General Tojo and General Higuchi’s humanitarian consideration for Jews

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General Higuchi helped more than 3500 Jews evacuate to Shanghai.
General Tojo never interfered permission for Jews evacuating operation.
Ban of the racial discrimination was the national goal for Japan.

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It is famous for Jews that Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara, consular in Kaunas, Lithuania, issued transit visa for Jews. They praised him as “Schindler of Japan”, and his name is written in “the Golden Book” which records the person who saved the lives of Jews from Nazi Germany.

Some Japanese, including Sugihara, are also mentioned in the Golden Book. General Ki’ichuro Higuchi, then chief of special mission team in Harbin, Manchuria, is one of them. December 1938, eighteen Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany territory, arrived at Otpor(now, Zabaykalsk) station, located border between USSR and Manchuria. General Higuchi decided to give them permission of transit to Shanghai concessions. Al last, more than 3500 Jews successfully evacuated themselves to Shanghai. General Higuchi negotiated to run exclusively chartered train for evacuating Jews cooperating with The South Manchuria Railway co., ltd. Yousuke Matuoka was then president of the company, later foreign minister signing the alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascism Italy. Matuoka accepted General Higuchi’s request.

　General Tojo, then chief of staff of Kwantung army, stationed in Manchuria, supervise General Higuchi’s activity. However, government of Japan had sighed “Anti-communist Pact between Japan and Nazi Germany”, General Tojo never interfered evacuating action of General Higuchi. That means General Tojo gave General Higuchi de facto permission for Jews evacuating operation. So did General Ueda, commander of Kwantung army.

General Tojo was well known to “smart and fair bureaucrat general officer” his fairness of “equality under the laws and regulations” made good output. This is one of evidences that General Tojo, who was later appointed prime minister on Pearl Harbor attack, was quite ideologically different from Hitler.

　This episode is one of the evidences that the alliance between Japan and Nazi Germany was not ideological similarity but balance of power. “The Sugihara’s visa” is another evidence.

The Sugihara’s visa was never regarded as invalid or illegal at all. Government of Japan had many chances to make The Sugihara’s visa invalid and kept Jews out from Japanese territory, if The Sugihara’s visa was issued against the instruction of minister of foreign affairs. Jews with The Sugihara’s visa permitted to enter Japanese territory and leave Japan for the third nations, including USA, as General Higuchi, and General Tojo, transferred Jews to Shanghai between 1938 and 1940.

Then foreign minister Matsuoka, former ambassador to League of Nations when Japan quitted League of Nations, and president of The South Manchuria Railway co., ltd. Matsuoka never made The Sugihara’s visa invalid and also implied process for smoothly immigration of Jews with The Sugihara’s visa, while he signed alliance treaty with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

　After Meiji Restoration, ban of the racial discrimination was one of the most important national goal for not only Government of Japan but Japanese people. It was quite rational decision for humanitarian consideration for all races. Around a quarter century before “I have a dream” Martin Ruther King Jr. said, General Higuchi, General Tojo and Minister Matsuoka saved thousands of Jews’ lives for the anti-racism, while they fought together with Nazi Germany and made alliance with Nazi Germany against USA, UK.