Forbidden Diary: True WWII Prison Survival Story
[NEW: To see the faces behind the characters' voices, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast]
Audio-drama based on a WWII diary written by Natalie Crouter during her internment in a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines.
Three weeks after the first bombings of the Philippines on December 8, 1941, Natalie, her family, and 500 civilians were marched at gunpoint to a deserted U.S. military post (Season One: 1941). Thus began their survival story of body and mind from 1942 to 1945. Under the watchful eyes of Japanese guards, the prisoners set up their own society while constantly scrounging for food—often aided by heroic Filipinos. Japanese commandants and homesick soldiers filtered in and out of camp as guerrillas on the outside fought to take back the Philippines. The camp commandants were civilians plucked from town, a remarkable Japanese officer who saves the internees' lives, and a vicious, demoted lieutenant. Natalie’s diary is a fascinating, real-life view of wartime captivity and a gripping tale of courage, tenacity, and hope.
The original art, entitled "The Double Fence," was drawn by Fern Harrington Miles in 1942. To read about Fern and other prison artists interned with Natalie Crouter, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-artist-credits.
Forbidden Diary: True WWII Prison Survival Story
1943 - Episode 18 Epilogue: Internment Survivor Interview, Part 2
In the second of three parts, 96-year-old Curt Brooks talks about life at Santo Tomas, a civilian internment camp in Manila which housed 3700 prisoners. In this segment, Curt describes his boyhood memories of imprisonment and survival—of sickness, starvation, friendship, life-saving Red Cross packages and looking down the barrel of a Japanese soldier’s rifle. (Part One can be heard by listening to the Episode 6 Epilogue.)