Australian Prisoners of

the Japanese During

World War II
In the western world, surrender can be seen as honorable. The
Japanese saw surrender as the ultimate shame. Their brutal
treatment toward POWs during World War II reflected this
philosophy.
The Japanese
often violated the
rules of treatment
for POWs found in
the Geneva
Convention.
A British POW
is pictured
here about to
be beheaded
by a Japanese
soldier.
Prisoners of the Japanese were kept in
huts such as these in Malaysian POW
camps.
The Japanese would
force the POWs to
sign non-escape
clauses in order to
justify executing
them if they tried to
escape, despite the
fact that the Geneva
Convention made
this illegal. The open
nature of this hut is
deceiving, as it
actually encouraged
POWs to attempt a
futile escape.
Of these, one in three died from starvation, work,
punishments or from diseases for which there were no
medicines to treat.
Over 140,000 Allied Prisoners of War were held captive
in Japanese Camps.
22 000 Australians became POWs in World War 2
Most of these were captured by the Japanese (14000-
15000)
By the end of the war the death rate of the Japanese
captured prisoners was 34% (7600). This is in contrast to
to the 8000 captured by the Germans with a death rate
of 3%.
POWs of the Japanese were
forced to work on the Siam-
Burmese Railroad.
The conditions in the jungle
were horrible and facilitated
the spread of cholera, wet
beriberi, tropical ulcers,
malaria and more.
The construction
of the 415km
railroad was very
important to the
Japanese military
in order to
transport
supplies and
troops. It was
begun in
October 1942
and finished in
October 1943.
Over 12000 POWs died on the
railway and 70000-90000 civilians
who were captives of the Japanese.
On the right is a picture of POW
Han Samethinis leg taken in
January, 1944. Samethini was
taken to the Chungkai POW camp
in Thailand after suffering from
malnourishment and tropical
ulcers in his leg while working on
the Burma Railroad. Han also
contracted Malaria, and only
survived due to the kindness of
fellow POWs who managed to
scrounge up enough quinine and
food to keep him healthy.
Pictured on the left
are Prisoners of War
at a Japanese Camp in
Sumatra.
The POWs were
deprived of food and
water, beheaded,
shot, stabbed with
bayonets, beaten with
rifle butts,
disemboweled, and
were killed for helping
other struggling
POWs.
In Borneo, 2700
Australians were
forced to carve
an airstrip out of
the jungle - only
6 returned home
after the war.
The Sandakan
death march is
considered one
of the most
brutal treatments
of POWs in
History.
Prisoners of the
Japanese were also
taken aboard
hellships, like the
Arisan Maru, and
transported to
Japan. The Japanese
would not mark the
prisoner vessels
intentionally. As a
result, allied forces
would unknowingly
sink ships with their
own troops aboard.