Manzur memorabilia at Liberation War Museum

"All captured Razakars will be blindfolded when taken to camps (.) No one to talk to them except interrogating officers (.) Instances of Razakars going back and giving away our position come to light" -- reads a letter, typed sometime in 1971 and sent from "Sector HQ" to all "Coys and Sub sector-4".

Another image of a letter sent from the Commander in Chief to "Comds All Sectors" dated August 8, 1971 and carrying the subject line "Policies in Regards to 'Private Armies'" also hangs from an exhibition board at Liberation War Museum's auditorium.

These two along with numerous other documents from 1971 and 1972 and personal accessories of Maj Gen Abul Manzur, commander of Sector-8 during the Liberation War, was donated to the museum on June 13 by a family friend, SS Mohsin Hossain, and Manzur's fellow fighters.

A portion of the memoirs is currently on display at the museum in the capital's Segunbagicha. The exhibition will run till June 19.

"I met Major General Manzur's eldest daughter Rubana Manzur, who now lives in the United States, on Facebook. When she came to know of my professional identity she told me that many of her father's belongings are with Mr Mohsin," said Amena Khatun, the museum's conservator and archivist.

After the brutal murder of the valiant freedom fighter on June 2, 1981, the possessions changed hands 23 times before landing in his care, said Mohsin. He preserved these historical treasures with utmost care.

"I received these from his family in the 1980s," Mohsin told The Daily Star.

Contacted last year, Mohsin handed those over to the museum with permission from Manzur's family in four phases this year.

"Major General Manzur was very methodical and organised in properly documenting the activities during the war," said Mofidul Hoque, a trustee of the museum.

"These documents show how the war was organised, the daily activities as reflected in the expenditure, intelligence logs, reports and correspondences...These would play an important role in writing the history of our war," he hoped.