New trailer for NUREMBERG, starring Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, Leo Woodall, Mark O’Brien, John Slattery, Colin Hanks, and Richard E. Grant. In theaters on November 7

Nuremberg: The Test of the Western World

This is a 1960s documentary that Sony Pictures Classics is re-releasing.

This context is crucial because the Tokyo Trials are the direct historical counterpart to the Nuremberg Trials for the Asia-Pacific theater.

A Re-Released Film Asks a Painful Question: What Became of Asia’s Nuremberg?

The Nanjing Massacre – Massacre, Birth, Buddhahood. Oil on canvas, by Li Zijian. Painted in 1991.

Sony Pictures Classics has just released the official trailer for its re-release of the documentary “Nuremberg: The Test of the Western World.” This film, which chronicles the famous trials of Nazi war criminals, serves as a powerful, if unintentional, mirror to a parallel history in Asia—one that remains fiercely contested and largely unresolved. For audiences in China, Korea, the Philippines, and across Southeast Asia, the title itself poses a haunting question: If Nuremberg was the West’s test of justice, what was the East’s?

The Nuremberg Trials have become a cornerstone of international law and moral reckoning. They established the principle that “following orders” is no defense for atrocities and that crimes against humanity demand accountability. The subsequent, parallel process for Japan was the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, commonly known as the Tokyo Trials.

Yet, in the collective memory of the West, the Tokyo Trials are a footnote compared to Nuremberg. This disparity in historical consciousness is at the heart of the enduring pain felt across Asia. The re-release of this documentary invites a necessary and uncomfortable comparison.

The Unfinished Business of the Tokyo Trials

While the Tokyo Trials did prosecute some Class-A war criminals, the process is widely viewed by victims’ nations as incomplete, politically compromised, and ultimately, a failure of full justice.

Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and World War II.

During WWII the Japanese Unit 731 facility conducted human experimentation on the Chinese public. Experiments included timing how long it would take a 3 day old baby to freeze to death, tests on syphilis and other diseases, and general weapons testing such as explosives and bayonets.

The Shadow of Unit 731: The most glaring omission was the immunity granted to the scientists of Unit 731 in exchange for their data on biological and chemical warfare. The heinous experiments conducted on thousands of Chinese, Korean, and other civilians were effectively bargained away. At Nuremberg, Nazi doctors were prosecuted for their crimes; in Tokyo, their Japanese counterparts were shielded. This creates a painful moral asymmetry: why are some crimes against humanity universally condemned while others were strategically ignored?
The “Comfort Women” System: The systematic sexual enslavement of an estimated 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines, and elsewhere was barely addressed in the trials. This massive, state-sponsored crime was left to fester, its survivors forced to fight for acknowledgment for decades, often facing denial and revisionism in Japan.
The Nanjing Massacre: While the massacre was entered into the trial’s record, the scale and brutal nature of the event have been repeatedly minimized by some Japanese political figures and nationalist groups in the years since, undermining the trial’s findings and re-traumatizing the Chinese people.

The Legacy of Incomplete Reconciliation

Germany’s path, however difficult, involved a sustained effort at Vergangenheitsbewältigung—a “wrestling with the past.” This included official apologies, substantial reparations, and the integration of this dark history into the national education system.

Japan’s post-war approach has been markedly different. While there have been official statements of apology and remorse, such as the 1995 Murayama Statement, their impact has been consistently undermined by visits to Yasukuni Shrine (where convicted war criminals are enshrined), textbook controversies that whitewash history, and political rhetoric that denies or downplays the atrocities.

This leaves a festering wound. For the victims and their descendants, the issue is not about cultivating hatred. It is about the fundamental human need for their suffering to be acknowledged without ambiguity. The question they ask is profound: If the principles of Nuremberg are universal, why does their application seem to stop at the shores of Asia?

A Timely Re-release

The return of “Nuremberg” to the public consciousness is therefore incredibly timely. It forces a conversation not about revenge, but about the foundations of a stable and peaceful future. A lasting partnership in East Asia cannot be built on a foundation of historical denial. The aging survivors of these wartime horrors deserve clarity and acknowledgment before they are all gone.

