The Ōfuna Camp was opened on April 26, 1942, and was operated by a detachment of the Guard Unit of the Yokosuka Naval District. Whereas most other Japanese P.O.W. camps were run by the Imperial Japanese Army, Ōfuna was run by the Navy. In violation of international agreements, including the Geneva Convention,[3][failed verification] it was never officially reported as a prisoner camp, and the International Red Cross was not allowed access.[4] The Japanese position was that the Ōfuna Camp was only a temporary holding facility for prisoners, who would be transferred elsewhere. It was commanded by Commander Yokura Sashizo, who later would be sentenced to 25 years of hard labor for war crimes.[3]
DescriptionEdit
The Ōfuna Camp consisted of three interconnected one-story buildings surrounding a large field, in turn surrounded by an eight-foot-high wooden fence. The area had formerly been an elementary school. The buildings were of unpainted wood roofed with tar paper, and had a long central corridor with thirty rooms to a side, each about six by nine feet (1.83 by 2.74 meters), a single electric light, bunk, bamboo mat, and door with a small window. One of the cells was a dispensary. The camp contained two latrines and one shower room, along with a barracks for the guards, kitchen, and rooms for the Japanese commandant, non-commissioned officers and orderly.[5]
Prisoners were housed in individual cells, and were allowed to talk to no one, not even to themselves in their sleep. In good weather, they were allowed to sit outside their cells, looking straight forward, and the rule of silence was strictly enforced. Meals consisted of a little rice and soup. The prisoners were given no blankets, and the only clothing was the clothing that they had been captured in. The normal stay at Ōfuna was limited to eight days, although some prisoners were held much longer.[6] Some were held at Ōfuna for several months. Three crew members of the USS Perch(SS-176) remained at Ōfuna for the duration of the war and were used to intercept Allied radio traffic.
Ōfuna had a reputation for intimidation and for torturing their inmates in an attempt to get military information, and was nicknamed the "Torture Farm" by its inmates. As the prisoners sent to Ōfuna were primarily officers, who might have inside knowledge of Allied strategy, or others working in critical areas such as communications and submarines, it was the goal of the Japanese to extract as much information as possible in a short time. The names of the prisoners held at Ōfuna were not divulged to the Red Cross, and the camp was so secret that even local inhabitants were not aware of its existence.[7] As relayed to a submarine prisoner: "You have survived the sinking of a submarine. No one survives the sinking of a submarine. No one knows you're alive. We're going to ask you questions. This man and this man are going to shoot you if you don't answer the questions, and no one will know you were alive."[1] In some cases, the inmates were told by their captors that they were regarded as war criminals, since 90 percent of the crews of the merchant vessels sunk by American submarines were civilians, and that as war criminals, they would be given only half the rations of normal prisoners of war.[8]
The interrogations were repeated every two weeks, but the interrogators compared notes to see if there were any discrepancies. Refusing to answer questions, lying, disrespect to the interrogators, and a number of other infractions were punished by a beating with wooden clubs. Guards often beat prisoners or slapped them in the face for the slightest infraction or at times at random. Officers typically faced harsher treatment than enlisted ranks.[9] Inmates also claimed that Ōfuna guards were often sadistic, enjoying the beating and clubbing of inmates.[3]
Inmates claimed that their scarce food rations[10] were due to their Japanese and Red Cross rations being sold on the black market outside of camp. The inmates were forced to exercise every day. An inmate recalls, "We were dying, on about 500 calories a day". In 1948, the camp's notorious medical orderly, Sueharu Kitamura, was tried for causing the death of one prisoner and contributing to the deaths of three others; originally sentenced to hang, he later had his sentence reduced to thirty years of hard labor.[11]
However, despite the physical and verbal abuse, of the estimated one thousand prisoners who passed through during the war, only six prisoners died while incarcerated at the Ōfuna Camp. The remaining 126 American and nine British prisoners were liberated on 21 August 1945.[12] The buildings of Ōfuna Camp were used as a kindergarten until they were pulled down in 1969.
ReferencesEdit
^ abcTuohy, William (2001). The Bravest Man. New York: Presidio Press, an imprint of Random House Publishing Group. pp. 403–404. ISBN978-0-307-55487-1.
^Parnell, Max L. "The Hell of Ofuna As a "Guest" of the Japanese in WWII". www.118trs.com. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^ abcLoughlin, John. "Allied POWs Flogged By Brutal Japs". trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^"Ofuna POW Interrogation Center". www.mansell.com. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^[1] Official US Army report by Dolder Rescue Team
^11th Bomb Group (H): The Grey Geese. Turner Publishing Company. 1996. p. 32. ISBN1563112396.
^Wulkovits, John (2011). Black Sheep: The Life of Pappy Boyington. Naval Institute Press. p. 170. ISBN978-1591149774.
^Sturma, Michael (2011). Surface and Destroy: The Submarine Gun War in the Pacific. University of Kentucky Press. ISBN978-0813140209.
^Lavo, Carl (2011). Back from the Deep: The Strange Story of the Sister Subs Squalus and Sculpin. Bluejacket Books. ISBN978-1612511702.
^Balch, Jean. . www.yorktownsailor.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^James Scott, The War Below (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013), pp. 276-277; 286-289; 314.
