Archivist and historian Jim Zobel tells riveting stories about what was going on outside of Camp Holmes during the last half of 1943. Jim talks about MacArthur’s covert operations to rescue civilians, keep Filipinos on the side of the Americans, and destroy the Japanese occupation economy. Zobel offers insights into why the guards at Camp Holmes thought Japan was losing the War as early as 1943 and which rumors circulating around Camp were actually true. 

SEASON FOUR, PART 1 is coming this July with these new episodes:

Episode 21: Heroic Medicine

Episode 22: Back to the Bad Old Days

Episode 23: Internment-itus

Episode 24: No Good Deed

Episode 25: Consequences

Episode 26: Going Underground

Episode 27: The Wise Prince

You can view paintings and sketches drawn by people who were interned with Natalie by clicking See Pictures under the episode descriptions at www.storiestovoice.com/fd-listen-1943.

To see the Forbidden Diary cast, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast.

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The Camp hospital runs out of beds for dysentery patients. Bedie is discharged too early from the hospital causing Natalie and Jerry to question his health care. Food shortages reduce good pickings from the garbage as prisoners pray that the Red Cross Christmas kits will arrive from Manila. Nida’s world is turned upside down, and Camp Holmes gets a new commandant.

NEW! You can view paintings and sketches drawn by people who were interned with Natalie by clicking See Pictures under the episode descriptions at www.storiestovoice.com/fd-listen-1943.

To see the Forbidden Diary cast, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast.

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America is gaining ground in the Pacific. The prisoners have more money for food, but it’s becoming scarcer and more expensive. Everyone’s health is declining. Natalie’s vitamin injection goes wrong. Carl returns from an inspection tour of internment camps in Manila with good news. Peg thinks that her husband will be transferred to Camp Holmes, and the Camp’s shop produces an unexpected little surprise.

NEW! You can view paintings and sketches drawn by people who were interned with Natalie by clicking See Pictures under the episode descriptions at www.storiestovoice.com/fd-listen-1943.

To see the Forbidden Diary cast, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast.

Support the show

In the second of three parts, 96-year-old Curt Brooks talks about life at Santo Tomas, a civilian internment camp in Manila which housed 3700 prisoners. In this segment, Curt describes his boyhood memories of imprisonment and survival—of sickness, starvation, friendship, life-saving Red Cross packages and looking down the barrel of a Japanese soldier’s rifle. (Part One can be heard by listening to the Episode 6 Epilogue.) 

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The prisoners are finally allowed to send letters. As Natalie types for them, people pour their hearts out to loved ones at home. The increased clampdown on guerrilla activity affects Nida and Ismael living in Baguio. Peg misses her husband. A guard steps out of bounds at the women’s barracks. A friend dies. The Camp puts on two plays.

NEW! You can view paintings and sketches drawn by people who were interned with Natalie by clicking See Pictures under the episode descriptions at www.storiestovoice.com/fd-listen-1943.

To see the Forbidden Diary cast, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast.

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With Japanese occupation money losing value and food shortages, internees take out promissory loans for American dollars after the war. It’s “spend it while you got it” around Camp, and those with money throw elaborate parties while other internees raise money by selling homemade goods at a Camp fair. The guards worry about their fates as they hear news of American advancements in the Pacific.

NEW! You can view paintings and sketches drawn by people who were interned with Natalie by clicking See Pictures under the episode descriptions at www.storiestovoice.com/fd-listen-1943.

To see the Forbidden Diary cast, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast.

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Historian and archivist, Jim Zobel talks from the MacArthur Memorial Library about the events in the first half of 1943 as General MacArthur inches closer to Japan. Find out what happened to the two generals in the Clark Field fiasco and hear how the larger-than-life personalities fighting WWII clashed to America’s advantage. Zobel tells larger-than-life stories about guerrillas, clandestine submarine landings and civilian rescues.

NEW! You can view paintings and sketches drawn by people who were interned with Natalie by clicking See Pictures under the episode descriptions at www.storiestovoice.com/fd-listen-1943.

To see the Forbidden Diary cast, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast.

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Natalie takes a closer look at everyone’s behavior in camp. New internees share unforgettable stories of heroism and evil. Peg hears word about her husband. The Crouters learn disturbing news about Nida and don’t like Bedie’s reaction to it. Natalie plays a curious round of bridge with Lt. Kira, and the Camp’s new Court of Appeals hears its first criminal trial.

NEW! You can view paintings and sketches drawn by people who were interned with Natalie by clicking See Pictures under the episode descriptions at www.storiestovoice.com/fd-listen-1943.

To see the Forbidden Diary cast, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast.

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The Japanese order Arthur to hunt down an American hiding in the mountains. Newly captured Americans tell harrowing stories about their life on the run. Nida worries about Ismael. Lt. Mukibo and Mr. Nagatomi get their just rewards. Everyone speculates if Mr. Hayakawa will be replaced, and the women in Camp want the right to vote.

NEW! You can view paintings and sketches drawn by people who were interned with Natalie by clicking See Pictures under the episode descriptions at www.storiestovoice.com/fd-listen-1943.

To see the Forbidden Diary cast, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast.

Support the show

Another year of close quarters has prisoners getting on each other’s nerves as they deal with new waves of dysentery. Stories are filtering in from captured internees who had been hiding in the mountains from the Japanese. Mr. Hayakawa is intimidated by a new guard who may be Kempeitai. Phil's brilliant, new invention keeps peace in the dining hall.

NEW! You can view paintings and sketches drawn by people who were interned with Natalie by clicking See Pictures under the episode descriptions at www.storiestovoice.com/fd-listen-1943.

To see the Forbidden Diary cast, go to www.storiestovoice.com/fd-cast.

Support the show