The forgotten German who saved Jews in Japan - and the diary that resurfaced 80 years later

A child's wartime diary from Japan has resurfaced, reopening the story of Willy Rudolf Foerster, a German industrialist who helped Jewish refugees reach Japan during the Holocaust. The diary was kept by Renate Quastler, who fled Nazi Germany with her family after Foerster employed her father. Foerster was later arrested, tortured, and classified as a Nazi by Allied authorities despite evidence of his anti-Nazi actions. His biographer, Dr. Clemens Jochem, spent over a decade investigating Foerster's story, uncovering thousands of pages of records.

A child's wartime diary, hidden for decades, has resurfaced and reopened the story of Willy Rudolf Foerster, a German industrialist who helped Jewish refugees reach Japan during the Holocaust. The diary was kept by Renate Quastler, who fled Nazi Germany with her Jewish father, Ernst Quastler, and Christian mother in 1939 after Foerster employed her father as his general manager. Foerster, an anti-Nazi industrialist, worked with Tokyo's Jewish Refugee Committee to help Jewish families obtain employment, entry permissions, and travel costs to Japan. His biographer, Dr. Clemens Jochem, spent over a decade investigating Foerster's story, uncovering thousands of pages of records. Foerster was arrested in 1943 on spying accusations instigated by Gestapo liaison Josef Meisinger, tortured, and forced to surrender his business. After the war, Allied occupation authorities classified Foerster as a Nazi, confiscated his assets, and deported his family to Germany, despite an internal US investigation concluding he was anti-Nazi. The article notes that Jewish refugees and others gave evidence on his behalf.