A Full Life in Jehovah’s Service

As told by Joseph Dos Santos

IT WAS a warm, tropical night in February 1945. Everything was utter confusion on the grounds of the Santo Tomas University in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, where we were prisoners of the Japanese. American troops had unexpectedly arrived to free us, and the Japanese retaliated by shelling the university compound, creating considerable havoc.

In the darkness, women prisoners kissed their crosses and prayed loudly. A shell dropped close by, killing the prisoner in front of me. Shaken but unhurt I dragged my hunger-weakened body to take shelter behind the building that had been my prison for three years. Finally, the shelling subsided, the Americans took complete control and not long afterward we were free. After three years of separation, I was able to rejoin my wife and children and continue with the work I had come halfway round the world to do.

False Accusations and War

But events were closing in around us. In 1941 war was declared. Within a week two policemen came to the office, and three other brothers and I were taken to the huge prison in Muntinlupa, several miles from Manila. I was separated from the others and locked in a small isolated cell. It was completely empty, and I had to sleep on the concrete floor until a trusty (a prisoner given special privileges), out of the kindness of his heart, secretly gave me two blankets and a pillow each night.

The superintendent would not let me out of solitary confinement, and the other prisoners, believing that I was a fifth columnist and the head of the Communist Party, shouted insults through the walls at me. Finally, our protestations that we were not communists were believed, and after two weeks all four of us were released. I had to be escorted by police officers to the prison gate; otherwise I would have been mobbed by the other prisoners.

The night of our release, there was a riot in the prison, and I am sure we would have been in danger had we been there. I was thankful to Jehovah for our safety and had a joyful reunion with my family in Manila.

Imprisoned by the Japanese

However, our problems were only beginning. In a short time Manila was occupied by Japanese invasion forces and being an American I was imprisoned with other aliens in the Santo Tomas University, near the center of Manila. There I spent the next three years, from January of 1942 to March of 1945. I told the good news to as many as I could in the camp and I know that at least one of my coprisoners became a witness for Jehovah later.

As the war went on life became hard in the prison camp. Our rations diminished until we had just a cup of rice each day. We tried everything to satisfy the gnawing pains of hunger, even eating the weeds that grew on the large campus. Dogs, cats, even rats, were eaten by some. When I was imprisoned I weighed 135 pounds (61 kg). Upon release I weighed 80 pounds (36 kg).

Some prominent internees were beheaded. Eventually, not even doctors were allowed in the camp, and the fence around the university grounds was reinforced in such a way that no one outside could see in. Each day 30 or more died from starvation. Finally came that frightening night when the American troops broke in and liberated us in spite of Japanese shelling. How happy we were to rejoin the outside world!

Back to Work

The Americans gave us the first real food we had had for some time. I remember we ate canned meat, but were so hungry we did not know when we had enough. I felt uncomfortable for days after that first meal! Nevertheless, 18 days after the Americans took over we were released. The Americans offered to repatriate me to the United States, but I was still waiting for that replacement to take over the direction of the preaching work in the Philippines. Until he came, I was going to stay!