During World War II, the Japanese army committed atrocities in many countries in Southeast Asia, causing irreparable wounds to the people of Southeast Asian countries. In the Baranga Elementary School in Bataan Province, philippines, there is a World War II Museum, which is not large, but it records in detail the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in Bataan Province during World War II, and restores the scene of the "Bataan Death March". Due to the epidemic, the museum is currently not allowed to enter the film. Through the historical materials compiled by a writer who studied the history of World War II, the reporter of the main station revealed the truth of the "Bataan Death March".
Edna Binkowski is a native of Bataan Province and a historian and writer specializing in history during World War II. She told reporters that on December 8, 1941, Japan launched a war against the Philippines. The Bataan Peninsula became the main battlefield at that time, the Japanese army could not conquer for a long time, it launched a wild bombardment of the Bataan Peninsula, the Philippine and American coalition forces also lacked support and materials, and the front was facing collapse. In order to avoid greater casualties, on April 9, 1942, about 78,000 Filipinos and American troops surrendered to the Japanese. The Japanese forced the surrendered prisoners of war to travel on foot to the O'Dnell prisoner of war camp, 120 kilometers away. Along the way, the Japanese refused to provide food and water to the prisoners. Heat, hunger and disease, combined with Japanese brutalization, killed more than 15,000 people over a 120-kilometer journey. This was one of the worst incidents of Japanese prisoner abuse in World War II history, known as the "Bataan Death March".
The Japanese army mistreated prisoners of war and killed civilians inhumanely
At that time, Edna said, the Japanese army also forced some civilians to accompany them, raping women and torturing children, and the atrocities were heinous.
Filipino history writer Edna Binkovsky: A friend of mine saw it with his own eyes. He saw a woman with a child, a Japanese soldier grabbed the child, threw him into the sky, aimed at the tip of the bayonet and threw it, but did not throw it accurately, so he threw it again until the child died.
Edna said the atrocities committed by the Japanese in Bataan were much more than that. After they occupied the Bataan Peninsula, they established a garrison area at baranga Primary School, which housed torture rooms, where many locals died during the Japanese occupation, and the brutal crimes of the Japanese army are too numerous to describe.
Filipino history writer Edna Binkovsky: I read some material about what happened in China, which was even more brutal. They had so many demonic acts that they were not human, even the devil would feel ashamed, and these methods of torturing prisoners of war were simply too numerous to describe.
In 2015, reporters also came here for an interview, when there was a volunteer docent named Maria Cervantes, who was a survivor of the Bataan death march. Her 7-year-old brother died while on the march, and two other sisters died shortly after the march. This year, Grandma Cervantes is 93 years old, unable to get out of bed to walk, and her hearing has deteriorated so much that she cannot be interviewed.
Witnesses and survivors of the Bataan Death March are getting old, and Edna says that's why museums are needed. The younger generation needs to remember history, cherish the hard-won peace, and more importantly, the resurgence of Japanese militarism.
Source: CCTV News Client