シンガポール華僑粛清事件
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[Wikipedia]
Sook Ching
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sook_Ching
Sook Ching[d] was a mass killing that occurred from 18 February to 4 March 1942 in Singapore after it fell to the Japanese.
It was a systematic purge and massacre of 'anti-Japanese' elements in Singapore, with the Singaporean Chinese particularly targeted by the Japanese military during the occupation. However, Japanese soldiers engaged in indiscriminate killing and did not try to identify who was 'anti-Japanese.'
Singapore was a crucial strategic point in World War II. From 8 February to 15 February, the Japanese fought for control of the city.
The combined British and Commonwealth forces surrendered in a stunning defeat to the outnumbered Japanese on 15 February which led to its fall. The loss of Singapore was and still is Britain's largest surrender in history.
Three days later after the fall, on 18 February, the occupying Japanese military began mass killings of a wide range of "undesirables", who were mostly ethnic Chinese, influenced by the events of the Second Sino-Japanese War that was raging simultaneously as far back as 1937.
The operation was overseen by the Imperial Japanese Army's Kempeitai, its secret police.
Along with Singapore, the Sook Ching was subsequently also extended to include the Chinese population in Malaya, which was also under occupation by the Japanese.
Concurrently, non-Chinese individuals were also not completely spared in other parts of Asia under Japanese occupation.
The Japanese also brutally subjugated civilians in Burma and Thailand, with estimates of up to 90,000 additional deaths. Many of these victims were also forced to work on the Siam–Burma Railway, infamously known as the Death Railway.
The aim for such a purge was to intimidate the Chinese community, which was considered by the Japanese to be potentially the main centre of resistance to Japanese aims of territorial expansion throughout the Asia-Pacific. The Japanese had also thought of it as a "revenge" for their perceived anti-Japanese activity in the Sinophone regions, such as procuring financial aid for China after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
As a consequence, Sook Ching was aimed primarily at Chinese political and social activists, volunteers fighting on the side of the Allies,[e] as well as representatives of Chinese triads.
In practice, however, the arrests and executions were carried out by the Japanese in a completely arbitrary manner, with many civilians randomly killed in summary executions even if they took no part in any organised resistance.
After the war, the Japanese authorities acknowledged that the massacre took place, but disagreed about the number of deaths that Japan had caused. Japan alleged that no more "than 6,000 deaths" had occurred, while Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who was himself almost a victim to Sook Ching, stated that verifiable numbers would put it at "about 70,000", including the figures in Malaya.
When mass graves were discovered in 1962, Singaporeans heavily lobbied for their government to demand compensation as well as an official apology from the Japanese government.
On 25 October 1966, the Japanese government ultimately agreed to reimburse S$50 million in reparations, half of which constituting as a grant and the rest as a loan.
However, the wording used for this reimbursement was classified as a "gesture of atonement", with words such as "damages" or "reparations" being avoided by the Japanese. Furthermore, the Japanese government continued to refuse to accept legal responsibility for the massacre, which would include carrying out an official investigation or inquiry of the deaths.
No official apology was made.
Remains of Sook Ching victims would subsequently continue to be unearthed by Singaporeans for decades after the massacre.
In 1963, the Civilian War Memorial was constructed in memory of the civilians killed during the occupation, including Sook Ching. Remains belonging to some of the victims were also placed in a tomb under the memorial.
In 1992, the various Sook Ching massacre sites around the country such as Changi Beach, Katong, Punggol Point, Tanah Merah and Sentosa were designated with historic plaque markers as heritage sites by the Singaporean government's National Heritage Board, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the occupation.
Death toll
Due to the lack of concrete written records by the Japanese when orchestrating the massacre as well as many of the deaths being the result of random summary executions, the official death toll remains unknown.
Japan acknowledged the massacre after the war, but alleged a death toll of about 6,000, whereas the Singaporean Chinese community as well as prime minister Lee Kuan Yew alleged a death toll of about 70,000 to 100,000.
Retrospective analysis by historians as well as the scale of mass graves that was discovered decades after the massacre ranges the death toll at about 25,000 to 50,000
Remains and commemoration
Due to the fact that only a few remains of Sook Ching victims were found during the occupation and in the first post-war years, the families of the murdered did not have the opportunity to commemorate their relatives while respecting Chinese traditions.
For this reason, a Taoist ceremony was held in early 1948 in the neighbourhood of Siglap in the eastern part of Singapore, in what is known as the "Valley Of Tears" – where mass graves from the Japanese occupation period were suspected to be, a Taoist ceremony was held to "soothe hungry ghosts."
