August 30, 2017

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Aso Taro made remarks apparently in defense of Hitler’s motive behind Holocaust, causing fierce criticism.

During a seminar of his own faction held on August 29, Aso talked about how politicians should act to his group’s lawmakers, “In politics, results are very important.” He then added, “Hitler killed millions of people. No matter if his motive was right, what’s wrong is wrong.”

He previously had to retract Nazi-related remarks after coming under fire. In 2013, he said that Japan should follow the example of the Nazis to change the Constitution. He said during his talk, “The Nazis replaced the German Weimar Constitution with their own constitution before anyone noticed. Why don’t we learn from their tactics?”

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On August 30, Aso retracted his Hitler-related remarks.

Past related articles:
> JCP Shii issues statement denouncing Aso’s pro-Nazi comment [August 2, 2013]
> Aso’s ‘learn from Nazi’ shows his failure as politician [August 1, 2013]