The Secret History of the Tripartite Alliance
Ribbentrop（Episode９）
Final Solution
Since the start of World War II, the scope of diplomatic activity has shrunk significantly. The proof of their success was the area they occupied and the enemy forces they destroyed, which was within the scope of the military personnel. The next time diplomacy can be active is the time to end the war, and while it worked somewhat in the case of Japan, it was impossible in the case of Germany and Italy. The surrender of Italy and its aftermath will be dealt with in Episode 10, so I won't go into that here, but in the case of Germany, Ribbentrop and his wife were at the top of diplomacy, and they went so far as to commit an unprecedented crime . Originally, this ambitious couple was not satisfied with just becoming rich, and through the efforts of their old acquaintance Papen and others, they were able to join the ranks of the upper class. Later, he was promoted to ambassador plenipotentiary, four years later to ambassador to the UK, and six years later to minister of foreign affairs. Everything went too well. By becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs, he and his wife's company were also doing well. Due to late entry into the NAZI party in 1932,rapid promotion to the minister, successes in wine business and his wife also being daughter from renowned sekt brewery,Henkel,Ribbentrop was to become the target of criticism and jealousy from other party officials. The only close friend he could call was SS chief Himmler, so it was no wonder that when he took office as foreign minister, he wore the uniform of an SS major general and shook hands with all the staff. It may have been a natural flow to become involved in the final solution. Recall from Episode 4 the German embassy in London being refurbished in a Nazi architectural style. The interior was designed by Martin Luther, who worked in architecture in Berlin and also worked on the interior of the Ribbentrop family's home in Dahlem. He was supposed to serve.
With the start of the German-Soviet war, the United States became the only country where diplomacy could function, but German-American relations continued to deteriorate. It was only a matter of time before Germany and the United States entered the war, as the activities of the First Committee, which advocated isolationism domestically, such as open aid to Britain and the strict prohibition of attacks on and inspections of American ships sailing across the Atlantic, were on the verge of collapse.During the war with Soviet Union, Ribbentrop made several proposals to Hitler for a German-Soviet truce, but he would not accept them, and his political position became unstable. In addition, Himmler, who were the only high-ranking Nazi officials to have a close relationship with Ribbentrop was embarrassed with the erratic behaviors of the Einsatzgruppen, a special action unit after the outbreak of the German-Soviet war, and so was even Ribbentrop with the brutalities, and with Luther in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He tried hard to suppress the rise of pro-SS factions,such as Luther, and to suppress the recklessness of SS diplomats at diplomatic missions abroad. He also appointed former SA members of the SS as ambassadors to Eastern Europe. One of them was Siegfried Kasche, the Croatian ambassador to the independent state of Croatia, who was assigned to Zagreb. He was the only active ambassador, along with other Ustaše dignitaries, to be put to death after the war, being held responsible for deporting a large number of Serbs there. By the end of 1941, the Einsatzgruppen had killed nearly a million people, but just as the failure to capture Moscow, the war in the Pacific, and Germany's declaration of war on the United States threatened Germany's defeat, another far-reaching event took place. A major goal, the elimination of 11 million Jews, was decided in Wannsee, a suburb of Berlin. It was attended by Luther on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and compelled governors and local governments to cooperate with the deportation of Jews in the occupied European territories. The conference was chaired by RSHA Director Heydrich and by Eichmann his aide, the latter