The true test for the region today is not the one faced by the judges in 1946. The test now is for the current generation to find the courage to confront this history with honesty and empathy. Just as Nuremberg was essential for post-war Europe’s reconciliation, a genuine and collective coming-to-terms with the past is the only path forward for East Asia. The re-release of this film is a reminder that justice, when delayed, is not justice denied, but a debt that history still waits to be settled.

The Unfinished Bridge: Historical Reconciliation in East Asia

The shadows of the same war era linger in a profoundly different way in East Asia, not as a closed chapter, but as an open wound affecting relations between nations to this day. The path to a shared future in this vibrant region remains hampered by an unresolved past.

At the heart of this tension lies a painful history that includes the Nanjing Massacre of 1937, the systematic exploitation of “comfort women” from Korea, China, the Philippines, and other parts of Asia, and the activities of Unit 731, which conducted biological and chemical warfare research. For the victims and their descendants, these are not abstract historical events but legacies of profound suffering that demand acknowledgment, apology, and reconciliation.

The German Precedent: A Model of Confrontation

The world often looks to post-war Germany as a benchmark for confronting a dark historical legacy. The German approach, while not perfect, has been characterized by several key actions:

Official and Repeated Apologies: German leaders have consistently and publicly acknowledged the nation’s guilt for the crimes of the Nazi regime.
Substantial Reparations: Germany has paid billions of dollars in reparations to victims and the state of Israel, acknowledging a material debt to match the moral one.
Legal and Educational Reckoning: The Nuremberg Trials established a legal record of the crimes. Furthermore, the German education system meticulously integrates this history, ensuring younger generations understand the horrors their nation perpetrated.

This process, often described as Vergangenheitsbewältigung (“coming to terms with the past”), has been crucial to Germany’s rehabilitation and its ability to build trust with its neighbors.

The East Asian Dilemma: A History of Ambiguity

In contrast, Japan’s path has been markedly different. While Japan has extended apologies, such as the 1995 statement by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, many in the affected nations view these gestures as insufficient. They argue that the apologies have been diluted by contradictory statements from other political figures, visits to the Yasukuni Shrine (where convicted war criminals are enshrined), and a perceived downplaying of these events in some Japanese educational materials.

This has created a deep-seated sense of injustice. For survivors and the nations that suffered, the issue is not about fostering eternal hatred, but about securing a genuine and unambiguous acknowledgment of their pain. The question they ask is not rhetorical, but heartfelt: How can true partnership be built on a foundation of historical denial or minimization?

Why Reconciliation Matters Today

This is not merely about the past; it is fundamentally about the future. A failure to achieve a historical reconciliation that is satisfactory to all sides has tangible consequences:

Persistent Diplomatic Friction: Historical issues repeatedly sour bilateral relations, disrupting trade, cultural exchange, and diplomatic cooperation on pressing modern issues like security and climate change.
Regional Instability: The lack of trust hampers the development of a unified regional identity and security architecture, similar to that in Europe.
Moral and Humanitarian Imperative: For the aging survivors of these atrocities, time is running out. For them, justice is not an abstract concept but a final, urgent need for their suffering to be officially and unreservedly recognized before they pass away.

A Path Forward

The goal for East Asia is not to perpetuate a cycle of blame, but to break it. This requires courage and statesmanship. A conclusive and universally accepted reckoning—one that could involve a permanent, unequivocal official apology, enhanced educational initiatives, and a compassionate approach to the remaining victims—would not weaken Japan. On the contrary, as Germany demonstrated, it would ultimately strengthen its moral standing and secure its role as a trusted leader in the region.

Building a lasting peace in East Asia requires building a bridge of understanding. The strongest pillars for that bridge are truth, acknowledgment, and a shared commitment to ensuring that the tragedies of the 20th century are never repeated in the 21st. The responsibility to lay these pillars lies with the present generation.