European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 c the stars and stripes monday August 19, 1991wwii Era atrocities on display in Japan Tokyo apr a Man in uniform grins for the camera. In one hand dangles the head of one of his victims in the other a sword. In another scene one Soldier holds a chinese civilian while another drives a Bayonet into his ribs. Former members of Japan s Imperial army Are providing these images and graphic personal accounts of their participation in such atrocities As the 1937 Nanjing massacre at an annual anti War exhibition in Tokyo. As the 50th anniversary of Japan a attack on Pearl Harbor approaches some older japanese Are seeking to remind their younger compatriots of their nations responsibility for world War ii. The reminders have come in apologies to the countries that suffered under Japan a Militarist expansion in documentaries and dramas on the wartime Era and in the accounts of veterans who fought for Japan in the War. In a videotaped testimony of a War of aggression shown at the War exhibition for peace three former military officers describe indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians in China during the War. Shozo Tominaga 78, tells of learning How to kill. A a a ill show you How to chop off a Many a head a a senior officer told me a Tominaga recounts. A then i was ordered to do the same and i  after that initiation Tominaga says he had no problem ordering other executions. Another former officer Hiromichi Nagatomi 75, describes slaying chinese in Nanjing after the City fell under japanese control a i killed people for several months without feeling any guilt a Nagatomi says. A i shot at the fleeing chinese a eventually killing As Many As 200 people he adds. The number of chinese killed in the so called a rape of Nanjing remains a matter of speculation. Some prominent japanese such As legislator Shintaro Ishihara claim that chinese death tolls of 200,000 to 300,000 Are propaganda. At least one former japanese officer puts the figure at 150,000. Yoshio Tsuchiya 79, a former military police officer tells of his experiments in torture a of burning people with hot Irons and of forcing them to drink water until they died. Quot it was excruciating for them a he says. All three of the sex soldiers were imprisoned for War crimes after the War. They also sometimes visit schools to describe the history of the War to children according to the videotape. A Japan occupied neighbouring countries for its own profit under the Guise that it was for the Sake of peace. Japan itself started the War a the narrator says. About 5,000-6,000 people were expected to see the five Day exhibition which was to close sunday. It is sponsored by the War exhibition for peace a private anti War group with about 300 members and co sponsored by the Japan China Friendship association. The display criticizes Japan scooper Active role in the korean Vietnam and persian Gulf wars. A Japan has participated in those wars too a says Mitsuharu Yazaki an organizer of the exhibition. A it still Hasni to apologized to All those  some japanese fear their county May be losing its postwar commitment to pacifism because younger generations Are taught with textbooks that tend to gloss Over wartime history and because of the Gulf War. Partly in response to . Criticism Over Japan a limited role in that conflict parliament is debating legislation that would enable japanese troops to go overseas for International peacekeeping operations.. Gives Back old gravestones stolen from Ireland Shannon Ireland apr the United states on saturday returned four 1,000-year-old gravestones stolen from an Early Christian burial site in Ireland. The Fri recovered the stones which were Stolcis from a monastic site on Inch Leraun Island in Lough ree in Western Ireland two years ago after they were offered for Sale to Boston College. Thomas Hughes head of the Fri office in Boston and special agent de Clark accompanied the coffin shaped boxes containing the slabs to Ireland. They turned them Over to minister of Public works Vincent Brady at Shannon Airport. A these two special agents were instrumental in frustrating the criminal efforts to convert part of our heritage into Dollar Bills Quot Brady said. A thankfully Public spirited vigilance is alive and Well both in the United states and Here in Ireland. I give my personal undertaking that no Effort will be spared by this government in pursuing anyone who unlawfully interferes with our archaeological heritage a he said. The office of Public works said in a statement that an Irish policeman has resigned and an irishman has been jailed by a Boston court in connection with the affair. Eamon Barnes Ireland a director of Public prosecutions is considering evidence against them and an unidentified county Longford businessman allegedly involved in the illegal Export of Irish antiquities to the United states the statement said. The Fri has said the Irish Republican army May have acted As a go Between with academic  the United states. The gravestones were recovered after Robert of Neill director of the Burns Library at Boston College called in the Fri when he was contacted about buying them the office of Public works said. An Fri agent posing As a Rich collector with Irish roots agreed to buy the slabs for 260,000 pounds $435,000. Photos of the stones were sent to Dublin where they were identified As stolen property by Eamon Kelly keeper of antiquities at the National museum in , Mexico style at visitors to the downtown of san Luis Potosi Mexico Are engulfed with Campaign signs saturday in preparation for sundays elections. Voters were to elect 500 Federal deputies and six  train kills 12 fleeing fire Beijing up a panicked passengers fleeing a fire on a train sunday leapt into the path of a freight train police in Southern Huangdong province said. At least 12 people were killed and 20 injured. Eight of the injuries Are very serious said a railways ministry police duty officer in the Huangdong capital of Canton. Police declined to identify the victims in the 12 15 . Accident or disclose whether any foreigners were among the casualties. The overcrowded train was travelling South to Canton from Wuhan the capital of Hubei province and had just entered Daya Oshan Tunnel near Shaoyuan City when one car filled with smoke police said. Police quoted witnesses As saying a piece of Luggage caught fire in a part of the train where passengers were smoking and using their bags As seats. A conductor quickly extinguished the flames but passengers panicked As acrid smoke billowed through the train. Someone pulled the emergency Stop signal and the train stopped while still inside the Tunnel. Scores of passengers leapt from train windows onto an adjacent track. Masses of dead fish reported floating off Bahrain Manama Bahrain apr Large numbers of dead fish Are floating in the Waters off Bahrain and officials said sunday that the persian Gulf War Oil spill May have caught up with the islands Staple food. Jassim Al Naseer head of the directorate of fisheries said in a Telephone Call that masses of Humour were found Over the past Days floating dead with a mysterious red discoloration on the belly and Mouth and lesions on their Gills. A it might be caused by some kind of bacterial infection or it might be the result of the environmental pollution caused by the Oil Slick and kuwaiti Oil fires a he said. Samples for analyses have been sent to european and local laboratories he said. Newspapers Are warning the islands half million inhabitants to Check fish carefully before eating it. An average of 12 tons of fresh fish much of it Humour is consumed daily by the Island s half million residents. Humour similar to cod is the main fish variety caught off the Central Gulf Island. As Many As seven million barrels of Oil May have been spilled into the Waters during the War mainly off saudi Arabia after Iraq turned on the taps of Kuwait a offshore sea Island Oil terminal. The saudis have mopped up the Oil in the Waters but Large portions of the goo had sunk to the seabed. Bahrain and its skies Are also affected by the smoke plume from the iraqi torched Oil Wells in Kuwait. Bahrain about 250 Miles South of Kuwait has been concerned about the polluting effect on its Rich fisheries but this is the first indication of problems. Ali Ahmed a scientist with the fisheries directorate said dead fish were found around some Industrial areas. But Many More were found in areas far from Gulf Side factories. The Gulf is Rich in fish resources said to number 250 varieties belonging to 100 families in addition to 10 types of prawns