acting like a king to the reluctant nations as Acting Führer on Jewish affairs. No highest official could stand against him. The cooperation imposed on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Luther was, of course, signed by Ribbentrop and Undersecretary Weizsäcker, and they were familiar with the horrible contents. Most pf There was another SS Colonel, nicknamed the "Butcher of Warsaw ", who, after being isolated and relegated to a subordinate position in the organization, became too eager to regain his position and committed unforgivable crimes. Meisinger was a direct subordinate of Heydrich, but due to his extreme brutality, Heydrich, later Danish governor-general Werner Best, Gestapo head Müller, and foreign intelligence department head Schellenberg unanimously criticized him . He was also behind the scenes in the Long Knife‘s Night incident that purged the SA executives and General Frisch's homosexual suspicion, but when he was appointed commander of the Einsatzgruppen, a special action unit formed after the invasion of Poland, he fully demonstrated his brutality. Though Hitler, Polish governor-general Hans Frank, and Warsaw chief executive Fischer highly regarded Meisinger,most of other SS officials hated him. He was respectfully 'relegated' to Japan as a diplomat of police attache. The persecution of Jews was gradually increasing due to German rule in Eastern Europe, so the Jews who were fortunate enough to have sponsors to accept them arrived in the Republic of China or Japan via the Trans-Siberian Railway, and saw the opportunity to travel to the United States. He was supposed to leave for Japan as a police attaché to German embassy, but due to the deterioration of Japan-U.S. relations and the Pacific War, they could not go to the United States and stayed in Japan and the Republic of China. It was Meisinger who came there.A certain affinity was felt with Meisinger in Japan particularly from the Japanese Military Police and the Special Higher Police (Tokko), who somehow spared no help or favor such as use of car until to the very end of arrest by the American Army. His mission was to force Japan to persecute the Jews, but in 1938 it was decided not to take part in the Jewish problem, so he could not influence the Japanese government. In 1942, he went to Shanghai, where many Jews were concentrated, and proposed a specific policy to persecute the Jews to the Japanese consul general, but of course he refused. It was his job to monitor the Germans in Asia, but he even criticized Japan for continuing to monitor Sorge without being able to see through Sorge's true nature of a spy on the side of Soviet Union. When he came to Japan, he ignored Schellenberg's request for surveillance, who had obtained suspicious information about Sorge, and became close family friends with him over drinks. German Ambassador to Japan, General Eugen Otto was also deceived and important information leaked to the Soviet Union, so after Sorge's arrest, he should not have been demoted, but since he could not secure a route to return home, Ambassador Otto was demoted to Beijing, and Meisinger was left unquestioned. With Germany's surrender in May 1945, the German Embassy staff were placed under house arrest in hotels in Hakone and Kawaguchiko, but only Meisinger continued to expose suspicious Germans by using cars under the protection of the military police and the special higher police. It was useless for other officials to ask the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do something about the former ambassador continuing to protect Meisinger. In the end, in September 1945, after the surrender of Japan, American troops arrived at the Fujiya Hotel in Hakone and Meisinger was arrested there. He was then deported to Warsaw, where he was sentenced to death and hanged along with Warsaw Chief Executive Fischer.
