>underlying reason and it's not just humanitarian as much as a   
   BB>thumb in the Nazi eye. :)   
      
   It is more than that.   
      
   The Japanese consider themselves as being the "white race of   
   the Orient."  Culturally, intellectually, and in every other way   
   superior to all Asian peoples.  In the Japanese mind, there were   
   three classes of people.  The highest class was Japanese.  Below   
   the Japanese were all other Asian peoples.  The lowest class were   
   whites.   
      
   During WWII, the only people in Asia/Oceania who actively opposed   
   the Japanese were Filipinos. And some of them were switch hitters,   
   changing sides depending on the light of day (or night).  The only   
   reason I can think of as to why many Filipinos chose to side with   
   Americans was because FDR had promised independence for them once   
   the war was over.  Harry Truman kept that promise (FDR had died   
   in office prior to the end of the war) knowing what the alternative   
   would have been, as Filipinos were prepared to take to the hills.   
      
   There is more that can be said about the Japanese during that   
   period.  But that was a different time, a different place.  It   
   should also be remembered that not all Japanese soldiers were   
   monsters, many of them finding such actions so atrocious to the   
   point of going AWOL.   
      
   We like to paint Nazis as being evil monsters, the same as   
   we like to paint Japanese of that time as being evil monsters.   
   However, American soldiers also did much the same thing, raping   
   women and killing prisoners, along with taking "souvenirs" of   
   gold teeth, etc., back home.   
      
   War is hell, and nothing to be proud of.  No people should be   
   ostracized because of past events, or because of a military gone   
   wild.   
      
   --Lee   
      
      
    * SLMR 2.1a * Bumper Sticker: THINK OUTSIDE THE FOX   
      
   --- Maximus 3.01   
    * Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.mooo.com (3:800/432)