Sadaaki Konishi

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Sadaaki Konishi
Born	19 January 1916 Fukuoka prefecture, Kyushu island
Died	April 30, 1949(1949-04-30) (aged 33) Sugamo Prison, Tokyo
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	Kudo unit, Saito battalion, 17th infantry regiment, 8th infantry division
Commands held	Kudo unit
Battles/wars	World War II Raid at Los Baños

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 an internment camp at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños in Laguna province, 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 110 °F (43 °C) heat, 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".^[1]

On February 23, 1945, units of the U.S. 11th Airborne Division, the 503d Infantry Regiment (United States) and the Filipino guerillas 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.

References[]

Bibliography[]

Detailed narratives, from documents, about his conduct as commander in Los Baños, his trial, his incarceration and execution, and the misinformation about his fate are available in Henderson, Bruce, 2015, Rescue at Los Baños: the most daring prison camp raid of World War II, New York: William Morrow, HarperCollins, 2015. ISBN 978-0-06-232506-8. ISBN 978-0-06-240329-2.

Further reading[]

• Arthur, Anthony, Deliverance at Los Baños, Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s, 1985. ISBN 0-312-19185-5
• Flanagan, Edward, The Los Baños Raid: the 11th Airborne jumps at dawn, Presidio, 1986. ISBN 0-89141-250-6
• Rottman, G.L., The Los Baños Prison Camp Raid, Oxford: Osprey, 2010. ISBN 9781849080750