Ōfuna, prisoner, camp, Ōfuna, camp, 大船収容所, Ōfuna, shūyōsho, imperial, japanese, navy, installation, located, kamakura, outside, yokohama, japan, during, world, where, high, value, enlisted, officers, particularly, pilots, submariner, prisoners, were, incarcera. The Ōfuna Camp 大船収容所 Ōfuna shuyōsho was an Imperial Japanese Navy installation located in Kamakura outside Yokohama Japan during World War II where high value enlisted and officers particularly pilots and submariner prisoners of war were incarcerated and interrogated by Japanese naval intelligence 1 Richard O Kane 1 Louis Zamperini and Gregory Boyington 2 were among the prisoners held at Ōfuna An example of Japanese P O W propaganda Contents 1 Background 2 Description 3 Policy 4 References 5 External linksBackground EditThe Ōfuna Camp was opened on April 26 1942 and was operated by a detachment of the Guard Unit of the Yokosuka Naval District Whereas most other Japanese P O W camps were run by the Imperial Japanese Army Ōfuna was run by the Navy In violation of international agreements including the Geneva Convention 3 failed verification it was never officially reported as a prisoner camp and the International Red Cross was not allowed access 4 The Japanese position was that the Ōfuna Camp was only a temporary holding facility for prisoners who would be transferred elsewhere It was commanded by Commander Yokura Sashizo who later would be sentenced to 25 years of hard labor for war crimes 3 Description EditThe Ōfuna Camp consisted of three interconnected one story buildings surrounding a large field in turn surrounded by an eight foot high wooden fence The area had formerly been an elementary school The buildings were of unpainted wood roofed with tar paper and had a long central corridor with thirty rooms to a side each about six by nine feet 1 83 by 2 74 meters a single electric light bunk bamboo mat and door with a small window One of the cells was a dispensary The camp contained two latrines and one shower room along with a barracks for the guards kitchen and rooms for the Japanese commandant non commissioned officers and orderly 5 Policy EditAmong the prisoners held at Ōfuna were the surviving crews of the USS Tang SS 306 USS Perch SS 176 and the USS Sculpin SS 191 along with a number of American and British aviators Prisoners were housed in individual cells and were allowed to talk to no one not even to themselves in their sleep In good weather they were allowed to sit outside their cells looking straight forward and the rule of silence was strictly enforced Meals consisted of a little rice and soup The prisoners were given no blankets and the only clothing was the clothing that they had been captured in The normal stay at Ōfuna was limited to eight days although some prisoners were held much longer 6 Some were held at Ōfuna for several months Three crew members of the USS Perch SS 176 remained at Ōfuna for the duration of the war and were used to intercept Allied radio traffic Ōfuna had a reputation for intimidation and for torturing their inmates in an attempt to get military information and was nicknamed the Torture Farm by its inmates As the prisoners sent to Ōfuna were primarily officers who might have inside knowledge of Allied strategy or others working in critical areas such as communications and submarines it was the goal of the Japanese to extract as much information as possible in a short time The names of the prisoners held at Ōfuna were not divulged to the Red Cross and the camp was so secret that even local inhabitants were not aware of its existence 7 As relayed to a submarine prisoner You have survived the sinking of a submarine No one survives the sinking of a submarine No one knows you re alive We re going to ask you questions This man and this man are going to shoot you if you don t answer the questions and no one will know you were alive 1 In some cases the inmates were told by their captors that they were regarded as war criminals since 90 percent of the crews of the merchant vessels sunk by American submarines were civilians and that as war criminals they would be given only half the rations of normal prisoners of war 8 The interrogations were repeated every two weeks but the interrogators compared notes to see if there were any discrepancies Refusing to answer questions lying disrespect to the interrogators and a number of other infractions were punished by a beating with wooden clubs Guards often beat prisoners or slapped them in the face for the slightest infraction or at times at random Officers typically faced harsher treatment than enlisted ranks 9 Inmates also claimed that Ōfuna guards were often sadistic enjoying the beating and clubbing of inmates 3 Inmates claimed that their scarce food rations 10 were due to their Japanese and Red Cross rations being sold on the black market outside of camp The inmates were forced to exercise every day An inmate recalls We were dying on about 500 calories a day In 1948 the camp s notorious medical orderly Sueharu Kitamura was tried for causing the death of one prisoner and contributing to the deaths of three others originally sentenced to hang he later had his sentence reduced to thirty years of hard labor 11 However despite the physical and verbal abuse of the estimated one thousand prisoners who passed through during the war only six prisoners died while incarcerated at the Ōfuna Camp The remaining 126 American and nine British prisoners were liberated on 21 August 1945 12 The buildings of Ōfuna Camp were used as a kindergarten until they were pulled down in 1969 References Edit a b c Tuohy William 2001 The Bravest Man New York Presidio Press an imprint of Random House Publishing Group pp 403 404 ISBN 978 0 307 55487 1 Parnell Max L The Hell of Ofuna As a Guest of the Japanese in WWII www 118trs com Retrieved 14 September 2012 a b c Loughlin John Allied POWs Flogged By Brutal Japs trove nla gov au Retrieved 14 September 2012 Ofuna POW Interrogation Center www mansell com Retrieved 14 September 2012 1 Official US Army report by Dolder Rescue Team 11th Bomb Group H The Grey Geese Turner Publishing Company 1996 p 32 ISBN 1563112396 Wulkovits John 2011 Black Sheep The Life of Pappy Boyington Naval Institute Press p 170 ISBN 978 1591149774 Sturma Michael 2011 Surface and Destroy The Submarine Gun War in the Pacific University of Kentucky Press ISBN 978 0813140209 Lavo Carl 2011 Back from the Deep The Strange Story of the Sister Subs Squalus and Sculpin Bluejacket Books ISBN 978 1612511702 Balch Jean My experience as prisoner of war by the Imperial Japanese www yorktownsailor com Archived from the original on March 21 2012 Retrieved 14 September 2012 James Scott The War Below New York Simon amp Schuster 2013 pp 276 277 286 289 314 2 Ofuna Rescue RosterExternal links EditOfuna POW Interrogation Center35 21 4 31 N 139 31 6 35 E 35 3511972 N 139 5184306 E 35 3511972 139 5184306 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ōfuna prisoner of war camp amp oldid 1119714540, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
