MacArthur, however, did not share the principles underlying the legal figure of war criminals: The principle of considering war criminals, the political leaders of a war was lost, to me, disgusting. I considered taking this action violated the most elementary principles of criminal law. So the thought and it even made ??it clear, stressing that criminal responsibility should fall entirely responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor, this action practiced without the prior declaration of war as required by international law and customs.
Judgment and accusation
With this position, MacArthur stole to any liability in the proceedings that followed. At the end of the trial of Tokyo, whose session began on May 3, 1946, MacArthur gave orders to prohibit photographers capturing of images of the execution of those condemned to capital punishment, claiming that a contrary decision would offend the sensibilities of the Japanese people.
Is this why Hideki Tojo, found guilty of all charges brought against him and sentenced to hang, was not photographed on the scaffold.
The last night of his life were spent writing poems - in the romantic tradition in Japan. In one, Tojo, then aged 62, depede to his wife with the following verse: I hope for you, lotus flower, on the other side.
Tojo was hardly a charismatic leader or as little, had distinguished himself as General, for their heroism or of their popularity. There never was a Hitler or a Mussolini. Limited to the role of the General Staff, ambitious but too formal. No one seemed to be thrilled with his death on the gallows or, as with other figures, a myth arose around his name. The only image that kept him was the sneak attack against Pearl Harbor on the day of infamy.
The english version of this article will be available soon. In the meanwhile, the text above was the result of a Google translation from portuguese version to english.
