Documentary "Truth and Denial" wins high acclaims

BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhuanet) -- "Truth and Denial -- Germany and Japan's Postwar Redemption", was debuted on China Central Television (CCTV) lately.

The four-episode documentary has won high acclaims from the average audiences and members of the academic circle in China in particular.

"'Truth and Denial' is an authoritative, reliable and compelling documentary with realistic meaning and historical significance," professor Li Shi’an from the elite Renmin University in Beijing, commented.

The documentary tells the strikingly different redemption attitudes of the two countries after the end of the Second World War.

Germany has been sincerely reflecting on its past crimes in the war and learning lessons from history, they said.

"We see the footprints of German leaders, reflecting on their history and apologizing to the victims of the war", Di Wen, fellow of the Institute of world history of Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), said.

When the West German Chancellor Willy Brandt knelt down at the monument to victims of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, his nation stood up.

Germany also has attached great importance to the education of the people in the history of WWII, especially the teenagers, and formed a national consensus of squarely facing its history, Di Wen added.

Against Berlin's sincerity in historical remorse, Japan's craven and irresponsible historical stance is all the more conspicuous.

"One who does not remember the history will have no bright future", as CASS academician and president of Association of Chinese Historians (ACH) Zhang Haipeng said.

Without a correct attitude to history and courage to face up to the past, Japan will never win respect and forgiveness of the international community, members of the academic circle in China predicted.