After World War II, a number of Japanese prisoners of war were taken to Siberia, where many died. But some managed to return home. 78 years later, documents from the Vatican Archives show that the Holy See helped bring them home.
A professor at Nihon University in Tokyo studied the Vatican archival documents on Pope Pius XII that were made available in 2020. There, she discovered nearly 40 documents describing the Holy See's diplomatic efforts between 1946 and 1948 to repatriate Japanese prisoners.
PR. SAHO MATSUMOTO
Nihon University, Tokyo
So there was a number of horrible things happening, like the women being raped and all the civilians and the men being taken to forced labor in Siberia. So in that situation the Vatican again tried to help the people sent to Siberia.
Among the archives are letters from Japanese families to the Vatican Secretary of State thanking him for his help. Professor Matsumoto recalls that negotiating the return of prisoners of war was not easy at the diplomatic level.
PR. SAHO MATSUMOTO
Nihon University, Tokyo
Obviously, the Vatican at that point did not have a formal diplomatic relation with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is a communist country and then, so, obviously it wasn't so easy to be very successful. However, there was a number, maybe under 100 people or several people managed to return.
The professor notes that there is still a lot to be studied in order to see the real magnitude of the Vatican's assistance to the Japanese during World War II.
JRB/PA
TR: KG
