Names of Detainees by Soviet

Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released a list of names of Japanese who were detained and forced labor by Soviet Union after the end of World War II. New names who died concentration camps in Siberia, Northeastern China or North Korea amounted to over ten thousands. For the families of those victims, the list must be reliable information about when, where and how their loved one was died on foreign frozen land. But many of the families had passed away before reaching the facts.

According to estimation by MHLW, 575 thousand Japanese were detained by Soviet Union after the war. Among them, 55 thousand died in Siberia or Mongol and other 47 thousand were deported to North Korea or Northeast China due to inability in hard labor. Starting 1991, right after the collapse of Soviet Union, MHLW obtained from Russian Government files with names of Japanese detainees and released forty-two thousands of names of whom died in Siberia or Mongol by 2007.

The latest release included 85 hundred names deceased in Siberia, 18 hundred in Hun-nam, North Korea and some in China, Southern Sakhalin Island or Etorofu Island in Japan’s Northern Territory still occupied by Russia. Knowing they could eventually obtain the names in North Korea or China, MHLW did not provide with them even after 2007. The ministry explained that they could have not dealt with the names until Siberian list would be finished first.

Some information was different from what the families had been told. Date or place of death contradicted with the belief the families had been embraced as memories of the victim. Some families want to visit the place of death and pray for the victim and others demand further investigation for the people still being missed. MHLW is going to release the information as soon as they get them.

Basically, detention of the Japanese by Soviet Union was serious violation of Potsdam Declaration that Japanese government accepted as the ultimatum for ending World War II. Article 9 of the declaration determines that “the Japanese military forces, after being completely disarmed, shall be permitted to return to their homes with the opportunity to lead peaceful and productive lives.” Russian President Boris Yeltsin officially apologized for that.

New names of illegal detainees reminded the Japanese of unlawful behavior of the Russians, including unilateral occupation of Japanese Northern Territory. Russia’s aggression to Ukraine has to be remembered as unchanged boldness in international relations. This year is not appropriate time for Vladimir Putin to make state visit to Japan.