SEEKING A SENSE OF CLOSURE
遠い記憶の先に終止符を探して
Granddaughter of a Former WWII Camp Commander Faces an ex-POW of Japan
元捕虜収容所長を祖父に持つ記者が日本軍の捕虜だったアメリカ兵と向き合う
By KOGURE Satoko
小 暮 聡 子(本誌編集部)
8月15 日、日本は戦後70周年を迎える。日本が語る「国家」としての歴史が議論される一方で、第二次大戦には当時を生きた一人一人の物語がある。それはそれぞれの国で、体験者それぞれの「真実」として、多くの場合苦しみを伴いながら今後も語られていく。その戦争の記憶に「終止符」を打てる日は来るのだろうか
On August 15th, Japan marks its 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. While Japan’s historical narrative as a “state” has been discussed, there are also stories of individuals who lived through the war. These stories were of people from different countries, each with their own “truth”. In most cases these stories were accompanied by suffering, and will continue to be told in the future. Will the day come when we can put an end to the memory of war?
捕虜たちが見た地獄
The Hell Prisoners of War Had Seen
6月初め、私は祖父が残した物語といま一度向き合うため、赴任先のニューヨークから米南部のニューオーリンズ空港に降り立った。ジャズの街ニューオーリンズは既に夏真っ盛りで、空港を出るとむわっという熱気が身を包む。車で30分も走れば音楽と酒にまみれた繁華街フレンチクオーターに到着するが、私を乗せたタクシーが向かう先は陽気な観光地ではない。
In order to look once more into the story my grandfather left behind, I flew to New Orleans International Airport in southern United States from my new post in New York. It’s already at the height of the summer in the Jazz town of New Orleans, and when I walk out of the airport I’m immediately surrounded by hot air. A 30 minute drive can take you to the downtown French Quarter filled by music and liquor, but the destination of my taxi is not a cheerful tourist destination.
旅の目的は、戦時中にフィリピンのバターン半島とコレヒドール島で日本軍の捕虜となったアメリカの元兵士や民間人、その家族や遺族が集う戦友会に参加すること。この「全米バターン・コレヒドール防衛兵の会 (ADBC)」年次総会では、1つのホテルに集った参加者が数日間にわたり戦中・戦後の体験を共有し、次世代に語り継ぐ。私がこの戦友会に参加するのは22 歳だった03年以来、 12年ぶりだ。
The purpose of my journey is to attend a comrades-in-arms meeting of veterans, civilians, and bereaved families. These veterans became prisoners of war (POWs) of Japan when defending Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island, Philippines during WWII. On this annual meeting held by the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC), participants will gather in one hotel and share their stories during and after the war, and hand down their war experiences from generation to generation. It has been 12 years since my first participation of the meeting in 2003, when I was 22 years old.
日本軍に捕らわれた捕虜たちにとって、捕虜生活は「生きるか死ぬか」の戦いそのものだった。1941年 12月 8日、日本軍が真珠湾を攻撃して太平洋戦争に突入すると、本間雅晴中将率いる日本軍はダグラス・マッカーサー米極東陸軍司令官下のフィリピンに侵 攻を開始。首都マニラからマニラ湾を挟んで対岸に位置するバターン半島とコレヒドール島の米軍とフィリピン軍は、日本軍との戦闘を経て42年4月以降相次いで降伏、捕虜となった。
For those POWs captured by Japanese military, life was the very fight for survival. On December 8, 1941, Japan attacked the Pearl Harbor and initiated the Pacific War. Japanese military led by lieutenant general Homma Masaharu invaded the Philippines under the command of Douglas MacArthur, Commander of United States Army Forces in the Far East. Stationed in Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island on the opposite shore across the Manila Bay from the capital Manila, American and Filipino militaries fought several battles with Japanese troops, before surrendering and being taken prisoners after April 1942.
