IAmA WWII refugee from Nanking, China that ran to Taiwan from the Japanese invasion.

1925Man · 6 months

At the time he fled, the Japanese were no longer of the Japanese dependency. He fled to Taiwan from the Communist Regime. This is two stories in one.

1925Man · 6 months

He said the only Japanese soldiers he saw were the ones chasing after his family. Other than that, he had not personally communicated with them.

1925Man · 6 months

Yup. You're correct. It isn't true. I wrote that before I interviewed him. After interviewing him, I realized I had written it incorrectly. Everything he's saying to me now is mostly stuff I've never known before (he left because of Communists! Not the Japanese).

The title reflects that lack of knowledge previous to the interview.

1925Man · 6 months

He does know about it and he is appalled by it. One thing that stood out to me is that he mentioned that the Americans took Unit 731's research papers and never shared it.

Can this post get upvotes to see if any reddit historians know what really happened?

Why did we Americans take the research papers that could have led to bringing more people to war tribunals? The wiki on this says that some of the scientists involved in 731 became prominent individuals in society.

1925Man · 6 months

Wrote this elsewhere but they killed his cousin during the cultural revolution.

1925Man · 6 months

CCP killed a cousin of his for not being able to draw Mao well. He's afraid of the CCP.

1925Man · 6 months

Nope. From his words, he hates that time period in Japan. He still has Japanese friends now. He knows that Japan has greatly improved and is very hopeful for Japan.

1925Man · 6 months

He disagrees strongly with this perception. He says when he came to Taiwan, it was bad. The Japanese had taken a lot of the natural resources for themselves and there were many ragged looking people.

He specifically remembers that education was strictly controlled under the Japanese. Only certain subjects could be learned, and nothing that could possibly cause an uprising (political science, etc.). Many were told to learn medicine.

1925Man · 6 months

I don't think this is the case anymore with the taibaozheng system.

1925Man · 6 months

Oo is interesting. I'll ask him this tomorrow.

1925Man · 6 months

There's an encampment system that had a supply of food donations. They slept wherever they could on the ground. When they ran out of food, they bought it.

My guess is that he fled when much of the infrastructure was intact. It wasn't until his college years that he really felt the full effects of an economy in tatters. Doesn't matter if you had money at that point since food was scarce.

As you can guess, the quality of life really depended on how deep the Japanese invasion was.

1925Man · 6 months

He became quite successful, which allowed us to immigrate to the US. Can't say much more though to remain anonymous.

1925Man · 6 months

He's very greatful for your offers and respectfully declines. The nature of this interview is already making him very nervous.

1925Man · 6 months

Sorry, he won't be able to tell you about the atrocities of the Nanjing Massacre. He fled before the real bad stuff happened. The only thing he was was the night sky turned into a hue of red from Nanjing burning. Also heard people running from that direction (the east) warning people to stay away from Nanjing, and that it's a bloodbath.

1925Man · 6 months

He has. He says it's completely different now. He feels very sad because it's just not what he calls home.

The only things he knows is that it was once a place he called home. Doesn't know what happened to it after.

1925Man · 6 months

My grandfather disagrees. He said that life was tough because they essentially pillaged Taiwan of its natural resources. He said that Taiwanese people weren't allowed to learn many subjects for fear of uprising.

The island was pillage of things such as rice, etc. He says that people thinks it's all nice and now because of the infrastructure, but it was hell for people living through it.

When he came to Taiwan, he felt the effects of the Japanese raid on Taiwanese resources. Food was hard to come by, as well as many other basic necessities.

1925Man · 6 months

He said it didn't really effect him since he was busy working. He didn't do any of the stuff that was outlawed -- protesting, propaganda, etc. In reference to the post below, from Semen-Thrower, he doesn't really know about that kind of stuff happened. Wasn't publicized at all, if it happened.

1925Man · 6 months

Answered this above :).

1925Man · 6 months

He says that he's not a politician, so he really doesn't know whether or not there is a negative impact. Sorry, probably not the answer you were looking for :(.

1925Man · 6 months

He thanks you very much for this and sincerely appreciates it. He thinks that modern day Japan has improved a lot, and is hopeful for its future.

Just a slight repost from above -- he doesn't hate the Japanese, he just hates that time period of Japan. He still has Japanese friends now.

1925Man · 6 months

He doesn't hate them that much now, but he'll never forget about it. He knows that the Japanese apologized and that's fine. He hates this part of Japanese history -- he has many Japanese friends. He says that whether or not they teach their children is their own business. Doesn't really have a stance on this.

To be crystal clear, he doesn't hate the Japanese. He just hates this part of their history.

1925Man · 6 months

He said he doesn't really know much about this. A lot of that stuff happened far away from him, in the North. He thought it was terrible, but he only found out about this after the war.

He said that a lot of the research etc. never surfaced, and that the Americans took 731's research papers he heard.

1925Man · 6 months

Just made a massive update -- he's opening up! See the body of this AmA for more details.

1925Man · 6 months

See body -- I've updated this AmA after another session with him tonight!

1925Man · 6 months

My grandfather says he feels the KMT losses are underreported and that it definitely is not as lopsided as it seems. Both sides had faults.

1925Man

TROPHY CASE

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