Merkel Remembers Wartime Past in Japan

During a speech in Tokyo on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the key to postwar reconciliation in Germany was accepting its World War II atrocities. Her remarks come just before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a statement this year to remember the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. Some speculate the prime minister may whitewash Japan’s 1995 apology over its wartime actions. Merkel added she couldn’t give any specific advice to Japan, but that Germany appreciated kind gestures from neighboring countries. “Without these generous gestures of our neighbors, this would not have been possible. There was, however, also a readiness in Germany to face our history openly and squarely,” she said. “It’s difficult for me as a German chancellor to give you advice for how to deal with your neighborhood. It has to come out of a process in society.”