| Philippines during World War II The Sack of Manila A Photo Montage by Alfredo Villanueva Music by Richard Wagner (Orchestral Prelude to Lohengrin) Comments by Fred Baldassare "For the sake of historical truth, I must comment that the destruction of Manila, which was "The Pearl of the Orient", before the war, was done in great part by US bombers and US artillery. Gen. Yamashita, unlike Gen. MacArthur in 1941, did not declare Manila an "Open City", which would have freed Manila from hostile activity. After Gen. Yamashita withdrew most of his troops to the Mountain Province, a large contingent of Japanese soldiers and sailors, and Korean marines stayed behind and defended the city, under the command of Admiral Iwabuchi. Manila had to be liberated by fighting it out, street by street, and building to building. With the American and Filipino liberators just on the other side of the Pasig River, the Japanese soldiers and sailors, and the Korean marines proceeded to go from one city block to another, burning and looting the homes, raping the women, and murdering as many citizens of Manila as they could, in biblical proportions. The Ermita, Malate, and Pasay districts were most greatly affected. The Japanese Military, in Manila, declared war on its civilian population. Conservative estimates state the the Manila Massacre, which took place in February, 1945, claimed the lives of over 111000 civilians, an estimate of 35000 more than either Nagasaki or Hiroshima. Most of the ... |
