Lot # : 472 - JAPANESE WAR CRIMINALS SIGNED CARDS SUGAMO PRISON

SSgt. Donald F. Lonas of the 37th Division of Co. A, 637th Tank Destroyer Battalion collection of autographs that he collected from Japanese War Criminals at Sugamo Prison. SSgt Lonas participated in "Operation Blacklist" and was assigned to guard duty at Sugamo Prison near Tokyo. He served this duty for 20 days before being reassigned to Tsuchiura City, Honshu Island, Japan. During his time at the prison he was in charge of the section that housed the prisoners whose autographs are on these cards. Most of the well-educated prisoners were able to sign their names in English, but some errors are evident in the spelling translations. First in the archive are photos of the War Criminals and also a photo of Staff Sergeant Donald Lonas in his MP Uniform. The photos include Tojo, Kido, Togo, Sato, Hoshino, Oshima, Minami, Matsui, Hashimoto, Shimada, Hirota, Muto, Suzuki, Kimura, Shiemitsu, Doihara, Hata, Shiratori, Itagaki, Hiranuma, Koiso, Umezu, Oka, Kaya, Itagaki, and two central point members of the prosecution and SSgt. Lonas. These photos in a sense were Mugshots used to help identify the Criminals. These photos were posted in his personal photo album. Now what I've assembled from Wikipedia their Bio's All signatures are on 5 X 3 index cards and on the back, S.Sgt. Lonas wrote who they were. There is also a Waffen SS General in the archive to my surprise and will be listed further in the listing. The Criminals are as followed: 1) MASAHARU HOMMA, Masaharu Homma (November 27, 1887 – April 3, 1946) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Homma commanded the Japanese 14th Army, which invaded the Philippines and perpetrated the Bataan Death March. After the war, Homma was convicted of war crimes relating to the actions of troops under his direct command and executed by firing squad on April 3, 1946.2) SHIGETARO SHIMADA, Shigetaro Shimada (Shimada Shigetaro, 24 September 1883 – 7 June 1976) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He also served as Minister of the Navy. He was convicted of waging aggressive war and sentenced to life imprisonment. 3) KENJI DOIHARA, Kenji Doihara ( 8 August 1883 – 23 December 1948) was a Japanese army officer. As a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, he was instrumental in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. As a leading intelligence officer, he played a key role to the Japanese machinations that led to the occupation of large parts of China, the destabilization of the country, and the disintegration of the traditional structure of Chinese society to diminish reaction to the Japanese plans by using highly-unconventional methods. He became the mastermind of the Manchurian drug trade and the sponsor behind many underworld activities in Japanese-occupied China. After the end of World War II, he was prosecuted for war crimes in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He was found guilty, sentenced to death, and hanged in December 1948. 4) SHIGENORI KURODA, (October 25, 1887 – April 30, 1952) was a Japanese lieutenant general of the Japanese Imperial Army and the Japanese Governor-General of the Philippines during World War II. 5) AKIRA NAGAHAMA, Japanese Commander of KEMPEITAI in the Philippines from 1943-45 6) LIEUTENANT COLONEL SEICHI OTHA, Lt. Col Otha was the commander of the Japanese secret police (Kempeitai) in Manilla during the occupation, and was known as "THE BLOODY BUTCHER OF FORT SANIAGO". On January 5, 1946 in Manilla a US Military Commissions Court, sentenced him to death by hanging. 6) KINGORO HASHIMOTO, Kingoro Hashimoto ( February 19, 1890 – June 29, 1957) was a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army and politician. He was famous for having twice tried to stage a coup against the civilian government in the 1930s. After the end of the war, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Sugamo Prison by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He died in 1957. 7) KANTARO SUZUKI, Baron Kantaro Suzuki (18 January 1868 – 17 April 1948) was a Japanese admiral and politician. He was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, member and final leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April to 17 August 1945. 