その後、日本軍が7万人余りの捕虜を約100キロ先の収容所まで炎天下のなか飢餓状態で歩かせ、約3万人の死者を出した「バターン死の行進」は、アメリカでは今も旧日本軍の残虐性の象徴とされている。
After that, the Japanese army forcibly transferred more than 70,000 Filipino and American POWs to a detention camp 100 km [or 65 miles] away. Starving POWs were forced to walk under the scorching sun in Bataan, and around 30,000 POWs died along the way. The so-called “Bataan Death March” is remembered by Americans even today as a symbol of the brutality of Japanese Imperial Army.
日本の市民団体「POW (戦争捕虜) 研究会」によれば、第二次大戦中、日本軍がフィリピンなどアジア・太平洋地域で捕らえた連合軍の捕虜は約14万人。そのうち約3万6000人は水や食糧、衛生設備が欠如した輸送船、いわゆる「地獄船」で日本に送られた。航海中は連合軍からの攻撃も加わって多くが命を落としたが、生き延びて日本に到着した捕虜たちは全国約130カ所の捕虜収容所に連行され、炭鉱や鉱山、造船所や工場などで働かされた。戦争末期にかけて日本側も疲弊するなか、捕虜たちの生活は過酷を極め、 終戦までに約3500人が死亡したという。死因は飢えや病、事故や虐待、連合軍による爆撃などだった。
According to Japanese civic group POW Research Network Japan, Japanese captured around 140,000 Allied POWs in the Philippines and other Asian Pacific regions during WWII. Among these POWs, an estimate of 36,000 POWs were sent to Japan via “hell ships”, transport ships with a significant shortage of provisions and unpleasant health conditions. Many of POWs lost their lives as a result of Allies’ attack on the sea, and those who survived the trip were taken to around 130 POW camps on Japan’s homeland, and were forced to work in mines, shipyards, factories, and other facilities. As Japan became impoverished towards the end of the war, life of POWs turned extremely harsh. An estimate of 3,500 POWs had died before the war ended. Causes of death include starvation, disease, accident, maltreatment, and Allied bombing.
ADBCのメンバーは、こうした悲惨な捕虜生活を生き抜いた人とその家族、または捕虜のまま亡くなった人の遺族たちだ。元捕虜の年齢が90歳を超え、組織の主体はその子供たちの世代に代替わりしているが、子世代もまた親の苦しみを受け継いでいる。元捕虜の多くが帰還後も心的外傷後ストレス障害(PTSD)に悩まされ、捕虜体験に口を閉ざす一方で、父親を理解しようと調べる内に日本に対して憎悪を抱く子世代も多いという。
Members of ADBC are former soldiers who lived through such miserable life, and their family members, as well as those bereaved families of those who died as POWs during imprisonment. As most of ex-POWs are over 90 years old, the majority of members are now from their children’s generation and they inherited their parents’ sufferings. Many of the ex-POWs have been haunted by PTSD after returning from Japan, and never talked about their experiences as POWs. On the other hand, many from the children’s generation began to harbor hatred against Japan while doing research to find out what their fathers had gone through.
そんな戦友会で受付登録を済ませた私は、03年にこの会に参加して以来元捕虜やその家族と面会するたび幾度となく経験してきた「居心地の悪さ」を感じた。もちろんここは、見知らぬ日本人がハグとキスで歓迎されるような場所ではない。だがそれ以上に、私 には参加者を遠ざける肩書があった。私は、「元捕虜収容所長の孫」。そして祖父は戦後、「戦争犯罪人」として裁かれた人物だったからだ。
I’ve been a registered member of ADBC’s meeting since 2003, and time and again I have an uncomfortable feeling when I meet with ex-POWs and their families. Of course this is not a place to welcome strange Japanese people by kissing and hugging, but my identity makes me even more alienated from participants—I’m the grandchild of a former POW camp commander, and my grandfather was tried as a war criminal after the war ended.
波乱含みで始まった取材
The interview with an unexpected start
参加1日目、体験談を聞くセミナーが続き、元捕虜のうち一人と翌日に個別にインタビューする約束を取り付けた。自己紹介の際には「記者」を名乗った。元収容所長の孫だと言えば、相手を怒らせるか、傷つけかねない。何より、先入観なく本音を語って欲しかった。だが結局、この取材は思わぬ方向に走り出すことになる。
On the first day of the meeting, a seminar on war experiences continued, and I made an interview appointment with one of the ex-POWs on the next day. I introduced myself as a journalist. If I introduce myself as the grandchild of a former POW camp commander, I could have offended or hurt him. Most of all, I wanted to hear what he really thinks without any prejudice. However, this interview ended up unfolding in an unexpected direction.
