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The World War 2 Japanese Prison Diaries of
Alexander John James
Appendix - Speeches
Speech by Col. Nogouchi Aug. 22nd 1943
Jinsen Camp, Chosen.
I wonder if you still remember the instruction which was given to you by the Superintendent at the time of your internment here. In that instruction there was a phrase which instructed you to “discard enemy character”. Against this instruction there even some of you expressed their opinions by saying that “Such wordings are nothing other than complete surprises to us. Why should we have enemy character?” However there are some among you prisoners who grew accustomed to our lenient treatment, and not only showing appreciation for it, but they even took advantageous of it and dared to commit outrageous acts of enemy character.
By the fellows who committed the enemy character, I mean the following prisoners: - a: At Keijo Camp we had an Officer who delivered a note to a certain Japanese labourer to agitate the war spirit of the Japanese. Not only that but he even accompanied this note with shirt, money and other articles. (Lt. Piggott, 3 years imprisonment) b: At the Jinsen Branch Camp, Lt. Moore and Sgt. Bosworth, by conspiracy, escaped from the camp some nights ago, destination of their attempted escape being Soviet Russia, but shortly thereafter both were apprehended by one of our sentries on patrol.
Although it has been decided that these prisoners will be dealt with properly according to our laws, and while it is regrettable, they probably will not return to their respective camps again.
I would rather prefer to believe your assurance that you possess no enemy feeling. These incidents are quite a surprise to me because I have been carrying out my plans by assuming that you had no such intention. I regret extremely whenever I think that if I were able to stop them from carrying out their plans by detecting their plans beforehand; it was possible to prevent them from becoming criminals. But it is too late now. For them, there is no other alternative than to take the punishment to be meted out to them by our strict law.
Besides the foregoing prisoners, however, there may be others who may be planning similar crimes, although no concrete evidence has come to the surface. Should this be the case, it is of necessity, at this time, for them that they should reconsider. I have authority to inspect into your private life. It is by no means a difficult task to discover persons who make such secret plans if I utilize this authority to the limit. However, primarily, it is contrary to my liking to meddle too deeply into your private life. It is my wish to prevent these crimes by depending on your high culture and appealing to your consciousness. Committing of such crimes by carefully watching for chances is by no means a difficult undertaking. However, they are bound to be discovered. No matter how carefully you may plan it out, it is definitely impossible to slip through the network of guard which has been placed all around you wherever you go. He must be an idiot or a maniac if he thinks that such crime will ever succeed by any chance.
Furthermore, the fact there were criminals among you prisoners, although only a few, cannot be settled so easily by merely placing the entire blame on the shoulders of only those few, while others remain blameless, by saying that they have nothing to do with the incidents. All you prisoners, among from whom these criminals were produced, must also take the blame. This relationship, namely the group responsibility, is also applicable to your good conducts. You must do your utmost to repress the wrong doings and encourage good conduct by mutually admonishing and assisting each other. I have given the foregoing instructions in regard to the unfortunate incidents which produced a few criminals.
August 22 1943, Jinsen Camp, Chosen.
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