World War II POWs World War II was appalling, but it’s a big part in today’s history. Prisoners of war (POW) camps were in many countries that were involved in the war. Japanese POW camps were particularly gruesome, nearly all the prisoners suffered, whether it was from starvation, illness or torture. Torture was brutal in the POW camps in Japan during WWII. Beatings came nearly daily, the guards had no mercy. Many suffered injuries from the beatings, from sprains, to broken bones to internal bleeding. Some that were less fortunate died from getting beaten so severely. Those who were not physically tortured were mentally tortured. One day in camp the guards came in screaming “Keirei” so everyone jumped up to salute. The Bird came in and accused …show more content…
With the lack of food, many saw the development of skin sores, ulcers, diarrhea and dysentery. As the POWs acquired those diseases it became difficult to maintain hygiene. They also acquired cholera from contaminated water, cholera caused severe diarrhea and dehydration. “Another disease was beriberi which is a severe vitamin B1 deficiency. Symptoms include pain, loss of sensation in the hands and feet, vomiting, strange eye movement, mental confusion, difficulty walking, coma, and death. POWs isolated on the Bataan Peninsula, those on Guadalcanal, and American prisoners of war held by the Japanese were on diets mostly consisting of rice. Without a variety of foods, soldiers became severely malnourished.” Diseases caused death for many POWs. WWII was a horrible war, many POWs suffer from PTSD, they have terrifying memories of what happened to them in the war. They were extremely mistreated, they were starved and tortured mentally and physically, they were abused and tortured daily in the camps. Some will never forget the horrors of WWII. There are hundreds of untold stories from these POWs, some so petrifying they will never be told. These men and women who suffered may never be themselves
World War II left the world with the worst horrors in history. These horrors include the Holocaust, in which millions of innocent Jews and civilians were used for labor and killed, and the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition, the more unknown horror of World War II is the way the POWs of the Japanese were treated during war, which violated war laws. POWs, prisoners of war, of the Japanese were starved, forced into labor for the military, tortured, humiliated, received little to no medical treatment and worst of all killed; Louie S. Zamperini experienced this horror. Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction novel Unbroken tells the story of Louie Zamperini’s life before, during, and after the war.
World War II is an area of history researched by many scholars and amateurs from all walks of life. Unfortunately, some aspects of this international event have been widely ignored. Thus, many books on unknown aspects of history are forced to balance informing about the event and creating an argument within its history. As such, Melissa Amateis Marsh’s book, Nebraska POW Camps: A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland, was a refreshing read on a forgotten event close to home for Nebraskans. Although, Melissa Marsh’s argument of the Nebraska POW camps appeared extremely biased by only discussing positive POW experiences, with few negative experiences mentioned.
This is one example of how prisoners of war were dehumanized and treated like animals. There are many more ways that these people were dehumanized and made to
Japanese Brutality In World War II Japanese Prisoner of War (POW) camps are an example of how the majority of people are uneducated about some of the unspeakable horrors that have happened in the world. Many have heard of the notorious World War II (WWII) Holocaust and the terrors that happened in the concentration camps there. Japanese POW camps during WWII were not widely publicized to be barbarous, but former prisoners have said that the camps had a reputation for dehumanizing, brutalizing, and systematically eliminating their captives.
The number one thing they did was do experiments on them to test out different weapons and the experiments would all ways kill if not they where left scared for life and will die later on from there injuries. Anther way they killed mostly all the Jews and everyone else was locking them in chambers and gassing them. Not everybody that went to the camp was killed some people where forced to work to make weapons or clean." Prisoners were required to wear colored triangles on there jackets so that the guards and officers of the camp could easily identify each person's background and put the different groups against each
Comparing Billy’s experience with the treatment of POW’s on American soil allows readers to analyze the moral structure of each country. Sixteen million Americans served in World War II. Four million prisoners were shipped to the United States from 1942 through 1945. As World War II raged, Allies, such as Great Britain, were running short on space to house prisoners of war. Thousands of prisoners of war ended up in U.S. mills, farm fields, etc.
Upon arriving at the camps from cattle trucks and trains, men and women were separated and children went with their mothers. After registration, prisoners were stripped of their clothing and had to shave their hair off before showering. They were given a striped uniform. The prisoners were identified by a number printed on their clothing and also an inverted triangle with lettering to signify the reason for imprisonment.
(173). This shows his nihilistic behaviour which he likely did just for an excuse to beat him. The Bird has been known to “eavesdrop on men, and beat those who mentioned him” (177). This action shows the Bird’s inhumanity brought out on him in the war. He degraded people until they wished they were dead.
In the 1900s there was a lot of conflict between the Native Americans and America, the Native Americans have been around longer than the other explorers who came after some time and decided to take their land and, there was conflict between the Japanese after the Japanese had bombed an American base in Hawaii (Pearl Harbor). But who was treated the worst? The Native Americans were. This was because they had their children taken from them, were forced onto reservations, and they only had the clothes that were on their back.
Along with being naked in the cold, all the hair on their entire body was shaved. They had to run full speed in the cold wind. Eventually, they were then given prison clothes, most garments did not fit properly.
The wounded had to walk long treks as they were no stretchers and medical help. The track was dreadful and painful. The soldiers encountered many wild rat. The rats were wild and carried diseases that were passed on the soldiers and lead to death or, many were seriously
Elie Wiesel Wiesel had to overcome many adversities such as death, cruelty, and starvation. These adversities made Elie Wiesel become the man he is today; he is truly a humanitarian. Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Transylvania, on September 30th, 1928. He was 15 when he and his family where sent to a camp by the Nazi’s, seperating him and his father from his mother and sisters. His mother and younger sister were murdered, his two older sisters survived; as did he, and his father died shortly after the both of them were sent to Buchenwald.
Prisoner of war camps were common during World War II. However, the book Unbroken displays the true horrors that were in the Japanese prisoner of war camps. This book captures the life of Louis Zamperini and tells the horrendous conditions that he and other prisoners faced during their time in the prisons. The Japanese internment camps did not fulfill the purpose of the camp, the treatment of the prisoners that they deserved; also the prisoners were given meaningless jobs to fulfill.
How harsh were the Germans and Japanese? Were POWs and Jews treated the same? Were they kept in the same camps? Germany began WWII followed shortly by the Japanese. The Germans started the war when they began to abuse the Jews.
The True Weight of War “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery.