The collection was donated in early March by Ms. Suzanne Helderman of Williamsburg with the assistance of John Quarstein.
NORFOLK,Va. – The MacArthur Memorial announces that it has added to its holdings a collection of artifacts and archival material belonging to famed Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita; a key figure in the Pacific War. The collection was donated in early March by Ms. Suzanne Helderman of Williamsburg with the assistance of John Quarstein.
Tomoyuki Yamashita was one of the most famous Japanese generals of World War II. He was known as the Tiger of Malaya for his victory over a British army at Singapore in 1942. In 1944 – 1945, he opposed General MacArthur’s campaign to liberate the Philippines, but eventually surrendered on September 3, 1945. After the war he was tried as a war criminal, convicted and executed. General MacArthur approved the death warrant.
Ms. Helderman’s father-in-law, the late Lieutenant Colonel Charles Helderman, was a guard at the American prisoner of war camp at Los Banos, Philippines, following World War II. The camp held many Japanese on trial for war crimes, including General Yamashita. Yamashita and Helderman came to know one another. Prior to his execution, the General gave Helderman his personal effects; flags, autographed photos, prayer beads and his final unpublished memoirs about the campaigns in Malaya and the Philippines. Helderman was with the General to the end. Along with these personal effects, he saved the ropes that bound Yamashita’s hands on the gallows and a section of the noose rope.
Many of the artifacts are now on display in the MacArthur Visitors Center. This important collection will be made available to researchers once processing is complete.