Men and memories in confinement : excerpts from a diary written in prison during the Japanese occupation, June 21, 1942 - February 15, 1945 / by Conrado Gar Agustin

Men and memories in confinement : excerpts from a diary written in prison during the Japanese occupation, June 21, 1942 - February 15, 1945 / by Conrado Gar Agustin

Philippines--History--Japanese occupation, 1942-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Philippine.

Diary kept by a Filipino who was arrested by the Japanese for writing and spreading anti-Japanese leaflets early in the occupation. Considered a “misguided element,” Agustin was brought to Fort Santiago, where he was interrogated and tortured; he wrote this diary “with great personal risk” and hid it in his pillowcase.

This is one of very few instances where an actual Filipino prisoner (not a combatant) documents life in a Japanese prison and names his fellow inmates, many of whom later became very important persons. After almost ten months, and after a mock trial, Agustin and some fellow prisoners were sentenced to fixed terms and moved to New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa; there he would stay until the liberation in February 1945.

The actual diary is quite short; the rest of the book is composed of newspaper and periodical articles, mementos, and a collection of signatures of fellow prisoners with morale-boosting messages. Many of those who signed did not survive the war. Includes a partial listing of prisoners in Fort Santiago (many notable personalities).

Agustin, Conrado Gar

Manila : MCS Enterprises, 1973

1973

22 x 17 cm.

Hardbound

DS 686.4 A38

13961

xii, 38 p., [34] leaves, 6 p., [15] leaves, 4 p., [85] leaves, 6 p., [2] leaves

ill., clippings and pictorials