Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia, and Postwar Repatriates — Local services in Tokyo

A specialty World War II Museum, this place focuses on the lives, fates, and harsh realities of two relatively unknown and forgotten subset of the war—Soviet Union POW detainees and Diaspora Repatriation.

The museum is simple yet profound in its portrayal of the harsh realities, unfairness, and injustices faced by all in war. The audio tour is straightforward and blunt about the extremely difficult conditions of living in Siberian Gulags, a repatriation efforts pre-global communication, and the horrific effects on body and mind all face during such periods. It’s not graphic, but it does not mince words.

My favorite addition was the inclusion of many Manga panels from a book detailing the experience of one such soldier. It reminded me very much of the effect MAUS had on our collective understanding of the Holocaust.

Overall, this museum is a great reminder of the horrors and true nature of war, and how we should respect all those who have endured these horrors and depravities no matter their side, while striving for a world where such atrocities and realities never exist again.

A great 45-60 minute experience, free of charge, free audio tours, multiple languages present, excellent English materials! Located...

祖父がシベリア抑留され帰還しており、自叙伝を家族に配っていたので興味を持って、こちらの施設と舞鶴の施設に行ってきました。

祖父は戦争に召集され、すぐに戦争が終わって、ロシアに抑留されました。

半年かけて、厚生労働省社会・援護局・援護・業務課や県の子ども・福祉部に問い合わせをさせていただき、祖父の自叙伝と収容所の場所が一致しました。また、国立国会図書館やインターネットなど調べていたところ、ロシアの祖父がいた場所に収容所の博物館があったことが発覚したので、実際に友人と2019年に訪れることができました。そのころ、ちょうどロシアのビザ緩和などもありましたが、旅の日程が1週間以上だったのでビザをとりました。 1週間かけてシベリア鉄道を、女子2人旅して、ロシア人の人やキルギス人やアルメニア人など色んな方と生活を鉄道の中で出来たことは大変貴重な経験でした。 モスクワに到着し、タクシーでクラスノゴルスクへ行きました。そこには2027収容所の博物館があり、館長と私は同じ名前でびっくりしました。 そこには、日本人のお守りや使っていた洗面おけやミシンがありました。 赤化教育の積極的な収容所だったのかもしれません。かなり有名な方もこちらの収容所にいたようです。

私は初めて祖父がロシア人を恨んでいるのかな?と思っていたのですが、自叙伝からはそうではなく、優しくしてくれたロシア人もいたそうで、赤旗教育の教室などや演劇も参加していた様ですが、赤化教育は客観的にどんな思想か勉強していただけだったみたいです。冷静に公平な目で色んな出来事を客観視していたようでした。 実際に、平和記念展示資料館の資料では、もちろん大変なご苦労をされた方が大半ですが、中にはロシア人に優しくされた内容の文章もたくさんありました。

ここの展示室を訪れた方でロシアを恨むのではなく、こんな事柄が過去にあったんだ、身近な人から仲良くしていこう、そういったことが平和につながると強く感じます。 身近な人と喧嘩していたら、そりゃ戦争は無くならないよねって。 私はロシア旅行で仲良くなったロシア人とは今でも交流を持っています。 もちろん戦争はよくありません。 そういったヒントがもらえる場所です。 ぜひ訪れてみてください。

最近子供が生まれたので、一緒に今度伺えたらと思います。

My grandfather was detained in Siberia and returned home, and he distributed his autobiography to his family, so I was interested and visited this facility and the one in Maizuru.

My grandfather was drafted for war, and soon after the war ended, he was detained in Russia.

After six months of contacting the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Social and Assistance Bureau, Assistance and Operations Division, and the prefecture's Children and Welfare Department, I was able to match my grandfather's autobiography with the location of the detention camp. Also, after researching the National Diet Library and the Internet, I discovered that there was a detention camp museum in the place where my grandfather was in Russia, so I was able to visit it with a friend in 2019. At that time, Russia was relaxing visa restrictions, but since the trip was more than a week long, I obtained a visa. It was a very valuable experience to travel the Trans-Siberian Railway for a week, as two girls, and to live with various people, including Russians, Kyrgyzstans, and Armenians, on the train. After arriving in Moscow, I took a taxi to Krasnogorsk. There is a museum of the 2027 camp, and I was surprised to find that the director and I had the same name.

There were Japanese amulets, washbasins and sewing machines that were used.

This may have been a camp where the Communist education was actively carried out. It seems that some very famous people were in this camp.

At first, I wondered if my grandfather hated Russians, but his autobiography didn't suggest that. There were Russians who were kind to him, and he participated in Red Flag education classes and plays, but it seems that he was just studying the ideology of Communist education objectively. He seemed to look at various events objectively with a calm and impartial eye.

In fact, in the materials at the Peace Memorial Museum, the majority of the people who were there had, of course, suffered greatly, but there were also many passages about how the Russians were kind to them.

I strongly feel that those who visit this exhibition room should not hate Russia, but should remember that such things happened in the past and that we should start by getting along with those close to us, and that such things will lead to peace.

If you keep fighting with those close to you, then of course war will not end. I still keep in contact with the Russians I became friends with during my trip to Russia. Of course, war is not a good thing. This is a place where you can get such hints. Please do visit.

I recently had a child, so I hope to visit with...

Free museum, yet very informative and enriching and it took me 1.5 hour to see everything and listen to the English audio guide in full detail. The museum is patriotic, leaning towards nationalistic as it’s dedicated to Japanese soldiers, veterans, and war prisoners of WWII. One might criticize that this museum doesn’t touch upon the war victims and people from colonial countries that suffered under the Imperial Japan, but I think it’s understandable within the scope of this museum (obviously I’m not justifying it here).

What stood out to me was that I didn’t know that there were 560,000-760,000 Japanese war prisoners who were sent to Soviet gulags for forced labor after the war. They suffered from very inhumane conditions, and their stories were eye opening for me. I couldn’t imagine the living conditions to be forced to do backbreaking labor work in the minus 30-40°C climate of Siberia. It was heartbreaking to see families of war prisoners trying to get hold of their information and posting flyers to find them.

I realized that pain and suffering was universal regardless of what side you belonged to in the war and I pray that peacetime will continue for...