Memory, borders, and justice: The emerging morality competition over the wartime documentary heritage of Jewish refugees in East Asia

Abstract

This article brings attention to the moral aspect of remembering by examining the emerging interest in wartime documentary heritage in East Asia, particularly epitomized in recent competitions and disputes over nomination processes of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Memory of the World. It examines China and Japan’s attempts at pursuing MoW registers and leading the commemoration of Jewish passages in wartime East Asia, through which they wish to gain an international reputation for morality derived from the Holocaust. This study demonstrates that memory politics in East Asia, instead of only reinforcing the image of innocent victims of wars, has moved toward featuring the righteous figures who preserved humanity against violence. It also sheds light on the limits of MoW—an institutional practice that is not designed to accommodate entangled memory but to confine and govern memories.