Balanda for the Chinese emperor. Appearance of the main witness to the Tokyo Tribunal

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Balanda for the Chinese emperor. Appearance of the main witness to the Tokyo Tribunal


You speak English?


It is impossible not to recognize the fact that at the Tokyo trial the Western defenders of the Japanese military-political elite were not at all as tough as in Nuremberg against the Nazis. Therefore, it is not surprising that Pu Yi is a “witness from the Russians”, for the most part they constantly tried to confuse. However, he answered all their questions without hesitation, and in brilliant English.



With this, from the very first words, he surprised the entire audience of the process: from prosecutors and judges to translators, mostly English-speaking. However, they were not surprised at all. Still, after all, Pu Yi, in addition to Chinese and native Manchu, was also fluent in English.

He studied the language from the age of fourteen, and his English teacher made the young heir, and then the owner of the throne, essentially a real Westerner. It was he who gave him, instead of the hard-to-pronounce Aisin-Gero, a simple European name - Henry.

At the same time, Pu Yi quite calmly endured any attacks and tricks of lawyers. Although he was not a hero in the truest sense of the word. But his fate was so unusual that Henry more than once in a previous life had to show miracles of resourcefulness and adaptability to a variety of circumstances. At the same time, in spite of everything, he always remained a kind, sympathetic and cheerful person, who did not get tired of the joys of life and honestly aspired to them.


The nature of the former emperor was well studied by his Soviet advisers, and in connection with this, they had a daring plan. It did not take shape immediately, while the International Tribunal in Tokyo was being prepared, but one of the stories about Pu Yi by Captain Pyotr Yazev served as an impetus to his comrades and colleagues in the UNKGB - UMGB in the Khabarovsk Territory. That was the name of their department of the People's Commissariat of State Security of the USSR, headed from the beginning of the war by State Security Commissar of the 2nd rank Sergei Goglidze.

Quite a different trio


It was Goglidze who selected talented guys for his management, such as Mikhail Pismanik and Pyotr Podnozov. Yazev had been friends with them since before the war. He did not hide anything from them about his ward - the former emperor, this actually handsome and intelligent guy with a wonderful character in his own way. Yazev was even a little embarrassed that in Mukden he not only met Pu Yi, but also managed to make friends with him in a human way.

Just after one of the stories of Yazev, who noted the truly iron will of the fragile-looking Pu Yi, Captain Pismanik, who had an analytical mindset, had an unexpected idea. He suggested that it was the former emperor of Manchukuo who would be the main witness for the prosecution at the Tokyo Tribunal.


Pismanik reminded his colleagues that Pu Yi is not just a well-known person, but certainly an authoritative one, although many considered and called him a “Japanese puppet”. Having shared them with his friends, he soon shared his thoughts with the new boss - Lieutenant General Ivan Dolgikh, who replaced Sergei Goglidze in this post.

He had been Goglidze's deputy for quite a long time and knew perfectly well all three young employees selected in the country's leading universities. Dolgikh immediately agreed with Pismanik's idea. At the same time, he said that appropriate work should be carried out with the emperor in advance. And having learned that the same employees of the department intend to carry it out, he gave the go-ahead for it.

For several days, the whole trio discussed this extremely unusual and serious plan for the upcoming work, in case of failure, it threatened them all with not only unpleasant, but also the most serious consequences that one could imagine. But the guys were not timid.

Having made a decision for themselves, they immediately went to a secret dacha, where, not expecting anything of the kind, their new ward Henry Pu Yi spent time in laziness, occupying himself with memories. it is required of him, without hesitation for a long time, agreed to speak at the trial as one of the main accusers of Japanese imperialism. It seems that the Japanese high ranks over the years of their soft guardianship pretty much got the "emperor".

And what will Comrade Beria say?


Almost immediately, the all-powerful Lavrenty Beria was reported on the original plan of the Khabarovsk State Security Department. Friends and colleagues - Pyotr Yazev, Mikhail Pismanik and Pyotr Podnozov, who showed a risky initiative, did not really doubt that he would support the idea, and simply, according to their own understanding, they already began to prepare Henry Pu Yi for the upcoming trial at the secret dacha.

Beria quickly gave the go-ahead, and at his suggestion a special closed government decree was issued. In accordance with it, leading international lawyers were sent from Moscow to help the troika of captains.

Thus, in accordance with the instructions of the government, the interned former emperor of Manchukuo Pu Yi was prepared to speak at the Tokyo trial as a witness for the prosecution.

At the preliminary investigation in Khabarovsk, Pu Yi clearly showed that Japan, by its invasion of Manchuria, pursued the goal of the political, economic and religious enslavement of Manchuria and the preparation of a springboard for a military attack on the USSR. As many participants in the process, and not only Soviet ones, later noted, in Tokyo, it was American lawyers who tried in every possible way to discredit the personality of Pu Yi himself.