8) NOBUSUKE KISHI, (13 November 1896 – 7 August 1987). After the Japanese surrender to the Allies in August 1945, Kishi, with other members of the former Japanese government, was held at Sugamo Prison as a suspected "Class A" war criminal by the order of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. Kishi, Kodama, Sasakawa, and Matsutaro Shoriki, the former president of the Yomiuri Shimbun, lived in the same prison cell and were never judged. Their fraternity formed in prison continued for the rest of their lives. During this time, a group of influential Americans who had formed themselves into an "American Council on Japan" came to Kishi's aid, and lobbied the American government to release him as they considered Kishi to be the best man to lead a post-war Japan in a pro-American direction. The American Council on Japan included former ambassador to Japan Joseph C. Grew, Newsweek journalists Harry Kern and Compton Packenham, and corporate lawyer James L. Kauffman. Unlike Hideki Tojo (and several other Cabinet members) who were put on trial, Kishi was released in 1948 and was never indicted or tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. However, he remained legally prohibited from entering public affairs because of the Allied occupation's purge of members of the old regime. During his time as a prisoner, Kishi had already begun plotting his political comeback. He conceived of the idea of building on his earlier National Defense Brotherhood to establish a mass party uniting the more moderate socialists and conservatives into a "popular movement of national salvation", a populist party that would use statist methods to encourage economic growth and would mobilize all Japanese citizens to rally in support of its nationalist policies. 9) OKINORI KAYA, (January 30, 1889 – May 9, 1977) was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as Minister of Finance from 1937 to 1938 and 1941 to 1944, and as Minister of Justice from 1963 to 1964. Born in Hiroshima, Kaya graduated from Tokyo Imperial University and joined the Ministry of Finance. After a successful career he became Minister of Finance in the first cabinet of Fumimaro Konoe and again in the wartime cabinet of Hideki Tojo. After the Japanese surrender he was sentenced to life in prison by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Paroled in 1955, Kaya was rehabilitated and served in the House of Representatives for the Liberal Democratic Party, and as Minister of Justice under Hayato Ikeda. After the surrender of Japan, Kaya was designated as a war criminal for his role in the wartime government. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East sentenced him to life in prison. In Sugamo Prison he befriended his fellow inmate and former cabinet colleague Nobusuke Kishi. Kaya was paroled in 1955. He became a private adviser to Kishi when the latter became prime minister in 1957. Kaya was elected to the House of Representatives for the Liberal Democratic Party in the 1958 general election. He was part of the Kishi's faction, but was also close to his former subordinate Ikeda. He worked on the revision of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty under Kishi. Ikeda, who had followed Kishi as prime minister, made Kaya Chairman of the Policy Research Council in 1962. In the same year he became chairman of the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association, a position he held until his death. In 1963 joined the cabinet as Minister of Justice and served as such until 1964. Kaya retired from the Diet in 1972 and died in 1977. Kaya was an advocate for strong ties with Taiwan, South Korea and the United States. A staunch conservative and anti-communist, an obituary quotes him as saying "communism means only a dog's life." 10) HIROYA INO, ( December 12, 1891 – May 19, 1980), was a Japanese politician who served one term as a member of the Lower House of the National Diet during World War II, and three terms as a member of the House of Councillors in the postwar period. He also held cabinet-level posts three times. After the surrender of Japan, as with all other former government ministers, Ino was purged from public office and arrested by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers to stand trial for Class-A war crimes. He shared a cell in Sugamo Prison with Okinori Kaya, but his case never came to trial and he was eventually depurged. 11) SHOZO MURATA, Shozo Murata (6 September 1878 – 15 March 1957) was a Japanese entrepreneur, cabinet minister and diplomat before, during and after World War II. In 1946, along with all members of the wartime Japanese government, Murata was purged from public office and was taken into custody by the American occupation authorities and held at Sugamo Prison, where he was to be charged for war crimes. However, he was released without ever being formally charged. 