Eighty years after the end of World War II, parts of its history remain shrouded in secrecy and political convenience. In this episode of Now I’ve Heard Everything, Bill Thompson sits down with Jenny Chan, co-founder and Director of Pacific Atrocities Education. Inspired by a surprising discovery after her grandmother’s passing, Jenny has dedicated her life to uncovering the forgotten history of World War II’s Pacific theater — where an estimated 40 million lives were lost.
From the harrowing survival stories of Filipino guerrilla resistance fighters and “comfort women” to the unthinkable atrocities committed by Imperial Japan’s Unit 731, Jenny exposes the brutal realities of total war on civilian populations. She also sheds light on the shocking post-war immunity deal where the U.S. government purchased biological warfare data from war criminals for millions of dollars. Tune in for a powerful conversation about historical erasure, the agonizing bureaucratic fight to declassify 80-year-old documents, and what happens when scientific advancement completely abandons human ethics.
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Chapters:
00:17 The Discovery That Changed Everything
01:17 The Radical Erasure of the Pacific Theater
03:16 Hellships and Friendly Fire
07:23 The Bureaucratic Fight for Declassification
09:14 Heroism and Horrors: Guerrillas and Comfort Women
13:16 The Politics of Post-War Justice
14:01 Unit 731: Science Without Ethics
17:46 Bought Immunity: The U.S. Deal with War Criminals
21:51 Final Thoughts: War is a Nasty Business
23:07 Where to Find Pacific Atrocities Education
Guest Information
Jenny Chan
Website
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1987 interview with Nien Cheng
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