Press/Journalists

NARA Receives Gift of World War II POW Records Data File
Press Release · Monday, June 18, 1934

Washington, DC

College Park, MD… The National Archives and Records Administration today received a data file from the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) containing information on 29,813 former prisoners of the Japanese. This digital file and the accompanying documentation will become part of the National Archives donated historical materials collection, and there are plans to make this information available online through the National Archives Access to Archival Databases (AAD).

To create this invaluable data file, ADBC combined information from its 5,000 membership cards, dating back over sixty years, with public records from the National Archives. This new data file contains information that may help to fill in known gaps in previously available records – it includes unit information and the names of some POWs whose records do not appear the National Archives World War II Prisoners of War Data File, and complements other existing National Archives records relating to World War II Prisoners of War (Record Group 389).

Background

The American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) is a Congressionally chartered organization of former prisoners of the Japanese and their descendants.

The National Archives donated historical materials collection includes gifts of personal papers, historical manuscripts, and other materials donated to NARA. Although these materials are not official records of the U.S. Government, the National Archives Act of June 18, 1934, authorized their acceptance as gifts if they related to and illustrated historical activities of the United States.

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For press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (202) 357-5300.

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