元捕虜ダレル・スターク（92）のインタビュー当日、約束の時間の少し前にホテルのロビーに行くと、別の捕虜の娘で、知り合って二年になるパム・エスリンガーが男性と談笑していた。エスリンガーは、私の祖父が元収容所長であることをこの会場で知る数少ない一人だ。そこに、スタークと娘のジュディ・ギルバードが現れた。
On the day of my interview with ex-POW
Darrell Stark (92 years old), as I arrived at the lobby of the hotel a little earlier before the promised time, I found that Pam Eslinger, the daughter of another ex-POW whom I’ve known for two years, was chatting with a man. Eslinger is one of the few persons present that know my grandfather’s identity. Then, Stark appeared with his daughter Judy Gilbert.
エスリンガーはスターク親子と知り合いらしく、二年前に私がオクラホマ州に彼女の父親を訪ねたこと、今年秋には日本に行って私の両親に会うことを嬉しそうに話す。スタークの娘が私たちの関係を尋ねると、エスリンガーは少し戸惑い、間をあけたあとこういった。「彼女のおじいさんは、父がいた収容所の所長だったの」
Eslinger seemed to know Stark’s daughter, and she happily talked to them about my visit to her father in Oklahoma two years ago, and her visit to Japan in this fall to meet my parents. When Stark’s daughter asked about her relationship with me, Eslinger was a little puzzled. She thought for a while, and answered: “Her grandfather was the commander of the POW camp where my father was held.”
エスリンガーの父親ジャック・ヴォーナー（93）は、祖父が管理していた収容所にいた捕虜の一人だった。二年半前にニューヨーク支局に赴任した私は、知人を通してその存在を知っていたヴォーナーに連絡を取り、翌年に彼の自宅を訪ねた。ヴォーナーには祖父や日本への憎しみや敵意は全く見られず、私は彼の四世代にわたる大家族から思いもかけないもてなし出迎えられ、そのあとも交流が続いている。
Eslinger’s father, Jack Warner (93 years old [Mr Warner will travel to Japan October 2015 as part of the 6th POW Friendship Delegation), was one of the POWs held at the camp my grandfather managed. Two years ago when I was appointed to the New York bureau, I got in touch with Warner through an acquaintance and visited his home the next year. Warner didn’t show hatred or hostility towards my grandfather and Japan at all. Instead, I received a warm welcome that I’d never thought would come from his big four-generation family. We have been in touch since then.
だがスターク親子はそれを知らない。そのあとの数分間、これまでなんども見てきた光景と同じだった。祖父の話を切り出された相手は一様に、表情をこわばらせたまま固まる。
However, Stark and his daughter didn’t know that. For several minutes, I was seeing what I’ve seen for so many times—when told about my grandfather’s identity, every listener’s face stiffens and freezes.
驚いた様子のスタークの娘は、耳が悪くて聞き取れなかったオヤジにエスリンガーの言葉を繰り返す。すると、今度はスタークが目を大きく見開いてこちらを見た。エスリンガーがすかさず「父は、彼女のおじいさんはいい所長だったと言っている」というと、父娘の表情はいくらか和らいだ。そしてスタークは「君には、すべてを話す。私が知っているすべてを話す」と、怖い顔をして立ち上がった。私は自分の心も、みるみるうちに固まっていくのを感じていた。
With a surprised face, Stark’s daughter repeated to his father, who has a bad hearing, what Eslinger has said. This time, it’s Stark’s turn to look at my direction wide-eyed. Eslinger said immediately that “my father told me that her grandpa was a good person”, and the facial expressions of Stark and his daughter became somewhat softened. Stark stood up with a scary look, saying “I’ll tell everything to you. I’ll tell you everything I know.” At the time, I felt my heart was stiffening quickly.
