Figure 1.--The Japanese forced POWs to do hard labor at the point of a bayonet on starvation rations. This meant a slow and agonising death for nearly half of the POWs. Many of course did not survive. Molst were near death by the end of the War. Here are POWs who managed to survive. The only reason they did survive is that the atomic bombs forced the Japanese to surrender (August 1945). Even after the surrender, some POWs were killed by the Japanese to prevent their barbarity being fully documented. Inlike Germany. the Americans did not require the Japanse people to learn of the bararities perpetrated in tyherir name by the Japanese Government.

"You will work until your bones rot under the tropical sun of Borneo. You will work for the Emperor. If any of you escape, I will pick out three or four and shoot them. The war will last 100 years."

-- Cpt. Suumi Hoshijima, Cmmander, Sandakan POW Camp used to build and maintain an air base, Borneo

Japan after more than a decade of War had a serious manpower crisis. Men had to be conscripted from the work force to fight the Empire's wars. This began in Manchuria (1931), but in much larger numbers after Japan invaded China proper (1937). This only increased with the onset of the Pacific War (1941). The drafting of so many Japanese men for military service created a serious labor shortages.They were simply ran out of men to power the factories and mines essential to the war economy. The Japanese used Allied POWs for forced labor projects throughout the Japanese Empire. This was mostly in Southeast Asia where many of the Allied POWs were captured early in the War. This included the Americans captured in the Philippines. Many of the Americans were shipped North to help alleviate the labor shortages on the Home Islands and in Manchurian mines. The Geneva Convention prohibited using POWs in war industries or the construction of military fortifications and other facilities, but they could be used in other areas such as agriculture. The POWs in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific were used to build military facilities and infrastuture to support the Jaopanese military. This was done by hand without machinery. Those prisoners shipped back to the Home Islands were commonly forced to work in mines and war-related factories under terrible conditions. Some of these men were shipped on to Manchuria where they were put to work in coal mines. But in addition to these basic violations of the Geneva Convention was the brutality of the Japanese toward the POWs. This was part of a larger issue, the Japanese use of civilians in conquered areas for forced labor. This issue has clouded relations with Japan in the post war era. It is part of the reason that Koreans find it so difficult to normalize relations with Japan. Forced labor in the Jpanese camps mean a slow and agonising death. The Allied POWs were routinely beaten, starved, denied medical care, and abused in countless ways, commonly for no real reason except to torment the prisoners. The fate of Chinese POWs was even worse, they were for the most part simply murdered in one of the most murderous racist atrocities of the War. The Japanese held men who surrendered in low regard. The prevailing code of Bushido did not permit the Japanese to surrender. And throughout the Pacific War the Japanese honor code prevented men from surrendering. On island after island the Japanese fought to the death. Many of the small number actually taken prisoner were men injured to the extent that they could not resist. Some 27,000 Americans were captured by the Japanese, a horrifying 40 percent died in Japanese captivity. The number was not jigher only because the atomic bombs forced the Japanese to surender when they did. Other Allied POWs fared even worse. The construction of the Burma-Thai railroad is the best known Japanese construction project and the fate of the POWs and Burmese civilians used to build it was particularly horrendous . Malnourished British and Australian POWs were forced to do hard labor while being fed starvation wages under the most extreme conditions. POWs were used as slave laborers, working in brutal conditions, in many others areas such as Japanese coal and copper mines and limestone quarries. Conditions were especially bad in Manchurian coal mines. There were Allied (mostly American) prisoners who were held at a forced labor camp near Hiroshima. Most survived the atomic bomb attack because they were deep underground in coal mines. A side issue here is that if you try to reserch this issue on the internet, much of what comes up is the American internment of Japanese-Americans. While this was unjust, the internees were not abused and starved or required to do forced labor. And did not die in the internment camps. This is one of countless examples as to how Google algorithms are purposefully designed to portray America in negative ways while obscuring positive aspects of American history and society.

Created: 2:28 PM 6/25/2024
Last updated: 2:28 PM 6/25/2024