Site of the Fushun War Criminals Management Office

Site of the Fushun War Criminals Management Office

The Site of the Fushun War Criminals Management Office is a national AAA-level tourist attraction, a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level, a classic red tourism destination, and a patriotic education base.

The Exhibition Hall of the Former Site of the Fushun War Criminals Prison is located at the foot of Gao’er Mountain in Fushun City. Originally built in 1936 by Japanese invaders during their war of aggression against China to imprison Chinese anti-Japanese patriots and fellow countrymen, it was then called the “Fushun Prison.” After Japan’s surrender in 1945, it was taken over by the Kuomintang and renamed the Liaodong Provincial Fourth Prison. In November 1948, after the liberation of Fushun, it was taken over by the government of the People’s Republic of China and renamed the “Liaodong Third Prison.” In June 1950, according to central instructions, the prison was converted into the Fushun War Criminals Management Office. Starting in July of the same year, it began to incarcerate Japanese war criminals and puppet Manchukuo war criminals handed over to China by the Soviet government. After 1956, it also successively detained a number of Kuomintang war criminals.

Among the war criminals held at the Fushun War Criminals Prison were 982 Japanese war criminals including Lieutenant General Suzuki Keiku, commander of the Japanese Army’s 117th Division; Lieutenant General Fujita Masao, commander of the 57th Division; and Major General Sasa Shin’nosuke, commander of the 39th Division, as well as Bureau Chief Muci Kuzo and Deputy Bureau Chief Koi Hai Chuzhi of the General Affairs Agency of the Puppet Manchukuo State Council. There were also 71 puppet Manchukuo war criminals including “Emperor” Aisin-Gioro Puyi and various ministers. In addition, 354 war criminals of the Chiang Kai-shek clique, including Huang Wei, former commander of the Kuomintang’s 12th Army Corps, were also held. The Chinese government implemented a humane and lenient policy during the reform of these war criminals. Through painstaking and meticulous education and rehabilitation, the Japanese war criminals, who had once committed heinous crimes, eventually confessed their guilt before the just trials of China’s special military tribunals, while the puppet Manchukuo war criminals and those of the Kuomintang clique were transformed into people who loved their motherland and peace.

Between June 1956 and March 1964, all Japanese war criminals detained at the Fushun War Criminals Management Office were released and repatriated in phases. From December 1959 to March 1975, all puppet Manchukuo war criminals and Chiang Kai-shek clique war criminals held there were also granted special pardons in phases. Premier Zhou Enlai once praised the achievements in the reform of war criminals, saying, “We reformed the last emperor, which is a miracle in the world.”

On July 10, 1986, upon the request of international and domestic friends and social organizations, and following approval from the State Council granted through reports by the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the General Political Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, it was agreed that the Fushun War Criminals Management Office, after renovation, would be opened to the public as the former site of the War Criminals Management Office. In 1988, it was designated as a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit by the People’s Government of Liaoning Province. In October 1993, the Fushun Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Government of Fushun City designated it as a “Patriotic Education Base.” In 1995, it was recognized as a “Patriotic Education Demonstration Base of Liaoning Province” by the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Government of Liaoning Province.

As a prison for detaining war criminals after the victory of the anti-fascist struggle in World War II, the Fushun War Criminals Management Office is the only relatively well-preserved site of its kind still in existence in the world today. It played a significant role in the anti-fascist struggle and stands as an important symbol of the final victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japan. At the same time, it serves to promote peace, extol the virtues of the Chinese nation, celebrate the great policies of the Communist Party of China, inspire and uplift national spirit, condemn aggressive wars, and criticize hostile forces that maliciously attack China’s socialist construction under the guise of protecting... It is both a prison built by Japanese invaders to suppress Chinese patriots and a facility where the Chinese government detained and reformed Japanese war criminals. It is also the birthplace of China’s feudal Qing Dynasty and the place where the last emperor was reformed, collectively reflecting an important cross-section of the full trajectory of China’s modern history.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Cultural Relics Protection Units of Liaoning Province

· Sixth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level