The mortality rate in Japanese "prisoner of war camps" was 13.3 times that of German prisoner of war camps

The death rate in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps was 13.3 times that of German prisoner-of-war camps.

During World War II, hundreds of thousands of Allied prisoners of war captured by the Japanese suffered cruel slavery and inhuman treatment on the Pacific battlefield. Among them, the Bataan Death March, the Thailand-Burma Death Railway and other prisoner abuse atrocities are widely considered to be the three major atrocities committed by the Japanese army in Asia after the war, and were judged by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East to be the same as the Nanjing Massacre. However, among the hundreds of prisoner-of-war camps set up by the Japanese army in the local area and occupied areas, little is known about the Japanese Allied Prisoner-of-War Camp at Fengtian, which is characterized by its strong professionalism, high mortality rate, and the detention of senior generals.

At the beginning of the Pacific War, the Japanese captured approximately 350,000 Allied prisoners of war. In order to make full use of the human resources of prisoners of war to support the war of aggression, the Japanese army launched a wartime strategy of supporting war with war. Hideki Tojo, the then Japanese Prime Minister and Minister of War, once admitted that in Japan, we have our own ideas about prisoners of war, so the treatment is naturally somewhat different from Europe and the United States; we should make full use of their labor and technology to increase our country's production , striving to make it contribute to the implementation of the Greater East Asia War without wasting any manpower. On August 22, 1942, Japanese Deputy Governor Kimura Hyōtaro wrote a letter to Kwantung Army Chief of Staff Yukio Kasahara, stating that 1,500 Allied prisoners of war would be summoned to improve the machine tool manufacturing capabilities of Manchuria Works Co., Ltd. to meet Japan's accelerated production of anti-aircraft guns and munitions. and machine tool equipment required for aircraft.

On November 11, 1942, the first batch of Allied prisoners of war arrived in Shenyang, including 1,328 American prisoners of war, 84 British prisoners of war, and 16 Australian prisoners of war. According to the inspection report of the International Red Cross, as of November 13, 1943, there were 1,274 prisoners of war in the Fengtian Allied Prisoner of War Concentration Camp, with the oldest being 7 years old and the youngest being 21 years old.

The prisoners of war include air force ground crew and mechanical maintenance personnel, and other military services have mechanical maintenance personnel.

When the prisoners of war first arrived, their first place to stay was an abandoned old Chinese military camp in the Beidaying area of ??Fengtian. The house had not been lived in for a long time and was very dilapidated. The inside and outside of the prisoner of war camp were surrounded by two barbed wire fences, about 1.5 meters in length. The middle area about two meters wide between the two barbed wire fences was designated as no man's land. Anyone entering this area without permission will be killed.

All prisoners of war who arrived in Shenyang had military technical backgrounds, including air force ground crews and mechanics, as well as other service mechanics. These technical backgrounds became an important reason why they were selected to Shenyang. Prisoners of war were sent to Japanese factories to work as laborers, engaged in machine tool installation, machining, and parts forging. Some were sent to the factory's design room to draw drawings. Some prisoners of war were sent to the Fengtian Allied Prisoner of War Concentration Camp according to the labor categories of steelmaking, ironmaking, and civil engineering. They were located in Manzhou Leather Co., Ltd., Manzhou Canvas Co., Ltd., Zhongshan Iron and Steel Industry Research Institute, and Dongyang Wood Co., Ltd. No. 1 and No. 2. , three dispatch stations. During their internment, 77,241 prisoners of war worked as laborers in Japanese factories.

Due to the distortion of Japanese prisoners of war, Allied prisoners of war suffered cruel abuse here. Oliver Allen, a surviving American prisoner of war, said that in the Fengtian prisoner of war camp, getting up, taking roll call, and having breakfast were all at 6 a.m. This unreasonable work and rest schedule required prisoners of war to abide by and provided many opportunities for Japanese guards to punish prisoners of war. The form of punishment included not only being forbidden to eat breakfast, but also being punished by standing in the snow, being beaten, and even being confined, all of which depended on the personal mood of the Japanese guard on duty. Even prisoners of war would be beaten by Japanese guards for no reason, whether they were soldiers or generals, old or young.

The Japanese army strictly managed prisoners of war and set up a series of punishment systems such as heavy camps and heavy detentions. Correspondingly

On July 29, 1943, the Japanese army built a highly professional complex less than one kilometer east of Manchu Machinery Co., Ltd., a factory where prisoners of war worked, north of No. 38, Section 1, Qimin Street, Dadong District, Fengtian. permanent prisoner of war camp. Prisoners of war were transferred here from North War prisoner of war camps. There are two Michael Walls around the prisoner of war camp. There are high-voltage power grids on the walls and watchtowers on the four corners of the walls. They are heavily guarded.

