Testimony of Fausto Atienza of San Jose, Batangas on the Massacre of his Family by the Japanese in 1945
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| The ruined Municipal Building in San Jose in 1945. Image credit: United States National Archives. |
[p. 32]
Q Please state your full name, age, address and nationality.
A Fausto Atienza, 18 years old, Barrio Taysan, San Jose, Batangas Province, P.I., Filipino.
Q What is your occupation?
A Farmer.
Q Do you intend to remain at your present address, and if not, how can your whereabouts in the future be ascertained?
A I intend to remain at my present address.
Q Did you suffer any mistreatment at the hands of the Japanese?
A Yes. The Japanese forced me to labor for them and they killed 11 members of my family.
Q Tell us how you know about it.
A On February 22, 1945, six Japanese men came to our house in Barrio Taysan and took myself and three others — Jose Silva, aged 25; Eulogio Atienza, aged 16; and Emilio Atienza, aged 19 — to work for them. They forced us to go from house to house with them. They took palay — unhusked rice — from the houses, and they forced us to carry the palay to the municipal building at San Jose. Only three of us worked all day, as the Japanese freed Eulogio at about 11 o’clock in the morning of the same day.
At about six o’clock in the afternoon, I was able to return home. I found only three members of my family there: Alejandria Atienza, aged 24, my sister-in-law who is now in Lucena, Tayabas and her two children, Rodolfo, aged 6, and Rosita, aged 4. I asked Alejandria where the other members of the family were, and she told me that shortly after the four of us, whose names and ages are mentioned already, left with the Japs, four other Japs came to the house and ransacked it.
There, they found a leaflet which an American plane had dropped, announcing the landing of General MacArthur and the United States forces on Leyte. The Japs took all the persons in the house, 14 in all, lined them up outside, and marched them to the schoolhouse in San Jose. The men were taken behind the schoolhouse, while the women and children were placed in the house of Leoncio Talag. They were questioned about the leaflet, but they knew only that the children found it in the yard after it was dropped by an airplane. Then, the Japs told them that they were bad people, and began taking them one by one from the house of Leoncio Talag. About four o’clock that afternoon, after all had been taken out of the house except Alejandria and her two children, the Japs told her that she could take the children and go home.
When none of the other members of my family returned, we began looking for them about seven o’clock that evening. Since the Japanese were still in the area, we had to stay hidden from them while we searched, and it was two days
[p. 33]
after, February 24, 1945, when Jose Vergara, aged 22; Dionisio Paez, aged 50; Emilio Atienza, aged 19 and I found the bodies of ten members of my family in the water in the river at the back of the school building. They were: my father, Sancho Atienza, aged 40; my brother, Sixto Atienza, aged 25; my sister, Lucia Atienza, aged 23; my niece, Loreta de Silva, aged 7; my niece, Brigida de Silva, aged 1½; my brother, Eulogio Atienza, aged 16; my sister, Leonarda Atienza, aged 12; my brother, Pedro Atienza, aged 14; my brother, Marcelino Atienza, aged 8; and my sister, Dionisia Atienza, aged 4.
All those missing were found except the body of my mother, Agapita Hidalgo, aged 38. However, next day, February 25, 1945, we found her body near the place where the others were found: it was submerged in the water, and we missed it when we found the others.
Q What did you do with those bodies?
A We — Jose Vergara, aged 22; Dionisio Paez, aged 50; Emilio Atienza, aged 19; Leonardo Mendoza, aged 50; Jose Lopez, aged 35; Alfredo Lopez, aged 30; Florencio Lopez, aged 21; Daniel Atienza, aged 28; ten others, whose names I do not recall, and I — removed the bodies from the river and took them to a place near our house in Barrio Taysan, San Jose and buried them. The bodies bore wounds on the chest, shoulders, stomach and back from bayonets. Some heads were almost severed, and the intestines of some were sticking out. Several of the bodies were tied together.
Q Do you know any of the names of the Japanese who killed the 11 members of your family?
A No, neither can I describe them because I did not see them. I am positive, however, that they were Japanese because of what my sister-in-law, Alejandria, told me which was already mentioned here and because mass murder of men, women and children was a specialty of the Japs.
Q Do you know the name of any of the Japanese who forced you to carry palay?
A No. That was the first time I saw them. The only thing I remember about them is that they wore non-descript clothes.
Q Can you describe their insignia?
A No. I think they did not have an insignia on.
Q Do you know the unit or organization they belonged to?
A No.
Q Do you know what provoked the Japanese to murder the 11 members of your family?
A No. They were all peaceful residents of Barrio Taysan, San Jose, Batangas Province.
Q Have you anything further to add to your statement?
A No.
/t/ FAUSTO ATIENZA
[p. 34]
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES
PROVINCE OF BATANGAS
TOWN OF SAN JOSE
/t/ FAUSTO ATIENZA
/t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt., CAC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES
PROVINCE OF BATANGAS
TOWN OF SAN JOSE
/t/ ALFREDO CUEVAS
/t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt., CAC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
[p. 35]
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Municipal Bldg., San Jose, Batangas Province, P.I. |
/s/ Allen H. Peoples /t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt., CAC |
| 1st November 1945 |
/s/ Charles C. Thompson /t/ CHARLES C. THOMPSON, Capt., TC |
1 “Documents Pertaining to the Testimony of Fausto Atienza in U.S.A. v Tomoyuki Yamashita,” part of the U.S. Military Commission compilation of war crimes documentation, online at the Internet Archive.