Sadaaki Konishi

Sadaaki Konishi was a Lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

Biography

Konishi was a Lieutenant in the IJA, and was the second-in-command over the prison camp at Los Baños in the Philippines. He was cruel to the prisoners interned there, withholding salt in order to give cramps to the internees, and also cutting the food rations for all of the people who were held there as prisoners. He went so far as to dump a truck load of fruit on the asphalt behind the camp, telling the prisoners that if they wanted any food, they would have to go to the ground and eat it. But in the extreme heat of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the fruit rotted in the pile, and it was well beyond scavenging. This was because of his racism, as one internee told US interviewers that he called himself the "strongest white race hater in the army". On February 23, 1945, the United States Army and the Philippines attacked the camp, trying to liberate most of the prisoners. Most of the prisoners were extricated, but Konishi escaped. He returned a few days later with a force of men, but by then the camp was empty. The Japanese massacred some 1,500 men, women, and children in adjacent towns which they suspected of collaborating with the liberators. Konishi was later tried for war crimes and convicted in the Philippines (1946-1947) and hanged in Japan.