The three years and eight months of Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during the second world war is one of the darkest eras in local history. Although the bad days are long gone, history can never be forgotten or hidden away.
Suzannah Linton, an associate law professor at the University of Hong Kong, is determined to let Hong Kong people learn about their wartime history by compiling an online archive of documents from 45 war crime trials held in Hong Kong between 1945 and 1948 involving 123 Japanese war criminals.
'These documents were the part that nobody was interested in,' Linton said. 'Historians have looked at them but the public does not know about them. I think they will be of interest to people from different walks of life and professions including lawyers, social scientists, historians, and of course family members of those who were involved in the cases. I hope it can help Hong Kong people understand their past.'
The trial documents that Linton referenced in the archive remained secret in the National Archive in Kew in London until 1977. The archive also includes Linton's own notes on the cases and scans of the original papers. Users will also be able to search for names and places.
Linton says the purpose of the archive is to allow people to learn from history. 'The things the Japanese did were horrible, but they are not the only ones who have done them,' Linton says. 'Such terrible things are still happening in the world. I hope people can become more sensitive about the suffering of others, of the cruelty humans inflict on other humans, and about the abuse of power.'
Research assistant Ernest Ng Chung-yan says he was deeply touched by the project. 'When I read about the trials I felt I became part of the history,' Ng says. 'I'm familiar with the places, even the names of the streets that are mentioned in the trials, and I had a feeling that I had become part of it. I used to read about the war from textbooks but this project has brought history to life for me.'