Kenpeitai East District Branch

Old YMCA Building
The etched drawings on the heritage monument, near where the present YMCA building stands, depicts what the old YMCA building looked like previously.
Kenpeitai East District Branch is located in Singapore
Kenpeitai East District Branch
Former location in Singapore
Former namesKempeitai East District Branch
Alternative namesOld YMCA Building
General information
StatusDemolished
Architectural styleArt Deco
LocationOrchard Road, Singapore
Address1 Orchard Road, Singapore 238824
CountrySingapore
Coordinates01°17′50.59″N 103°50′54.70″E / 1.2973861°N 103.8485278°E / 1.2973861; 103.8485278
Named forYMCA
Completed1911
Opened1911
Demolished1981
OwnerYMCA
Technical details
Floor count3
Known forKempeitai East District Branch, a Kempeitai branch during the Japanese occupation of Singapore

The Kempeitai East District Branch was the headquarters of the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945. It was located at the old YMCA building, at the present site of Singapore's YMCA Building on Stamford Road. Opened in 1911, the distinctive Art Deco YMCA building was the site of interrogation and torture of many innocent civilians, including the war heroine Elizabeth Choy. After the war, the Singapore government erected several memorials with some at the former massacre sites. In 1995, the former site of the old YMCA building was gazetted by the National Heritage Board as one of the eleven World War II sites of Singapore.[1]

  1. ^ National Heritage Board, "World War II Sites of Singapore – In Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the End of WWII".