Italy was the most troublesome country for Germany. It was the same not only in the military aspect, but also in terms of deporting Jews. There was originally no soil for the persecution of Jews like Germany, so even if Hitler and Ribbentrop asked Italy for cooperation, they were very reluctant. In the German Foreign Ministry document, only in Italy, the Minister wrote directly to the Italian Foreign Minister Ciano that negotiations were to take place. After Italy surrendered in July 1943, however, the situation was quite different. Southern France, which had been occupied by the Italian army, began full-scale deportation of Jews after the German army was stationed there in November 1942. Similarly, the German army entered Rhodes Island in the Aegean Sea and the deportation of Jews by General Ulrich Kleemann began. At this time, it was the Turkish consul, Serahatein Urukmen, who made General Kleemann abandon the deportation of about 50 Turkish Jews out of about 2,000 Jews. Other Jews were deported to extermination camps like Auschwitz and most never returned. "Japanese Schindler" Sugihara Chiune, "China's Schindler" Consul in Vienna Ho Feng-Shan, "Schindler in Manchukuo" Wang Ti-Fu, a member of the Berlin legation, "Schindler of Portugal" Souza Mendez, consul in Bordeaux,are among the diplomats . They had in common that they issued transit visas to the Jews in violation of the directives of their superiors or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of their home countries and that it must be done underground for fear that they should be arrested by Gestapo,though their diplomatic identity helped them to be immune. Souza Mendez was the one who received the worst treatment. Portugal was pro-Germany and neutral under the Salazar administration, and in 1940 when visas were issued even after capitulation of France up to Hendaye, French-Spanish border.Portugal under Salazar was completely pro-Germany like neighboring Spain.Contrary to directives from his seniors or come country,he ended up with recall to homeland, being accused of his disobediences and reportedly living a later life in impoverishment.The next person who received the worst treatment would be Wang Ti-Fu, Manchurian delegate to Berlin. In Manchukuo, civilian or military,important posts were occupied by the Japanese, and the Wang‘s superiors were also Japanese, so visas were issued under surveillance. After the revelation, he remained in the same position as Sugihara until the end of the war, but due to the disappearance of Manchukuo following the surrender of Japan, he was detained for a long time in the Soviet Union and China. And Chiune Sugihara. In 1938, after the annexation of Austria, the consul general of Vienna, Akira Yamaji, sounded out the treatment of Jews in his home country, and at the Five Ministers' Conference it was decided that 'entry into Japan is prohibited, but transit through Japan is permitted under the influence of Evian Conference,where such 31 countries out of 38 as Canada,Austraria,New Zealand,would not accept Jews(acceptable only in Dominica , the Netherlands’Island of Aruba and Curacao,with strict restriction of heads). It was also the time of the conclusion of the treaty, which stimulated the German side. When he was stationed in Königsberg, he was glared at by Chief Executive Koch, and even in Bucharest, Romania, he was constantly monitored under the rule of Antonescu of the Nazi Iron Guard. To begin with, when Germany dissolved the Czech Republic in 1938, when Foreign Minister Ribbentrop issued an order to immediately vacate the embassy legation, Sugihara bluntly said to Ribbentrop himself at the interview in German, ``I don't remember being told by Germany. Explain why,” and in August 1941, Sugihara was listed as one of the top spies in Germany by RSHA director Heydrich to Ribbentrop. After returning to Japan in 1947, after the war, Sugihara received a letter from the Ministry. It was in effect a letter of recommendation to resign. Sugihara's deeds after the death of the Nazis should have been praised, but his disregard or disobedience for orders from his home country and his superiors must have been emphasized at this point as well. He was liked by such big wheels as Yotaro Sugimura,former Ambassador to France, and Koki Hirota,former Minister of Foreign Affairs, but although his words and deeds were conspicuous from his time as a student at Waseda University, Sugihara, who was not a career diplomat, may have stood out too much. He was a taciturn person like a senile warrior in pre-modern feudal days and reportedly spent his later years without making any defenses.