12) TAKESHI TERASHIMA,  (Terajima Ken, 23 September 1882 – 30 October 1972) was a Japanese Vice Admiral and politician. He was also known for serving as the Minister of Communications from 18 October 1941 to 8 October 1943, and Minister of Railways from 18 October 1941 to 2 December 1941, in the Tojo Cabinet. 13) MICHIYO IWAMURA, (1883-1965) was a signer of the Japanese Declaration of War. 14) KENKICHI UEDA, (8 March 1875 – 11 September 1962) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He played an active role in the Soviet-Japanese Border Wars of the late 1930s. 15) SERGEANT TOBITA,  a former sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army who spent 10 years in prison for war crimes. 16) SERGEANT MUIRA, S/Sgt. Lonas described three Japanese Sergeants who were charged to Shinagawa P.O.W. Hospital, also known as "OMORI" Tokyo Base Camp #1. 16) SERGEANT OSANAI. 17) KYUICHI TOKUDA, (September 12, 1894 – October 14, 1953) was a Japanese politician and first chairman of the Japanese Communist Party from 1945 until his death in 1953. 18) WAFFEN SS GENERAL JOSEF ALBERT MEISINGER, (14 September 1899 – 7 March 1947), also known as the "Butcher of Warsaw", was an SS functionary in Nazi Germany. He held a position in the Gestapo and was a member of the Nazi Party. During the early phases of World War II Meisinger served as commander of Einsatzgruppe IV in Poland. From 1941 to 1945 he worked as liaison for the Gestapo at the German embassy in Tokyo. He was arrested in Japan in 1945, convicted of war crimes and was executed in Warsaw, Poland. 19) ELIZABETH HERMIONE ABEGG. Elisabeth Hermine Abegg (7 December 1901 – 13 July 1974), known as Lily Abegg, was a Swiss journalist who reported on East Asian affairs for several European newspapers from the late 1930s through the mid-1960s and authored multiple books and journal articles from the 1940s through the early 1970s. Her work focused on the political climate of the Middle East and what was then described as the Far East region. Abegg, who had been placed on a list of suspected war criminals by United States Army General Douglas MacArthur, was arrested by American troops in September 1945 and imprisoned in Sugamo Prison, following the defeat of Japan and the end of World War II. Accused of making anti-American and anti-British propaganda broadcasts that were supportive of Germany and Japan, she was also accused of writing English language scripts for Tokyo Rose and was alleged to have published propaganda under the alias, Sybille Abe. Abegg denied those allegations during subsequent interviews with news reporters. She was released from prison on January 24, 1946 due to "insufficient evidence," according to a new release that was issued by MacArthur's headquarters. She subsequently returned home to Switzerland. 20) JOSE P. LAUREL, (March 9, 1891 – November 6, 1959) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, and judge, who served as the President of the Japanese-occupied Second Philippine Republic, a puppet state during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. Since the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal (1961–1965), Laurel has been officially recognized by later administrations as a former president of the Philippines. 21) JOSE S. LAUREL III, (March 9, 1891 – November 6, 1959) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, and judge, who served as the President of the Japanese-occupied Second Philippine Republic, a puppet state during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. Since the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal (1961–1965), Laurel has been officially recognized by later administrations as a former president of the Philippines. 22) CAMILO OSIAS, Camilo Olaviano Osías Sr. (March 23, 1889 – May 20, 1976), was a Filipino politician, twice for a short time President of the Senate of the Philippines. Along with American Mary A. Lane, Osías translated into English the poem Filipinas that was set to the Marcha Nacional Filipina, producing the Philippine Hymn, now the national anthem Lupang Hinirang. 23) JORGE B. VARGAS, (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a Filipino lawyer, diplomat and youth advocate born in Bago, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911 and a Bachelor of Law degree with honors in 1914, both from the University of the Philippines. He was a founding member of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (now the Philippine Olympic Committee) in 1911 and served in its executive committee in 1918. He served as its second chairman from 1935 to 1955. He was also the first Filipino member of the International Olympic Committee. 