[lederhosen]

Japan lost the war, yet they still can not educate their population about the horrors performed in Korea and China. They pretend nothing happened. That kind of response does not foster forgiveness. Germany on the other hand _really_ have taken a responsible path after the war, and I also believe there is an understanding (at least in northern and western Europe) that a big part of the blame that Hitler could take power was on the victors of the first world war (England and maybe more France).

I guess better forgiveness for German aggression are due to good behaviour from post-war Germany, okay education in north and western Europe, and also that Germany behaved _relatively_ good on the western front. Of course it will take longer for eastern Europe mostly due to the extreme ugliness of the eastern front, and the huge economic differences.

[bitL]

This is not about Germany, please don't get defensive and apologetic ;-) Please read my comment again and substitute Germany for some other nation. Would that change your perspective? What post-war Germany did is admirable; now we are discussing two other nations which don't adhere to the same principles and don't go to same great lengths to fix it. Germany was used just as an example of a "repentant nation" which might deserve forgiveness. Would that be different if you weren't a repentant nation, which was the previous question?

[lederhosen]

I am not defensive, even though it might sound so, you see I am not German, in fact, my grandfather did flee Nazi Germany. I believe they deserve credit for how they are handling their history.