Fragments of the Last Will

In 1945, after the end of World War II, Hatao Yamamoto was imprisoned in a concentration camp in Sibera, Russia. Despite the harsh, despairing condition in the camp, Hatao Yamamoto kept telling other prisoners not to give up hope, and that the day when they could all go back home would come.

Hatao Yamamoto firmly believed that he would return to Japan and meet his wife, Mojimi Yamamoto, and their children someday. 8 years after the war, he received a postcard from his wife with a one-line message written on it, stating that “We are waiting for you to come back”. Meanwhile, Hatao Yamamoto’s health was deteriorating rapidly. After having a diagnosis, the doctor told him that he had only three months left…

After listening to his friends’ advices, he decided to write a will and left it to his friends to bring it to his family when they were released. However, the will was seen as a spying message by the officers in the concentration camp and was confiscated…