日军焚烧战俘资料，以消除证据——流放在热带丛林的中国抗日将士(续47)

日军焚烧战俘资料，以消除证据——流放在热带丛林的中国抗日将士(续47)

        自太平洋战争期间在中国战场被俘的上千名中国军人被日军运往新几内亚做苦工的资料重新披露出来之后，我们一直看到的档案文件，都是盟军方面，主要是澳洲方面的收藏，但一直到现在，都无法找到日军当年的资料。因此，也就很难对整个事件的始末有个较清晰的了解。
        在寻找日军资料的这个过程中，我一直在怀疑：是否日军于投降时，就已将这些资料都给销毁了呢？因为盟军是在日本宣布投降三个多星期之后，才正式进入有10万日军麋集的亚包港及其周边地区进行接收。这三个多星期，就给日军以足够的时间来处理这些成为其战争罪行证据的文件。
        刚刚看到的澳洲一份旧报纸中，有战后澳军一位自日本审讯战犯返回澳洲的军官之报告，说他在日本审讯战犯时得知，日军部在投降之后，下令焚烧销毁与战俘相关、尤其是涉及战俘死亡的个人资料。该军官说，日本人销毁这些文件足足花了四天的功夫。那么，既然是日军军部的命令，在新几内亚的日军也一定会遵令执行的。尽管这条新闻报导的是来自东京审判的结果，不是直接来自亚包的审判，但因日本军部的权威性不可否认，其命令在其它地方都能得以贯彻执行，应无疑义。这就可以解释为何我们难以找到与关押在新不列颠岛做苦工的中国官兵资料的原因了。
        下面是1946年在澳大利亚首都的报纸《堪培拉时报》上刊登的那则新闻消息。

JAPS BURNED P.O.W. RECORDS ON SURRENDER DAY 

MELBOURNE. Tuesday

    Files, relating to the fate of tens of thousands of Allied war prisoners were burned by the Japs as soon as they decided to surrender.
    This was revealed today by Major H. S. Williams, of the Australian Army Directorate of POW's, who has just returned from Tokyo.
    He said that he had obtained the information from a Jap officer whom he interrogated.
The Jap said that the order to burn the documents was given by the Army Department on the day of the surrender. 
    Major Williams was told that the fire in whlch the documents was consumed, burned for four days and destroyed the individual records of thousands of Allied POWs who were executed or died in captivity.
    While searching among the documents, Major Williams came on the full official account of the sinking of the Montevideo Maru in 1942, with hundreds of Rabaul captives on board.

The Canberra Times, Wednesday 2 January 1946, Page 4.