1. Shindo Renmei Launched a Terror Campaign Against Innocent Civilians
Those who dared doubt Shindo Renmei’s assertions of Japan’s victory were beaten up or murdered. By the time it was over, dozens had been killed. In 1946, Japan’s new government prepared documents for distribution in Brazil, outlining reality and declaring that Japan had surrendered. Shindo Renmei dismissed that as fake news, and beat up or murdered Japanese immigrants caught reading or distributing the documents.
To reduce the violence, Brazil’s government prohibited newspapers from publishing news of Japan’s defeat, and ordered the term “unconditional surrender” removed from official communications. Things then gradually simmered down. A last gasp occurred in 1950, when Japan’s Olympic swimming team visited Brazil. When its members expressed shock at the idea that Japan had won the war, diehards claimed that the athletes were actually Koreans masquerading as Japanese. That was so ludicrous, that it eroded Shindo Renmei’s last remaining support, and the organization soon vanished into history’s dustbin.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
All that is Interesting – 7 Brands With Nazi Ties That We All Use
BBC – Siemens Retreats Over Nazi Name
Cracked – Bad Groups That Weren’t Evil Originally
Daftary Farhad – The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Isma’ilis (1994)
Lewis, Bernard – The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam (1968)
National Motorcycle Museum – 1942 Harley Davidson WLA, The Liberator
New York Post, March 7th, 2016 – BMW Admits ‘Regret’ Over Using Nazi Slave Labor During WWII
Independent News, 08 November 2011 – BMW Dynasty Breaks Silence Over Nazi Past
Time Magazine, August 3rd, 2009 – A Brief History of the Hells Angels
Wasserman, James – The Templars and the Assassins (2001)
History Collection – Deadliest and Strangest Terror Groups of the 1970s
