Derek Khoudja
Social Studies Teacher
Hunterton Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ
2011 China Study Tour Participant
It has been almost half a year since returning from
China
and it’s still hard to put into words what the experience has meant to me. I
joined NJ-ALPHA for purely academic reasons; I knew the story of World War II—as
it’s often taught—was an incomplete one. With so much focus on the horrors of
Nazism, the war in Asia too frequently is thought to have commenced at Pearl
Harbor and ended at Hiroshima.
My straightforward attempt to fill in some academic holes resulted in a total
reformation of how I viewed the war in Asia, the concept of human rights, and
the foundations of reconciliation. Most important perhaps was the realization
that as teachers, it is incumbent upon us to pass on what we have learned to our
students
The most important lesson I took from my time in China and South Korea was the degree to which
the experiences of World War II still resonate loudly today. To teach about the
war in the Pacific, therefore, is not to teach history. Although some might wish
to confine these stories to the past, the atrocities committed in Asia have had an enduring legacy. I witnessed this
firsthand through the pained testimony of labor camp survivors and comfort women
as they courageously told their stories. It became clear that the wartime
atrocities were not a static moment in time, but a part of a story that
continues to evolve. While the war ended decades ago, chemical weapons continue
to lay dormant in the ground. I listened to a man speak who, unknowingly,
unearthed such weapons as he dug on his property. Forever scarred—both
physically and psychologically—it is a stark reminder that this horrible chapter
of history remains open. To see the continuing financial and physical hardship
of comfort women is to learn this same lesson. Skeptics need only show up on any
Wednesday at the
Japanese embassy in Seoul
to appreciate the lasting pain and frustration that is felt. To be certain, the
wounds of World War II are kept open by the lack of true reconciliation. To
achieve this, one must first take ownership of the past, accept their faults,
aid survivors, and work to preserve the memory of the victims.
Although we were surrounded by so much pain on the
trip, it was uplifting to share this experience with committed individuals from
all over the world. Each person seemed eager to meet the challenge of exposing
the history of World War II in Asia. When true
reconciliation is finally achieved, it will no doubt be because of the work of
these individuals