24) BENIGNO AQUINO SR. (September 3, 1894 – December 20, 1947) was a Filipino politician who served as Speaker of the National Assembly of the Japanese-sponsored puppet state in the Philippines from 1943 to 1944. He was the Director-General of KALIBAPI, a political party established during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. His grandson, Benigno S. Aquino III was the 15th President of the Philippines, serving from 2010 to 2016. 25) SIR MAUNG GYEE (1886 – 16 July 1971) was a Burmese lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was also known as M. A. Maung Gyee, a reference to his MA from Calcutta University, to distinguish him from Sir Joseph Augustus Maung Gyi, with whose career he overlapped. Educated at Rangoon, Calcutta, London and Oxford, Gyee was called to the English bar by the Middle Temple in 1911. A nationalist politician and a member of the moderate 21 Party, he was Minister of Education, Local Government and Public Health from 1923 to 1925. In 1927, he was unseated from the legislation for corrupt practices by an electoral petition filed by U Ba Tin. In 1931, he was a delegate to the Round Table Conference. In 1937 he attended the coronation of George VI as a member of the Burmese delegation.He was President of the Senate of Burma from 1937 to 1940, when he was appointed Counsellor to the Governor of Burma, serving until 1942. From 1943 to 1944 he was a Judge of the Supreme Court at Rangoon during the Japanese occupation. From 1947 to 1947, he was Minister for Public Works and Rehabilitation on the Executive Council. He was knighted in 1942.  From 1947 to 1948, Gyee served as Burmese High Commissioner, then ambassador to the United Kingdom. He came out of retirement in 1960 as leader of the Buddhist Democratic Party, created to contest the 1960 Burmese general election. 26) MAHENDRA PRATAP, (1 December 1886 — 29 April 1979) was an Indian freedom fighter, journalist, writer, revolutionary, President in the Provisional Government of India, which served as the Indian Government-in-exile during World War I from Kabul in 1915, and social reformist of British India. He also formed the Executive Board of India in Japan in 1940 during the Second World War. He formed the original Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) in 1915 in Kabul which was supported by many Nations including Japan. He also took part in the Balkan War in the year 1911 along with his fellow students of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College. He is popularly known as "Aryan Peshwa" 27) JOHN DAVID PROVOO, (August 6, 1917 – August 28, 2001) was United States Army staff sergeant and practicing Buddhist who was convicted of treason for his conduct as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II. His conviction was later overturned on a technicality, and he became a Buddhist priest. 28) MARK L. STREETER, American Civilian 29)  REV. VAN DIENST, Director of the Universal Institute for Religious Studies.  30) AUSTRALIAN JOURNALIST JOHN J. HOLLAND, Arrested by Allied Occupation Forces for Collaboration with the Japanese Government by providing written propaganda articles for new releases 31) JAMES N. SASAKI. Headquarters Company Military Intelligence Service Language School. 32) COL. SOUZOUKI  (February 6, 1897-September 20, 1967) was a Japanese army intelligence officer during the Second World War. Operating primarily in Burma, he helped form the Burma Independence Army and was an advocate for Burmese independence, described as a "Japanese Lawrence of Arabia". The Burmese referred to him by the nom de guerre Bo Mogyo, meaning "Thunderbolt Commander".Lastly Testimony to War Crimes Commision by Captain Carter P. Hamilton 251st Field Artillery, 37th Division. Captain Hamilton accepted the surrender of Lt. Gen. Hikotaro Tajima and forces under his command at Basco, Batan Island in the Philippines on September 14, 1945. The testimony covers investigations by Captain Hamilton into War Crimes committed by forces under the command of Lt. Gen. Tajima. Specifically, the findings relate to the torture and treatment of three US Aviator POW's captured in April of 1945 and their susequnt exucution by Major teto Mamemoto. and a map of the Prison Grounds. Excellent.