Episode 164: The Conspiracy of The Mountain Devil (Case of Hiroo Onoda)
He emerged from the thick jungle for the first time in a long time.
He had been waiting for this moment for years. The day World War II would come to an end. He would be relieved from his duties and Japan glorious in their victory!
Onoda held his breath while his commander read his release. Onoda waited for further orders but there was none. Just a tub of face cream.
“What’s this for?” - asked Onoda.
“You’re going to need it. For all the interviews… Onoda, the war ended 29 years ago. We’ve been looking for you. The world will want to know what on earth did you do in the jungle for the past 29 years? How did you even survive? And how many did you kill?”
Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com
Source notes:
Book: “No Surrender” - by Hiroo Onoda
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/17/hiroo-onoda-japanese-soldier-dies
https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/17/world/asia/japan-philippines-ww2-soldier-dies/
https://apnews.com/article/87375ec40dd5d947ce77203750a6da4c
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-25772192
https://open.maricopa.edu/twowatersreviewvolumeone/chapter/ashley-clark-how-ordinary-people-become-perpetrators-of-genocide-a-look-at-the-psychological-factors/
https://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10179/3225/02_whole.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
https://spyscape.com/article/spy-school-confidential-cia-officers-spill-secrets-about-what-really-happens-at-the-farm
https://www.pbs.org/mosthonorableson/shame.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731
DISCLAIMER: Some links are listed in the source material but the material may never be discussed in the podcast (I just wanted to list them because they gave me a deeper picture of the case in full). If there are un-verifiable sources (ie Reddit) - they are typically referred to as un-verified sources, opinions, and or theories in the podcast and not treated as fact.