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My Father's Captivity: Warren Stewart's Roster Diary for Kawasaki Camp 2B published

by Al R. Young

Al Young Studios today announced publication of a World War II diary containing more than 450 names of Japanese prisoners of war at Kawasaki Camp 2. The diary, kept by Warren R. Stewart, Jr., and provided by the Warren Stewart Family, contains several rosters for Camp 2.

Stewart recorded not only the names of fellow prisoners, but meticulously documented home addresses, death dates, assignments to camp work details, and other information. In addition to the 450-name roster at the beginning of the notebook, Stewart created or copied several other rosters whose combined total (including duplicate listings) amounts to another 344 names.

The diary is presented as a searchable list of names that lets site visitors go directly to digital copies of the page associated with each name.

"It isn't possible for everyone to hold the original in their hands," explained Al Young, "But these high-resolution images let the very texture of Warren's experience reach out to the viewer. There's a tremendous amount of information here for anyone looking for a father or a grandfather or someone else who endured what these men endured, but there's also a lot to be felt by simply looking at the document. This book survived the bombings that devastated the Yokohama industrial area where the prison camp was located. This book was there when liberation threatened to kill them and the sword of extermination hung over their heads after they’d already survived the long years of starvation, beatings, disease, cruelty, and slavery."

Stewart, a meticulous diarist, kept six diaries during more than three years of captivity. One diary was destroyed during an Allied bombing raid near the end of the war. Of the five other volumes, most of their contents will eventually be published at alyoung.com.

Online access to these materials is provided free of charge.

The document is available in several formats:

For an up-to-date list of available rosters, please visit this page, where items in red are available, and items in gray are yet to be added.

For more information, please contact Al R. Young at Al Young Studios.

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Added: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 17:00:01 MDT