1 2 12 3 4 5 The Nazi Party and German Colonies 6 7 in East Asia – Gleichschaltung 8 9 and Localities 10 1 2 NAKAMURA AYANO 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 1 1 Introduction: The German Home Front in East Asia 2 1.1 Nazi Politics in East Asia prior to January 1933 3 1.2 Popularity of Nazism in the early 1930s 4 1.3 Introduction of Nazi Symbols 1.4 Medium for Communication and Propaganda 5 1.5 Activities of the Nazi Organizations 6 1.5.1 Deutsche Arbeitsfront, DAF (German Labour Front) 7 1.5.2 Kraft durch Freude, KdF, (Strength through Joy) 8 1.5.3 KdF-Organized Tours 9 1.5.4 KdF-Wagen 30 1.5.5 Winterhilfswerk, WHW (Winter Relief Programme) 1.5.6 Hitlerjugend, HJ (Hitler Youth) 1 2 The Appearance and Reality of German Colonies 2 2.1 Formation of Nazi Groups 3 2.2 Establishment of the Landesgruppe Japan 4 2.3 Gleichschaltung in the German Colonies 5 2.4 Jewish Issues 36 2.5 Anti-Nazi Tendencies 3 Epilogue: The End of the Second World War 37 38 39 1 INTRODUCTION: THE GERMAN HOME FRONT IN EAST ASIA 40 his chapter examines how the Nazi Party influenced German 41 Tcolonies in East Asia during the Third Reich, and the National Socialist 42 regime’s process of coordinating political and other activities, known as 43 Gleichschaltung.1 In Germany this process was symbolized by centralized 44 control over the regional state governments through the appointment of 45 an official known as the Reichsstatthalter (Reich governor), who exercised 46 supremacy and eliminated local independence. A similar system of 47R 432 Japan and Germany 1 coordinated control was adopted over most domestic social movements 2 to eradicate dissent. Non-Nazi parties were formally dissolved, the labour 3x movement was radically restructured, youth were drafted into loyal 4 organizations, and traditional social milieus were despised. 5 The Nazi designs for Gleichschaltung assumed that abolishing local and 6 individual characteristics was possible. Through mergers and restructur- 7 ing, political and social organizations were to carry out Party commands 8 with complete loyalty. In their pursuit of Gleichschaltung, the Nazi Party 9 also targeted Germans living abroad. To what extent the Nazi Party really 10 succeeded in total domestic control has been a subject of a lively debate. 1 But discussions and analysis on the mechanism of control over German 2 groups living abroad has received little attention. Had the Nazi Party suc- 3 ceeded in the creation of a new, strong and totally loyal front for the Third 4 Reich in East Asia? This chapter will attempt to provide some answers. 5 First, I will provide some notes on the research literature and other 6 materials available on this topic. Many materials exist on the pre-war 7 and wartime life in the German colonies abroad. However, there is a 8 blank page in documentation about the four months in the spring and 9 summer of 1945 – from when Germany surrendered to the Allied forces 20 until after the defeat of Japan. It is quite possible that Nazi organizations, 1 and their members in Japan and other countries still at war, destroyed 2 official documents and records to avoid being indicted for war crimes 3 after Japan’s expected capitulation. It is striking how little has been done 4 to examine the role of the Nazi Party and affiliate organizations in East 5 Asia and their influence on German colonies. 6 The most useful materials include official records of the foreign organ- 7 ization (Auslands-Organisation, hereafter AO) of the Nazi Party. These 8 incorporate, for example, records on personnel and Party members 9 abroad. The Allies seized these records after the war to determine the ori- 30 gins of the Nazi Party and its organizational framework in East Asia. In 1 addition, the country group of the Nazi Party (Landesgruppe) in Shanghai 2 published a magazine titled Ostasiatischer Beobachter (hereafter OAB) to 3 spread the Nazi Party’s message. However, this magazine concealed the 4 dark side of Gleichschaltung, such as terrorism and suppression, because 5 its function was to spread the Party propaganda. No articles criticizing 36 the Nazi Party or its ideology appeared in it. 37 The second group of valuable materials consists of domestic reports 38 developed by the Japanese Foreign Affairs Police (Gaiji keisatsu) under the 39 supervision of the Home Ministry (Naimu-sho–), which secretly observed 40 foreign residents in Japan. Contemporary Japanese publications like Gaiji 41 Keisatsu Gaikyo– (The Survey of Foreign Affairs) and Gaiji Geppo– (Monthly 42 Report of Foreign Affairs) are most useful in providing evidence and infor- 43 mation about the period in question. The former was an annual report 44 first edited in 1935, while the latter was a monthly report. Each issue was 45 divided roughly into foreign circumstances, internal conditions, research 46 materials, personnel movements, miscellaneous news, and information 47R collected by secret inquiries and through informants..