Prisoners of the Japanese

462 pages. 34 pages of notes. 1994.

Obviously this is so filled with information that I will just point out a few areas that I thought were most interesting. There is material here about specific people and also about the camps in general.

1. The book opens with general information about when the most prisoners were taken, how they were used (which often led to their deaths), and where they ended up.

2. Racism and classism played rolls in the camps as the whites looked down on the blacks and the rich (especially from England) looked down on those not as rich as themselves.

3. There were also differences in behavior among those in the camps depending on what country they came from.

4. Only Americans killed each other during captivity.

5. There were hundreds of POW camps.

6. Officers tended to be separated from non-officers and were sometimes treated better.

7. The Bataan March, in all its horrors, is described.

8. Reasons, from the Japanese viewpoint, for killing prisoners are given.

9. Reasons for Japanese not being taken prisoners are given.

10. Cigarettes became a main bartering item in the camps.

11. The Japanese assumed illness was a weakness of spirit.

12. Things POWs would be punished for in the camps are noted.

13. The Japanese looted Red Cross packages meant for the prisoners.

14, The construction of the Burma railway is described.

15. The troubles the Japanese had as the war went on are described in detail.

16. The end of the war and what happened to the prisoners afterwards is also discussed.

This is only a small fraction of the information covered in this very useful text.

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Japanese-American Internment Camps index page
Japan and World War II index page