JUSTIN MUSEUM OF MILITARY HISTORY

Atrocities of World War Two Collection

     Welcome to the Atrocities of World War Two Collection, a gathering of Exhibits regarding the Many Atrocities committed during the Largest Conflict between Men in History. The Fascist powers that seized power of what would be the Axis forces in that War did so to a large extent based upon exploitations of fear, philosphies of hatred and claims of superiority. Such tactics appealed to the lowest elements of the common people of their countries, peoples who were suffering from economic hardships and uncertain times.  By blaming their woes on third parties, nations or races, these peoples were able to increase their own self esteem and find a vent for their frustrations. These emotions catapulted the fascists to power and also drove the horrendous inhumanity which would be perpetrated against millions of innocents in the ensuing years.  Moreover the fascist regimes were commanded by men with nearly total authoritorian power, who were not responsible for the actions to anyone. This total power was given to men without morality, and who were totally depraved.  This combination of forces led to countries being led by men capable of horrible crimes commanding armies of men willing to do their most horrid bidding without question. Any who did challenge these acts were incapable of stopping the slaughters without facing arrest. The crimes which resulted caused the loss or disruption of untold millions of lives around the Globe.

       Moreover, the mere clash of arms across such a vast portion of the globe, amongst so many warring troops, and for so many years lead to countless instances of barbarity beyond the realm of what we call "civilized" warfare.  The warring armies were made up of young men who found themselves suddenly and often with little training or prepartion in the heat of battle, fatigued beyond comprehension after weeks of sleepless war, whose spirits were crushed by the unending panorama of death and destruction which was being subsituted for their youth. To their left and right their comrades were being slain or maimed while for many at home their loved ones were under fire or already killed by the horrors of "modern" war.  For many this incessant cruelty made it impossible to draw the boundary between legal acts of war and barbarous acts of murder or other savagery. The result were untold war crimes in which helpless former combatants or innocent civilians were killed or wounded.

        The new technologies of this war also resulted in a vast increase in the loss of civilian life from prior conflicts. Men throwing shells and bombs miles beyond their fields of vision on occassion caused catastrophic losses of human life.  While in many instances these unfortunate instances could only be considered either accidents for which no one could reasonably be blamed or horrible but necessary acts of war, these acts too are counted by some as attrocities of the war. As such they should be examined in this Collection to allow the student to see all of the facts.

     Though given names such as the Holocaust, the Naking Massacre, or the Bataan Death March, these terrible events of World War Two can not be understood by a name alone.  Only further examination can bring a full understanding of the horrible suffering these names represent. But why, one may ask, should we examine this horrible past at all?  The answer is clearly to better understand our future. As the recent events in Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Ireland, the Middle East, Timor and Kashmir exhibit, the realities of human nature which drove the horrors of World War Two were not extinguished with the fires of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  And as these ongoing disasters show, the humans leading the World's Countries still have not learned how to prevent the passions which drive men from erupting into genocide, aggression and war.  As such it behooves all persons, not only leaders, but the common man, to study and understand the mistakes of the past the better to recognize them in the future, and avoid them.

Original Exhibits

War Crimes of Imperial Japan Exhibit, Items regarding atrocities committed by Imperial Japan

Loaned Exhibits

Items located outside of the Museum, Use Back Key To Return

Japan at War, 1931-1945, Articles and Links on Japanese War Effort, Culture et cetera

LINKS

Back to the Justin Museum of Military History

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THIS SITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AS OF 11 JAN 2000 !  I AM GATHERING INFORMATION ON THE SUBJECTS ABOVE. IF YOU  HAVE ANY LINKS OR INFORMATION ON THESE SUBJECTS PLEASE E-MAIL ME WITH SAME. CONTRIBUTERS WELCOMED. NO FEES PAID FOR CONTRIBUTIONS HOWEVER. 1