Thousands of Singaporean Chinese – mostly family members of the victims – took part in it. In the same year, a special committee was established, chaired by local businessman Tay Koh Yat. His task was to find the remains of Sook Ching victims. For the first dozen or so years, the effects of the committee's work were, however, extremely modest.
Discovery of mass graves
It was not until 1962 that the mass graves of Sook Ching victims were accidentally discovered at the "Valley Of Tears" in Siglap.
On the initiative of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, search and exhumation work began – also in other alleged Japanese crime scenes. In the years 1962 to 1966, nearly 100 graves were discovered.
The Chinese community called for the construction of a cemetery in Siglap and a monument to the victims of the massacre.
The remains of the victims of the Sook Ching would continue to be unearthed by locals for decades after the massacre.[citation needed]
Heritage sites
A memorial to the victims of the Japanese occupation, known as the Civilian War Memorial, was erected at Beach Road in central Singapore.
It was unveiled on 15 February 1967, 25 years after the fall, during a ceremony attended by prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.
The monument consists of four pillars, 67.4 meters high, symbolizing the four largest ethnic groups in the country.
The pedestal of the memorial also has inscriptions written in Singapore's four official languages, English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.
Under the monument, there is a tomb containing the remains of Sook Ching victims, which were found from 1962 to 1966.
Every year on 15 February, on the anniversary of Singapore's surrender, ceremonies are held at the Civilian War Memorial in honor of the victims of the war.
The massacre sites of Changi Beach, Katong, Punggol Point, Tanah Merah and Sentosa were marked as heritage sites in 1992 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Japanese occupation.
Among other sites, this specific war monument plaque was erected at the Changi Beach Park (near Camp Site 2) in the eastern part of Singapore. The inscription on the monument plaque, which was also repeated in Singapore's three other official languages of Chinese, Malay and Tamil, as well as in Japanese, reads:
66 male civilians were killed by Japanese Hojo Kempei (auxiliary military police) firing at the water's edge on this stretch of Changi Beach on 20 February 1942. They were among tens of thousands who lost their lives during the Japanese Sook Ching operation to purge suspected anti-Japanese civilians among Singapore's Chinese population between 18 February and 4 March 1942. Tanah Merah Besar Beach, a few hundred metres south (now part of Singapore Changi Airport runway) was one of the most heavily-used killing grounds where well over a thousand Chinese men and youths lost their lives.
— National Heritage Board.
[Wikipedia]
Civilian War Memorial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_War_Memorial
The Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation, usually called the Civilian War Memorial (Chinese: 日本占领时期死难人民纪念碑; Malay: Tugu Peringatan Bagi Mangsa Awam Pemerintahan Jepun; Tamil: ஜப்பானியர் ஆதிக்க காலத்தில் உயிர் துறந்த பொதுமக்களுக்கன நினைவுச் சின்னம்), is a war memorial and heritage landmark in Singapore next to Esplanade MRT station.
It was built in memory of the civilians killed during the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II.
The Civilian War Memorial sits on serene parkland in the midst of busy city traffic near Singapore's Padang and City Hall.
Located within the War Memorial Park at Beach Road within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district, it is usually easy to spot in most backdrops encompassing the CBD landscape.
It was gazetted as the 65th national memorial on 15 August 2013.
History
During the Empire of Japan's occupation of Singapore during the Pacific War (1942–1945), thousands of ethnic Chinese were killed in the Sook Ching massacre. In an effort to remove anti-Japanese elements in Singapore, Chinese men between the ages of 18 and 50 were to report to the Kempeitai, the Imperial Japanese Army military police. The death toll was reported to be 6,000 by the Japanese, but official estimates range between 25,000 and 50,000.
In February 1962, remains belonging to civilian victims of the Japanese occupation were unearthed in areas like Siglap, Changi and Bukit Timah.
The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCC) undertook the responsibility of gathering the remains and creating a memorial.
The Civilian War Memorial project
On 13 March 1963, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew set aside a plot of land at Beach Road for the building of a memorial dedicated to the civilians killed in World War II.
The SCCC set up a fund committee that was later enlarged to include all ethnic groups due to good response from the community.
With the support of the Government and contributions from the public, construction of the memorial was able to start.
シンガポール華僑粛清事件
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AC%E3%83%9D%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E8%8F%AF%E5%83%91%E7%B2%9B%E6%B8%85%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6
シンガポール華僑粛清事件（シンガポールかきょうしゅくせいじけん）とは、1942年2月から3月にかけて、日本軍の占領統治下にあったシンガポールで、日本軍(第25軍)が、中国系住民多数を掃討作戦により殺害した事件。1947年に戦犯裁判(イギリス軍シンガポール裁判)で裁かれた[1]。
