Allied prisoners of war of Japan

Common card · No. 317210

During the Second World War, Japan took about 140,000 prisoners of war (POWs) from Western Allied countries (also known in the UK as Far East prisoners of war, FEPOW), as well as tens of thousands of Indian and Filipino POWs and several hundred thousands of Chinese POWs. These POWs suffered extreme mistreatment in Japanese captivity, characterized by forced labor, severe malnutrition, disease, physical abuse, and mass executions. The Imperial Japanese Army disregarded international conventions on the humane treatment of POWs, subjecting captives to brutal conditions in prison camps, on forced marches, and aboard transport ships known as "hell ships". Many POWs were forced into labor on large-scale infrastructure projects, including the infamous Burma-Siam Railway, where tens of thousands perished. Japanese forces also conducted biological and chemical experiments on prisoners, most notably through the activities of Unit 731. Japan had previously ratified the Hague Conventions of 1899 and...

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