‘More to learn at the 8th International Conference of the International Council for Historical and Cultural Cooperation—Southeast Asia and Philippine Historical
Association Annual Conference 2025.’
JOSE Laurel, Jose Laurel III, and Benigno Aquino were arrested as they were part of the war criminal lists. Meanwhile, Lt. General Masaharu Homma and Shigenori Kuroda, former commander-in-chief of the Japanese forces in the Philippines, walked into the Kanagawa prefectural police station yesterday afternoon (Sept 15) to give themselves up.” [Courier, September 17, 1945]. These were some of the findings of my Public Health and Pharmacy Sciences freshmen when they looked for news of the day, circa September-October 1945. So how do these details fit in Southeast Asian school books, military history and war prose? Not a plethora but choices there are for the discriminating consumer of WW2 literature. For the romantic, narratives of love: “Gainesville, Florida, September 14, 1945. My dearest sweetheart, Well, this is my ‘Happy Birthday.’ Wouldn’t it be just too wonderful if we were someplace together today. But I’m happy in thinking that you’ll soon be here—and then we’ll never have to be apart again. Oh, Charlie, I do love you so very much. You are my Charlie—nobody else’s —all mine…Wednesday afternoon, I went to Camp Blanding with the Red Cross to help in the canteen—make sandwiches, serve the boys, etc. I really enjoyed it, although I got awfully tired. Kept thinking how wonderful it would be should you walk in—but I wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale! No siree—I like surprises, but not like that. So, give me plenty of warning when you get your orders…I love you truly, Always, Your Barbie” [Judy Barrett Litoff and David C. Smith. Miss You: The World War II Letters of Barbara Wooddall Taylor and Charles E. Taylor. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2013, pp. 320-321]
For the loser, narratives of regret: “There is no point in living a longer life by reducing my workload. It would only increase my chances of seeing or hearing things that are agonizing.” — Hirohito, 07 April 1987 [https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/12320]
For the combatant, narratives of defiance: “I have never felt better. By the time you get this letter, I should be on my way to Berlin. I have a score to settle with Jerry. Although I was shot up a bit, I feel I can fight any Jerry on two feet. We of the Armored Inf. are the first to make the breakthrough in the Jerry lines. And then the regular infantry follows after us. So you see, we go through a lot of hell. Only Jerry catches one hell of a lot more. The American doughboy is one darn good soldier. General Patton, as you already know, is our leader. One thing I like about him is that he has plenty of guts. He is a regular G.I.-Joe.” [From Edward A. Carter II, Germany, April 25, 1945 to Mildred A. Carter II. Peter N. Carroll, Michael Nash, and Melvin Small (editors). The Good Fight Continues: World War II Letters From the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. NY: New York University, 2006, p. 217]
For the other loser, narratives of collaborationism: “The term ‘collaboration’ is translated from French as voluntary, intentional cooperation with the occupation authorities, and rendering them all kinds of aiding… Pétain was the author of this term…After the war, this term began to designate traitors to the interests of the State and their Homeland.” [Yuriy Kazantsev, “State-political and people’s collaborationism in Europe in the Second World War period,” E3S Web of Conferences 210, 16006 (2020)] [https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2020/70/e3sconf_itse2020_16006.pdf]
For the unrepentant, narratives of rationalization: “I went with 15 comrades to Lodz for a few hours. We won’t so easily forget what we saw there. How pitiful and sordid these people are in appearance! The Jewish quarter is located near Zgierz, where our train lines end. There wasn’t a ghetto, just one shop after another with signs announcing Abraham and Chil, Lajb and Szeml. The shops were closed, of course. But the masses pushed their way past us on the narrow sidewalks. The Jews held themselves back, casting sideways glances at our uniforms. In the alleyways, they group together, like at home in the Münz-und-Hirtenstrasse, yet here more fully themselves. Among them, one finds single, small faces with burning expressions of intelligence…But overall, there’s just poverty and misery…Our throats seized up with the smells that came out of doorways and from fetid waters in the gutters…The only good thing was the number of swastikas hanging from the houses of the ethnic Germans.” [Edited by Konrad H. Jarausch. Reluctant Accomplice: A Wehrmacht Soldier’s Letters From the Eastern Front. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2011, p. 90]
For the winners, narratives of heroism: https://www.normandy1944.info/stories. And triumphalism: “Today, our Nation proudly commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Allied Powers’ triumph over national socialism and fascism, and the end of World War II in Europe — one of the most epic victories for forces of freedom in the history of the world. On this Victory Day for World War II, we celebrate the unmatched might, strength, and power of the American Armed Forces, and we commit to protecting our sacred birthright of liberty against all threats, foreign and domestic. In the wake of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States righteously entered the fray of what would become the apex of the eternal battle between good and evil. After nearly 4 years of the darkest and bloodiest chapters ever recorded in human history, more than 250,000 Americans lost their lives in the fight against the Nazi regime. Today and every day, we pay tribute to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their Nation, their liberty, and the survival of Western civilization. Without the sacrifice of our American soldiers, this war would not have been won, and our world today would look drastically different.” [https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/vcitory-day-for-world-war-ii-2025/]
For independent Thai scholar Suwit Laohasiriwong (Khon Kaen University): “A Natural Scientist offers an interdisciplinary reflection on the historiography of the Anti-Fascist War (1941–1945) in Southeast Asia and Thai national memory, particularly regarding civilian suffering, resource mobilization, and the ecological consequences of occupation.” For Raymond Ciriaco (International Observer, Asia Network for Free Elections): “The Atlantic Charter (1941) promised ‘the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live,’ a principle seemingly applicable to colonized nations. However, in Southeast Asia, this promise was either ignored or manipulated by both colonial powers and emerging nationalist movements.”
More to learn at the 8th International Conference of the International Council for Historical and Cultural Cooperation—Southeast Asia and Philippine Historical Association Annual Conference 2025.