With the start of the German-Soviet war, the United States became the only country where diplomacy could function, but German-American relations continued to deteriorate. It was only a matter of time before Germany and the United States entered the war, as the activities of the First Committee, which advocated isolationism domestically, such as open aid to Britain and the strict prohibition of attacks on and inspections of American ships sailing across the Atlantic, were on the verge of collapse.During the war with Soviet Union, Ribbentrop made several proposals to Hitler for a German-Soviet truce, but he would not accept them, and his political position became unstable. In addition, Himmler, who were the only high-ranking Nazi officials to have a close relationship with Ribbentrop was embarrassed with the erratic behaviors of the Einsatzgruppen, a special action unit after the outbreak of the German-Soviet war, and so was even Ribbentrop with the brutalities, and with Luther in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He tried hard to suppress the rise of pro-SS factions,such as Luther, and to suppress the recklessness of SS diplomats at diplomatic missions abroad. He also appointed former SA members of the SS as ambassadors to Eastern Europe. One of them was Siegfried Kasche, the Croatian ambassador to the independent state of Croatia, who was assigned to Zagreb. He was the only active ambassador, along with other Ustaše dignitaries, to be put to death after the war, being held responsible for deporting a large number of Serbs there. By the end of 1941, the Einsatzgruppen had killed nearly a million people, but just as the failure to capture Moscow, the war in the Pacific, and Germany's declaration of war on the United States threatened Germany's defeat, another far-reaching event took place. A major goal, the elimination of 11 million Jews, was decided in Wannsee, a suburb of Berlin. It was attended by Luther on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and compelled governors and local governments to cooperate with the deportation of Jews in the occupied European territories. The conference was chaired by RSHA Director Heydrich and by Eichmann his aide, the latter acting like a king to the reluctant nations as Acting Führer on Jewish affairs. No highest official could stand against him. The cooperation imposed on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Luther was, of course, signed by Ribbentrop and Undersecretary Weizsäcker, and they were familiar with the horrible contents. Most pf There was another SS Colonel, nicknamed the "Butcher of Warsaw ", who, after being isolated and relegated to a subordinate position in the organization, became too eager to regain his position and committed unforgivable crimes. Meisinger was a direct subordinate of Heydrich, but due to his extreme brutality, Heydrich, later Danish governor-general Werner Best, Gestapo head Müller, and foreign intelligence department head Schellenberg unanimously criticized him . He was also behind the scenes in the Long Knife‘s Night incident that purged the SA executives and General Frisch's homosexual suspicion, but when he was appointed commander of the Einsatzgruppen, a special action unit formed after the invasion of Poland, he fully demonstrated his brutality. Though Hitler, Polish governor-general Hans Frank, and Warsaw chief executive Fischer highly regarded Meisinger,most of other SS officials hated him. He was respectfully 'relegated' to Japan as a diplomat of police attache. The persecution of Jews was gradually increasing due to German rule in Eastern Europe, so the Jews who were fortunate enough to have sponsors to accept them arrived in the Republic of China or Japan via the Trans-Siberian Railway, and saw the opportunity to travel to the United States. He was supposed to leave for Japan as a police attaché to German embassy, but due to the deterioration of Japan-U.S. relations and the Pacific War, they could not go to the United States and stayed in Japan and the Republic of China. It was Meisinger who came there.A certain affinity was felt with Meisinger in Japan particularly from the Japanese Military Police and the Special Higher Police (Tokko), who somehow spared no help or favor such as use of car until to the very end of arrest by the American Army. His mission was to force Japan to persecute the Jews, but in 1938 it was decided not to take part in the Jewish problem, so he could not influence the Japanese government. In 1942, he went to Shanghai, where many Jews were concentrated, and proposed a specific policy to persecute the Jews to the Japanese consul general, but of course he refused. It was his job to monitor the Germans in Asia, but he even criticized Japan for continuing to monitor Sorge without being able to see through Sorge's true nature of a spy on the side of Soviet Union. When he came to Japan, he ignored Schellenberg's request for surveillance, who had obtained suspicious information about Sorge, and became close family friends with him over drinks. German Ambassador to Japan, General Eugen Otto was also deceived and important information leaked to the Soviet Union, so after Sorge's arrest, he should not have been demoted, but since he could not secure a route to return home, Ambassador Otto was demoted to Beijing, and Meisinger was left unquestioned. With Germany's surrender in May 1945, the German Embassy staff were placed under house arrest in hotels in Hakone and Kawaguchiko, but only Meisinger continued to expose suspicious Germans by using cars under the protection of the military police and the special higher police. It was useless for other officials to ask the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do something about the former ambassador continuing to protect Meisinger. In the end, in September 1945, after the surrender of Japan, American troops arrived at the Fujiya Hotel in Hakone and Meisinger was arrested there. He was then deported to Warsaw, where he was sentenced to death and hanged along with Warsaw Chief Executive Fischer.