The goal was clear - to reduce the value of the testimonies of a dubious witness. Quite clearly suspecting that Pu Yi would testify exclusively in favor of the USSR, lawyers from the United States did not hesitate to directly humiliate the former emperor. In their behavior, at the same time, an openly anti-Soviet orientation was clearly visible, the desire to discredit the position of the USSR. Yes, in general, they did not hide it.

Devil's advocates


This is exactly how the most active of the lawyers, the American Major Blakney, acted and repeatedly acted. Through rather simple, apparently public logical constructions, Blackney and his less assertive colleagues wanted to convince international prosecutors and the court that the appearance of the former monarch before the Tokyo Tribunal was the result of threats and promises from the Soviets.

That is why Pu Yi, allegedly intimidated to death, says only what he was ordered to say in the USSR. However, the elegant, calm and even at times deliberately relaxed former emperor held firm, repeating to the defenders over and over again:

“I was not threatened or promised anything.”


The same Blackney lawyer showed the witness for identification his letter to one of the defendants, Minami Jiro, a general, minister of war, and former commander of the Kwantung Army. Pu Yi said that this letter was forged.

Major Blackney tried to hide the letter, but the prosecutor demanded that it be handed over to the tribunal. Subsequently, this letter was successfully used by the prosecution to expose the machinations of the defense, which tried to present an obvious fake to the court.

Solo for Captain Kleiman


Major Blackney's colleague, another American lawyer, Captain Kleiman, who after him entered into a real judicial duel here, immediately asked:

“Did you ask the Soviet government that held you captive, or the international section of the Prosecution of this Tribunal, that you be allowed to testify before the Tribunal?”

To which Pu Yi did not reach into his pocket for a word, but communicating easily and naturally, but at the same time, without a shadow of a doubt, clearly answered:

"The prosecution invited me to be a witness at this trial."

But Captain Kleiman does not let up:

"Have you been told what might happen if you refuse to testify before this Tribunal?"

However, the emperor continued to stand his ground as if rooted to the spot, quickly finding the right words witty and usually lively in the language of Henry Pu Yi:

"This is ridiculous. It's funny to listen to you. Of course, I came here to testify of my own free will.”


Thus, the collective efforts of the American defense at the Tokyo Trials were not successful. The former emperor not only confirmed all the testimony given by him during the preliminary investigation, but also repeated many times that, while in the USSR, he was not subjected to any pressure and gives his testimony absolutely sincerely.

Back to Khabarovsk


When Pu Yi finished his testimony and was preparing to fly back to the USSR, his return was unexpectedly delayed by almost six days, also due to the fault of the American side. The Americans, as it turned out later, all these days still hoped to collect the necessary evidence.

In this case, already the fact that the Tribunal opposes the return of the ex-emperor Pu Yi to the Soviet Union. But this was not possible: on September 6, 1946, Henry Pu Yi, together with his companion Peter Yazev, returned safely to Khabarovsk.

As a result of Pu Yi's testimony at the Tokyo Trial, the section of the verdict "Manchuria is Japan's life line" began to begin with the statement:

“It has been established that during the entire period covered by the evidence presented to the Tribunal, the intention to wage war against the USSR was one of the main elements of Japan's military policy. The Japanese War Party was determined to occupy the Far Eastern territories of the USSR, as well as other parts of the Asian continent. Although Manchuria attracted with its natural wealth, the possibility of expansion and colonization, its capture was also desirable as providing a foothold in the planned war against the USSR.

In another section of the verdict - "Manchuria as a springboard against the USSR" - it says:

"The capture of Manchuria in 1931 provided bases for attacking the USSR on a broad front with the aim of capturing the entire Soviet Far East."

It was an undoubted victory for both the former Emperor of Manchukuo Aisin Gioro Pu Yi, and the trio of friends from the Far East, as well as lawyers from the USSR - participants in the International Tribunal.
  • Alexander Sapsay
  • 1kommunist.ru, freylit.ru, qulishi.com, cyrillitsa.ru, from the author's archive
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6 comments
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  1. +2
    25 October 2022 05: 41
    Devil's advocates
    And you can't call them anything else!
    1. +2
      25 October 2022 08: 45
      Good morning .
      And why did Japanese war criminals have American lawyers?
      Could they choose them themselves, or were they appointed to defend them at the trial?
      Were there really no Japanese lawyers?
      But, it seems to me, the Americans, for some reason, took up the defense themselves, so that later they would use these criminals in their own interests.
      1. +3
        25 October 2022 10: 26
        And why did Japanese war criminals have American lawyers?
        Could they choose them themselves, or were they appointed to defend them at the trial?
        Were there really no Japanese lawyers?

        Of the more than a hundred lawyers, about a quarter were Americans, the rest were Japanese.
  2. +3
    25 October 2022 10: 39
    It was not for nothing that they ate bread, the Soviet Chekists.
    1. +1
      25 October 2022 11: 07
      Liked! Practically, -Murakami in 1Q84 canvas, thank you!
  3. +1
    25 October 2022 12: 02
    Big people did big things. I don't envy you, but I respect you.

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