The Massacre of Manila

I knew that Japan's occupation of the Philippines was brutal, but my education of World War II history tended to be focused on Europe and the Pacific sub campaign.  I got a clearer idea of what happened here in Manila 81 years ago when I was listening to the Unauthorized History of the Pacific War podcast episode on the Liberation of Manila.  So, I was keeping my eyes open for memorials of that horrific event and just happened to walk by one that, well, shook me quite a bit.

First the history: In February of 1945, the Americans and the Filipino allies (guerillas who had caused the Japanese many headaches) approached Manila.  The Japanese commander, Sanji Iwabuchi, did not do what MacArthur did in 1942, as the latter declared the city open as the Americans fled, to save it from harm.  No, the Japanese commander chose to destroy the city and those in it.  There is on excuse for what he did, but he chose to consider all Filipinos as helping the Americans, making all the civilians fair game.

To save on bullets and other ammunition, he ordered his troops to use fire and bayonets and other creative means to kill men, women, and children in the most barbaric violence possible.  This violence matched pretty much anything the Nazis did in cruelty even if it did not match the scale of the Holocaust. 

The memorial has multiple signs:

The text of the main description: The Central figure is a woman, quite large, dominant in size and proportion.  She is the motherland. She weeps as she holds an infant, the symbol of hope, but the infant is dead. It presents lost hope. The female figure on the right side is a victim of rape.  There is an infant clinging to her. On the left side is a man, still alive, looking confused and disoriented, despair on his face. The young boys are dead represnting the youth the country has lost.  The dead man lying portrays the elderly who were caught in the battle.  

 

 

 This second sign lists the sites of major atrocities.   

 

 

 

 

Nearby was a set of placards put up last year on the 80th anniversary, explaining what had happened.

The commander killed himself towards the end of the battle.  Two other Japanese commanders were tried for war crimes and executed.  After I went through this area, I hit a mall that had a bunch of Japanese restaurants, and, well, I wasn't quite sure how to feel about it.  I do remember that when I went to Tokyo on a junket of four Canadian academics organized and paid by the Embassy of Japan, one of the requests they made was to push Canada to mentor the new democracies of Southeast Asia.  Why?  Because the Japanese understood they could not due to history like this.  And, no, I didn't see this history of Manila discussed in any of the history museums I have visited in Japan.  

Today's Japanese are not responsible for the horrific crimes of their ancestors, but I wish they did a better job of teaching the past to the next generation--in this, the Germans are great role models.  

I had hoped to get to Corrigedor on this trip, but, well, post-divorce Steve has less extra cash for an expensive addition to this trip.  Grant money can't fund that.  I will be asking questions about relations between Japan and the Philippines in the next few days, and will report back about what I learn.