In 2020, The Left Berlin reported on the threat to Moabit’s “comfort woman” statue, also known as the Peace Statue or ‘Ari’, after Stephan von Dassel, then mayor of Berlin-Mitte, ordered its removal following pressure from the Japanese government. We also interviewed affected Japanese and Korean activists about what the statue, which commemorates East Asian victims of sexual violence during the Second World War, meant to them.
A lively campaign saved the statue, which you can still visit at the corner of Bremerstraße and Birkenstraße. But it is under threat once more after Berlin’s mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) announced in May that the Peace Statue would be removed.
Wegner’s announcement followed a meeting with Japanese foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa. At the meeting, Wegner dismissed the statue as being “one-sided”. and said: “it is important that we come to changes.” He also met Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike. Koike’s attitude towards Koreans is hardline, even for Japanese politicians, as she actively denies that Koreans were massacred after the 1923 Great Tokyo earthquake.
A Damning Report
On August 3rd, Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting (RBB) published a report entitled Funding of Project on Sexualized Violence Fails Due to Political Interference. The report explained how women and children, primarily from Korea and China, were referred to as “comfort women” as an attempt to hide the fact that they were, in fact, forced into sexual slavery. Up to 200,000 women and girls were sent to so-called “comfort stations” where they were raped several times every day.
As a result of the funding rejection, the Korea Verband will also no longer be able to continue its youth education project “Sit Next to Me!”, which has been running for three years. This project aims to educate young people about sexual violence in wartime by focusing on the history of the Japanese military’s “comfort women” and the movement surrounding the Peace Statue, while also drawing connections to unresolved historical issues in Germany.
RBB talked to Nataly Jung-Hwa Han from Berlin’s Korea Verband about the project, quoting her as saying: “what the project meant for us is empowerment, because the comfort women have broken the silence.”
RBB says that it has compelling evidence that the Korea Verband’s application for funding from the Berlin Project Fund for Cultural Education was rejected due to direct intervention by Kai Wegner because he feared a conflict with the Japanese government.
For its part, the Japanese embassy invited several members of the funding panel to a meal in a five star hotel to attempt to encourage them to vote against the educational project behind the statue. After the panel decided to fund the project anyway, Wegner intervened. The statue should now be removed at the end of September.
Civil society worldwide has expressed deep regret over the findings of the RBB report. There is great disappointment that this initiative was derailed by political intervention after the curriculum had already been coordinated with several schools and was ready for implementation. There is also outrage that the decades-long work of the Korea Verband has been suppressed without its contribution to German society being acknowledged.
Concern grows following the victory of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the Berlin municipal elections, as support has been withdrawn from the Korea Verband and other organizations primarily run by those with migration backgrounds. This situation has raised fears that Germany and Japan, the two Axis powers of World War II, could be returning to the past.
Protest Rally
As a response to Wegner’s interference, the initiative “People at the Statue of Peace” are organizing another protest rally “Erinnerung [Memories] for Sale!?” at Neptunenbrunnen near Alexanderplatz. The rally is protesting against the political interference of the Berlin Mayor in the Korea Verband’s application for funding for an educational project on gender-based violence.
The organizers of the rally join the voices of global civil society in calling on the German government to recognize that the issue of the Japanese military’s “comfort women” is a serious human rights violation, representing a continuation of colonialism and the oppression of women, and to no longer support the Japanese government’s efforts to deny and revise history.
The protest demands the following:
Preservation of the Statue of Peace, Ari: The Statue of Peace must stay! Despite broad support from civil society and the positive decisions of the District Assembly (BVV), the statue is still under threat. District Mayor Stefanie Remlinger has stated that there is no legal basis for preserving the statue, but we insist that the voice of the victims of sexualized violence and the citizens of Berlin must be heard.
Protecting democracy and the culture of remembrance: It is unacceptable that political influence and economic interests are undermining the culture of remembrance in Berlin. The Japanese embassy tried to influence jury members of the project fund to decide against educational projects such as “Sit next to me”. When this failed, Kai Wegner personally prevented the continuation of the project. We demand that educational projects and monuments that deal with the memory of historical injustices be protected regardless of economic interests.
Since 2017, Yuriko Koike, the mayor of Tokyo, has refused to send a letter of condolence as part of the commemoration ceremony for the Korean victims of the massacre after the Great Tokyo Earthquake (1923) and has actively censored artworks that deal with the subject. Despite these facts, Kai Wegner continues to do business with her.
Investigation and political consequences: We call on the Berlin Senate to thoroughly investigate these incidents and respect the decisions of the expert jury. Kai Wegner must focus on the needs of Berlin’s citizens instead of using his political influence for the revisionist Japanese government. District Mayor Stefanie Remlinger should reject the pressure from Wegner and the Japanese government and speak out clearly in favor of preserving the peace statue.
Victim protection instead of perpetrator protection: We demand that the protection of victims of sexualized violence be given priority and that educational and awareness-raising work for young people be given greater support.
Aiko Okamoto, one of the organisers of the rally told theleftberlin: “Many people have already proven that the Statue of Peace stands for real peace – peace without colonialism and sexualised violence. This is no longer just a sculpture but a community. You can’t just put up a place like this with money, you have to work together constantly.
This hard-won place is now balanced with the economic interests by by Kai Wegner. This is justified by Japan’s revisionist view of history. With this rally, we want to emphasise once again that the Statue of Peace is a symbol of cohesion.
On September 8th, we will be showing a film which makes it clear how Japanese right-wing actors trivialise the Japanese empire and thus despise the ‘comfort women’ once again. We in Berlin do not bow to this hatred but stand together for justice for ‘comfort women’ and the Statue of Peace.”
Protest Rally – Remembrance for Sale!? For the preservation of the Statue of Peace Ari and for democracacy. Thursday, 5th September, 5pm, Neptunenbrunnen.
Film and Discussion: Shusenjo: The main battleground of the comfort women issue. Sunday, 8th September, 5.20pm, Sinema Transtopia, Lindowerstraße 20/22.
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