Italy was the most troublesome country for Germany. It was the same not only in the military aspect, but also in terms of deporting Jews. There was originally no soil for the persecution of Jews like Germany, so even if Hitler and Ribbentrop asked Italy for cooperation, they were very reluctant. In the German Foreign Ministry document, only in Italy, the Minister wrote directly to the Italian Foreign Minister Ciano that negotiations were to take place. After Italy surrendered in July 1943, however, the situation was quite different. Southern France, which had been occupied by the Italian army, began full-scale deportation of Jews after the German army was stationed there in November 1942. Similarly, the German army entered Rhodes Island in the Aegean Sea and the deportation of Jews by General Ulrich Kleemann began. At this time, it was the Turkish consul, Serahatein Urukmen, who made General Kleemann abandon the deportation of about 50 Turkish Jews out of about 2,000 Jews. Other Jews were deported to extermination camps like Auschwitz and most never returned. "Japanese Schindler" Sugihara Chiune, "China's Schindler" Consul in Vienna Ho Feng-Shan, "Schindler in Manchukuo" Wang Ti-Fu, a member of the Berlin legation, "Schindler of Portugal" Souza Mendez, consul in Bordeaux,are among the diplomats . They had in common that they issued transit visas to the Jews in violation of the directives of their superiors or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of their home countries and that it must be done underground for fear that they should be arrested by Gestapo,though their diplomatic identity helped them to be immune. Souza Mendez was the one who received the worst treatment. Portugal was pro-Germany and neutral under the Salazar administration, and in 1940 when visas were issued even after capitulation of France up to Hendaye, French-Spanish border.Portugal under Salazar was completely pro-Germany like neighboring Spain.Contrary to directives from his seniors or come country,he ended up with recall to homeland, being accused of his disobediences and reportedly living a later life in impoverishment.The next person who received the worst treatment would be Wang Ti-Fu, Manchurian delegate to Berlin. In Manchukuo, civilian or military,important posts were occupied by the Japanese, and the Wang‘s superiors were also Japanese, so visas were issued under surveillance. After the revelation, he remained in the same position as Sugihara until the end of the war, but due to the disappearance of Manchukuo following the surrender of Japan, he was detained for a long time in the Soviet Union and China. And Chiune Sugihara. In 1938, after the annexation of Austria, the consul general of Vienna, Akira Yamaji, sounded out the treatment of Jews in his home country, and at the Five Ministers' Conference it was decided that 'entry into Japan is prohibited, but transit through Japan is permitted under the influence of Evian Conference,where such 31 countries out of 38 as Canada,Austraria,New Zealand,would not accept Jews(acceptable only in Dominica , the Netherlands’Island of Aruba and Curacao,with strict restriction of heads). It was also the time of the conclusion of the treaty, which stimulated the German side. When he was stationed in Königsberg, he was glared at by Chief Executive Koch, and even in Bucharest, Romania, he was constantly monitored under the rule of Antonescu of the Nazi Iron Guard. To begin with, when Germany dissolved the Czech Republic in 1938, when Foreign Minister Ribbentrop issued an order to immediately vacate the embassy legation, Sugihara bluntly said to Ribbentrop himself at the interview in German, ``I don't remember being told by Germany. Explain why,” and in August 1941, Sugihara was listed as one of the top spies in Germany by RSHA director Heydrich to Ribbentrop. After returning to Japan in 1947, after the war, Sugihara received a letter from the Ministry. It was in effect a letter of recommendation to resign. Sugihara's deeds after the death of the Nazis should have been praised, but his disregard or disobedience for orders from his home country and his superiors must have been emphasized at this point as well. He was liked by such big wheels as Yotaro Sugimura,former Ambassador to France, and Koki Hirota,former Minister of Foreign Affairs, but although his words and deeds were conspicuous from his time as a student at Waseda University, Sugihara, who was not a career diplomat, may have stood out too much. He was a taciturn person like a senile warrior in pre-modern feudal days and reportedly spent his later years without making any defenses.
