The invasion of the Philippines came hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Thousands of American civilians living in the Philippines were captured and held in captivity by the Japanese until the end of World War II.
As the war progressed, internees found themselves living a nightmare of steadily deteriorating conditions inside the camps—struggling for food and other necessities of life over a three year period. Santo Tomas University, in downtown Manila, was converted to an internment camp that held more than 4,000 civilians. The camp was liberated in February 1945.
