August
3,
2015
Center’s Rabbi Abraham Cooper also leads memorial
service at entrance to Mitsubishi mine
Following
an historic formal apology by Mitsubishi Materials to WWII POWs it forced into
labor which was held at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance, Rabbi
Abraham Cooper, the Center’s Associate Dean, traveled to Japan and
met with Mitsubishi Materials President Akira Takeuchi to thank him for taking
the bold step in apologizing for his company’s treatment of Allied POWs during
WWII.
“I expressed my hope to him and other Japanese leaders that
Mitsubishi Materials’ historic apology will inspire other major Japanese
companies to quickly follow their lead,” Rabbi Cooper said,
adding, “This month will mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World
War II in the Asia/Pacific region and the last survivors of that era will soon
pass into history. Sincere apologies to the actual victims will contribute to
an environment conducive for real reconciliation,” Rabbi Cooper added.
Rabbi
Cooper also traveled together with human rights activist Kinue Tokudome
and Peter Gover of the Foundation for California, to the Hosokura Mine outside
Kurihara City, which had belonged to Mitsubishi Material and where many
POWs toiled under extreme conditions. During a ceremony recalling the suffering
of American POWs, the first person recollections of one American was read
aloud, including the shocking announcement made to all the Allied POWs that if
the US would invade Japan, all of them would be executed. Cooper, also
led a memorial service for the forced laborers at the mine’s entrance.
Rabbi Cooper
had high praise for Mrs. Tokudome, the Founder and Director of U.S.-Japan
Dialogue on POWs (http://www.us-japandialogueonpows.org). “You
would be hard-pressed to find someone who has worked so selflessly in
promoting understanding between the people of Japan and the United States
by learning the truth of what happened during WWII and for her tireless
work in urging Japanese corporations to acknowledge their
predecessors’ wrongdoings during WWII."
Photo: Rabbi Cooper presents a menorah to Mitsubishi Materials President
Akira Takeuchi.
Photo: Rabbi
Cooper and Kinue Tokedome at the memorial service at the Hosokura Mine
entrance.
For
high resolution versions, go to: https://goo.gl/4mFlde
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