I’m not totally on board that it was all a lie, but I can say with somewhat certainty that a fair portion of what we’re told is historical fact is actually just war-time propaganda. For example, I have a Chinese neighbour in her 80s. She told us how she was actually captured and put into a concentration camp by the Japanese as a child. I was expecting to hear how awful it was, how close to death she was etc etc. She ended up telling us how it was, in fact, the best time of her life! She loved it. They were free to roam and play in the fields, they were well looked after and everything was catered for. I couldn’t believe it. What are we told about Japanese concentration camps? That they’re brutal hellholes full of torture, rape and death. This was the polar opposite of what were told.
I’m not totally on board that it was all a lie, but I can say with somewhat certainty that a fair portion of what we’re told is historical fact is actually just war-time propaganda. For example, I have a Chinese neighbour in her 80s. She told us how she was actually captured and put into a concentration camp by the Japanese as a child. I was expecting to hear how awful it was, how close to death she was etc etc. She ended up telling us how it was, in fact, the best time of her life! She loved it. They were free to roam and play in the fields, they were well looked after and everything was catered for. I couldn’t believe it. What are we told about Japanese concentration camps? That they’re brutal hellholes full of torture, rape and death. This was the polar opposite of what were told.