Leonore's Suite is historical fiction inspired by true events at
Santo Tomas Internment Camp, Manila, Philippines
Santo Tomas Internment Camp, Manila, Philippines
HAPPY SANTO TOMAS LIBERATION DAY!
February 3, 2025 is the 80th anniversary of the
Liberation of Santo Tomas Internment Camp!
February 3, 2025 is the 80th anniversary of the
Liberation of Santo Tomas Internment Camp!
On February 3, 1945 American tanks Battlin' Basic, Georgia Peach, Ole Miss and San Antone burst through the iron gates of Santo Tomas, liberating nearly 4000 emaciated American and Allied civilian prisoners from their Japanese captors. This was the largest internment of American civilians by a foreign power ever.
All hail to the US First Cavalry, the 44th Tank Division, and 11th Airborne for their courage and heroism. For more on this extraordinary day see, check out our new "On Eagle's Wings" blog: www.leonoressuite.com/on-eagles-wings
All hail to the US First Cavalry, the 44th Tank Division, and 11th Airborne for their courage and heroism. For more on this extraordinary day see, check out our new "On Eagle's Wings" blog: www.leonoressuite.com/on-eagles-wings
Leonore’s Suite is an unexpected coming-of-age story.
"I went off to prison in a Cadillac."
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With those words, thirteen-year-and-a-half-year-old Lee Iserson leads readers on an unexpected journey through thirty-seven months of captivity under the Japanese. This coming-of-age story shines a light on a little known saga of World War II: the imprisonment of more than 4000 Allied civilians--mostly American, largely families--in Manila's Santo Tomas Internment Camp. Lee, her best friend Lulu, and their teen buddies journeyed to adulthood under dramatically adverse circumstances, enduring overcrowding, disease, cruelty, and starvation. It wasn't your average concentration camp.
Internees organized a school, learned how to de-weevil rice, smuggled goods into camp, and rationed precious toilet paper squares, while figuring out which guards they could trust and how to stave off hunger. By 1945, having lost her freedom, her father, and a third of her body weight, Lee wonders: Where is God in the darkness? Did music have the power to heal? |
