Justice and Judgment after the Nanjing Atrocities

About This Lesson

In the last lesson, students examined choices made by perpetrators, resisters, bystanders, upstanders, and rescuers during the Nanjing atrocities. In this lesson, they will engage with dilemmas, both universal and specific to this history, about how to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions. Finally, students will reflect on alternative ways to work toward healing and justice in the aftermath of events like the Nanjing atrocities, and they will consider how history itself can be used as a tool to achieve those objectives.

Essential Questions

How do nations create their identities by separating “us” from “them”? How might a sense of nationalism built around such ideas contribute to the outbreak of war, the dehumanization of enemies, and the perpetration of atrocities?

Guiding Questions

• Who was responsible for the crimes committed during the Nanjing atrocities? Who should have been held accountable, and how?
• How can justice be achieved for those who were wronged during wartime atrocities?

Learning Objectives

• Students will recognize some universal dilemmas of justice and judgment faced by societies in the aftermath of mass violence and atrocities.
• Students will understand the contributions of the trials at Tokyo to ideas about international justice after the Second World War, and some of the challenges associated with achieving those ideals.

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Explore the Complexities of Achieving Justice

• Tell students that the question of what would need to happen for “justice to be served” had to be answered after the Nanjing atrocities and World War II. Explain that even before the war ended, the Allied leaders (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin) were discussing ways to hold Japan accountable for the war and the murder of millions of civilians. In those discussions, the Allies encountered a variety of dilemmas and disagreements about what justice might look like and how it might be achieved.
• Some of the dilemmas the Allies faced are probed on the handout Justice after the Nanjing Atrocities Anticipation Guide. Distribute the handout and ask students to complete the first two columns by circling their response to each statement (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree) and explaining their thinking in the space provided. They will complete the right column later on in class.
• After students have completed the anticipation guide, use the Four Corners strategy to discuss their responses. If time is short, you can choose a few of the items from the anticipation guide to discuss rather than working through the entire list. Remember that students can change their positions in the room if they are persuaded by their classmates in the course of the discussion. To ensure that you hear everyone’s voice, try to create space for each student to share at least one idea with the class during the discussion.
• Finally, debrief the activity with the class by leading a whole-group discussion based on the following question: What does this activity suggest about the challenges faced by the Allies in seeking justice after World War II in East Asia and the Nanjing atrocities?

Activity 2: Provide an Overview of the Tokyo Trials

• Explain to students that they will now learn about the Tokyo trials, established in the aftermath of World War II to try the leaders of Imperial Japan for war crimes.
• Students will watch the video The Tokyo Trial: An Introduction (0:00–10:05) for a brief overview of the trials. Share the questions below with students before they watch the video. After viewing, help students recall key pieces of information from the video to record in their notes by leading a class discussion in which you draw from the following text-dependent questions:
  • Who was prosecuted for the war crimes committed during World War II and at Nanjing?
  • How did the Allies respond to the criticism that it was unfair to prosecute Japan and Germany for crimes committed “after the fact”—before such crimes were illegal under international law?
  • According to scholar Beth Van Schaack, what do the acquittals demonstrate about the Tokyo trials?
• Ask volunteers to share their answers with the class. Then ask students to return to the anticipation guide from the first activity and select one or two statements from the guide that relate to an aspect of the Tokyo trials. In the right column, ask them to write a brief explanation of how the Tokyo trials responded to the dilemma(s) they have identified.

Activity 3: Connect the Tokyo Trials to Dilemmas of Justice

• Tell students that they will now be learning in more depth about the trial of General Iwane Matsui and Koki Hirota, the two Japanese leaders who were prosecuted for the Nanjing atrocities. Pass out copies of the reading Responsibility of Command and tell students that as you read it aloud, they should be underlining information that helps them take a position on the question, “The Tokyo trials were effective at achieving justice for the Nanjing atrocities.”
• Next, explain to students the procedure for the Barometer teaching strategy. Read aloud the statement “The Tokyo trials were effective at achieving justice for the Nanjing atrocities,” and ask students to stand on the spot along the line that represents their opinion, telling them that if they stand at either extreme, they are absolute in their agreement or disagreement. Once students have lined themselves up, ask them in turn to explain why they have chosen to stand where they are standing.
• Encourage students to refer to evidence and examples from any of the materials they have read or watched when defending their stance. It is probably best to alternate from one end to the middle to the other end, rather than allowing too many voices from one stance to dominate. After about three or four viewpoints are heard, you can allow students to question each other’s evidence and ideas. Before beginning the discussion, remind students about norms for having a respectful, open discussion of ideas.
• Remember that students can change their positions in the room on the line if they are persuaded by their classmates in the course of the discussion. To ensure that you hear everyone’s voice, try to create space for each student to share at least one idea with the class during the discussion.
• To close the lesson and the unit, ask students to reflect on the following questions, first in their journals and then in a whole-class discussion:
  • What does this activity suggest about the challenges of finding justice for an atrocity like what happened in Nanjing? How might a trial address some of those challenges?
  • In what ways might a trial be insufficient to bring about healing and justice?
  • What else might be needed for a society to be repaired after war?