| Japanese forces aboard several ships reached Attu on the evening of 7 June, 1942, anchoring in Holtz Bay located on the west side of the island. It wasn't until the next morning, a Sunday, that the first contingency of Japanese reached Attu village located near Chichagof Harbor just as the Attuans were leaving church services. Attu's Unangan residents, along with Etta Jones (Etta's husband, Foster, had been killed shortly after being captured by the Japanese), were under Japanese control for three months prior to being loaded aboard a Japanese merchant ship, Yoko Maru, in mid-September of 1942. At this time the village on Attu was still intact. The ship left Attu on the 14th of September, 1942 heading for Kiska. Anecia Prokopeuff died on board the ship during the passage to Kiska. At Kiska the Attuans were transferred to yet another ship, the Nagata Maru. They were kept in a cargo hold that had been used to transport coal. They remained in the hold all the way to Japan save for periodic trips to the main deck. The trip to Japan took two weeks, with their final destination being the industrial city of Otaru, located on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. By the end of the war, of the forty people that made it to Otaru, only 24 survived. Most died of malnutrition and a diet of food to which they were not accustomed. (For a complete presentation of the Attuan's ordeal, please read the recently published book, "Attu Boy," documenting their personal accounts. This book can be obtained from the National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office, 907-644-3742). The following is a listing of those who died in Japan, and those who survived (note: Etta Jones also survived and returned to the United States at war's end): |
| Deceased prior to 11/27/1945 |
| Artumonoff, John - b. 1882, d. 1942 on Attu |
| Artumonoff, Mavra - b. 1924, d. 1944 |
| Artumonoff, Peter - 23, b. 1920, d. 1944 |
| Borenin, Annie Golodoff - b. 1919, d. 1943 |
| Golodoff, Artelion "Arty" (Angelina's baby, b. and d. 1943 in Japan) |
| Golodoff, Harman (Garman) - 55, b. 1888, d. 1945 |
| Golodoff, Helen - b. 1929, d. 1944 |
| Golodoff, Lavrenti - b. 1900, d. 1945 |
| Golodoff, Leonti - b. 1931, d. 1943 |
| Golodoff, Mary - b. 1895, d. 1943 |
| Golodoff, Michael (Julia's baby, b. and d. 1943 in Japan) |
| Golodoff, Valvigian (Valirjian) - b. 1939, d. 1943 |
| Hodikoff, Anecia (Mike H.'s baby, b. and d. 1943 in Japan) |
| Hodikoff, Fred (Fedosay) - b. 1901, d. 1945 |
| Hodikoff, George - 17, b. 1929, d. 1945 |
| Hodikoff, Michael Gorga "Mike" (Chief) - b. 1893, d. 1945 |
| Lokanin, Gabriel (Mike L.'s baby, b. and d. 1944 in Japan) |
| Lokanin, Tatiana - b. 1941, d. 1944 |
| Prokopioff, Anecia Kriukov (Golodoff) - b. 1886, d. 1942 while traveling to Japan |
| Prokopioff, Mary - b. 1929, d. 1943 |
| Prossoff, Bladimir - b. 1932, d. 1943 |
| Prossoff, Martha Hodikoff - b. 1903, d. 1943 |
| Surviving on 11/27/1945 |
| Artumonoff, Sergi - 19, b. 1927, last recorded in 1966 |
| Golodoff (Prokopioff), Alfred Jr. (b. 1945 in Japan) |
| Golodoff (Prossoff), Thecla (Fekla) - 10, b. 1935 |
| Golodoff, Elizabeth - 3, b. 1941 |
| Golodoff, Gregory - 6, b. 1940 |
| Golodoff, Innokinty "Popeye" - 28, b. 1917, d. 1998 |
| Golodoff, John - 18, b. 1927, d. 2009 |
| Golodoff, Julia Prokopeuff - 24, b. 1923, d. 1954 |
| Golodoff, Mary Tarkanoff Lokanin - 28, b. 1918, d. before 1963 |
| Golodoff, Nick - 9, b. 1935 |
| Golodoff, Olean - 5, b. 1939 |
| Golodoff, Olean Horosoff - 36, b. 1911, d. after 1976 |
| Golodoff, Willie - 37, b. 1918, d. 1983 |
| Hodikoff, Angelina - 19, b. 1927, d. 1981 |
| Hodikoff, Annie Yatchmenoff - 28, b. 1918, disappears from records in Tacoma hospital 1945 |
| Hodikoff, John - 21, b. 1927 |
| Hodikoff, Marina - 7, b. 1938, d. 1996 |
| Hodikoff, Martha - 9, b. 1937 |
| Hodikoff, Stephen - 14, b. 1931, d. 1985 |
| Lokanin, Mike - 33, b. 1912, d. 1961 |
| Lokanin, Parascovia Horosoff - 23, b. 1922, d. 1994 |
| Prokopioff (Golodoff), Alfred Sr. - 38, b. 1908, d. 1963 (or 1974?) |
| Prossoff, Agnes - 6, b. 1940, d. 1980 |
| Prossoff, Alexy - 29, b. 1916, d. before 1949 |
| Prossoff, Elizabeth Prokopioff Golodoff - 27, b. 1919 |
| Relocation |
| After the war was over, most of the Attuan survivors were returned to the Aleutian Islands. However, as their village on Attu was completely destroyed during the battle for Attu, many were resettled on the Aleutian Island "Atka." The island of Attu was too dangerous for resettlement as a result of unexploded ordinance and other dangers to life and limb left behind. For more of their story, read "Attu Boy," available from the National Park Service. |