Autobiography
Under Manila Sky: A Memoir on the Art of Survival
PHP 310.00
In this memoir, Irene Hecht recounts how she faced a drastic change from living comfortably as a young expatriate in American-ruled Manila to a daily battle for survival as a nine year-old internee on the campus of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). When she saw how Manila was plunged headfirst into World War I, she knew even at such a young age that she had to wage a war of her own: a war against hopelessness and surrender. Through a girl?s eyes, Hecht chronicles the changes in adult behaviors after she and the city?s allied civilians were interned at UST. Her narratives provide an insight into how a child reacts to a situation filled with contradictions between greater liberty and imprisonment accompanied by the ultimate challenge of survival
Publisher: " As a child born in the Philippines, Irene W.D. Hecht went by the prename, Nunny, a moniker bestowed on her by her Amah when her mother brought her home from the hospital. Her family name, from her father, was Duckworth. Nunny?s education was quite unique. Her mother, a fine violinist, was a firm believer that all children should be educated through the arts at least until the age of 8. So Nunny was kept busy in Trudl Dubsky?s modern ballet classes, drawing, and piano. Nunny?s only brush with traditional school was a brief period in Grade 4 at the American School in the weeks before Pearl Harbor. Effort was made during internment, but that
was an abbreviated process. Instead, Nunny engaged in self designed archeology endeavors in the old dump behind the Education Building. With Renee Engel?s assistance, she gained access to using one of the microscopes in the rudimentary clinic, giving her access to examining insects in greater detail. She also listened to a lot of French conversation and reading,
emerging fluent in French by the time of Liberation. Post 1945 formal education became the focus of her maturing years as she completed high school, college, and a Ph.D. in history. Education continued to be her professional focus as a professor and college administrator."
Year: 2018
Category: Nonfiction - Memoir
Language: English
Pages count: 86
Word count: 28807
Dimensions: 15 x 23 cm
ISBN: 978-971-506-827-7
Keywords: Autobiography, World War II, UST Internment Camp
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