The mortality rate was 13% of that in German prisoner-of-war camps on the European battlefield. Three Times

The Fengtian Allied Prisoner of War Camp was once a model prisoner of war camp promoted by the Japanese army. Japanese propaganda agencies often came to interview, take photos or make films to promote how comfortable the lives of prisoners of war were.

But the real life of prisoners of war was hard labor, hunger, cold, and disease, coupled with a lack of medical treatment and inhuman treatment, always shrouded in the shadow of death.

Take American prisoners of war as an example. After being captured on the battlefield in the Philippines, they experienced the brutal Bataan Death March and the arduous sea journey on the Hell Ship, and their physical condition was already extremely poor. After arriving in Shenyang, a large number of prisoners of war died together. From 1942 to 1943 alone, 225 Allied prisoners of war died. Juno, the representative of the International Red Cross in Tokyo, confirmed after inspecting the Shenyang prisoner-of-war camp that they even wore shirts and shorts and had no way to better survive the cold winter. Many died of pneumonia and recurrent malaria.

On February 19, 1944, Thomas, a US prisoner of war numbered 898, was squeezed between an electric car and a factory post while working at Manchuria Machinery Co., Ltd., and his right leg was seriously injured. Gangrene began to appear on the 21st. Due to the lack of medical treatment and medicine, the hospital in the prisoner of war camp did not even have basic surgical instruments and operating rooms. On the 23rd, Blister died of gas gangrene.

Such a harsh environment forced prisoners of war to risk their lives to escape from prison. On June 21, 1943, American prisoners of war Merlin Ladd, Parioti, and Chastain escaped from prison at night and fled toward the Sino-Soviet border about 950 kilometers northwest of Shenyang. In the end, he was captured again in two sub-villages of Kezuohou Banner in Inner Mongolia and escorted back to Fengtian. They were shot dead by the Japanese army at 5:30 a.m. on July 31, 1943. Afterwards, Japan informed the United States of the matter in a diplomatic note through the Swiss Embassy. It took a year for this information to be learned by the U.S. government. On August 12, 1944, the New York Times reported the news, saying that it was at this time that the U.S. government first learned that American prisoners of war were being held in Shenyang.

The location of the prisoner-of-war camp violates the Neva Convention, which stipulates that prisoner-of-war camps shall not be set up within 2 miles and kilometers of military targets. It is less than a mile away from many surrounding Japanese military factories. kilometer. Once these military targets are attacked, they can easily be implicated in prison camps. On December 7, 1944, U.S. B29 bombers conducted a large-scale bombing of Shenyang City, hitting arsenals and military targets around the prisoner of war camp. During this period, three bombs were mistakenly bombed into the prison camp, killing 19 Allied prisoners of war and injuring 35 others.

During the 34 months of detention from November 1942 to August 1945, the Japanese atrocities in the Allied Prisoner of War Camp in Fengtian never stopped. Long-term abuse and extremely poor living conditions resulted in such a high mortality rate, which was 13% of the mortality rate of Allied prisoners of war in German prisoner-of-war camps on the European battlefield. 3 times, it is an out-and-out death prisoner of war camp.

There were 72 prisoners of war with the rank of brigadier general or above, and 476 officers at the school level.

In 1944, the Japanese army gradually lost power in the Pacific battlefield, so senior Allied prisoners of war were transferred from Taiwan Province to the Shenyang prisoner of war camp. The Japanese army's action was not a purely military operation, but a desperate attempt to seize high-ranking Allied prisoners of war as hostages in Manchuria.

On October 14, the first branch of Fengtian Prisoner’s Home opened in Zhengjiatun, Jilin. Among the senior Allied generals imprisoned, 72 were at the level of brigadier general or above, and 476 were officers at the school level. On December 1 of the same year, the Japanese army once again isolated 16 highest-ranking generals and senior civilian officials from various countries and 34 followers, and secretly transferred them to the Second Branch of Fengtian Prison in Xi'an County, including Lieutenant General Wainwright, Major General Edward King and Major General Moore. British Lieutenant General Percival and Lieutenant General Hiss; Dutch Lieutenant General Proudhon, Lieutenant General Barker and Major General Leith; as well as Indian Red Cross Commissioner Macrae, Hong Kong Governor Young, and Thomas, the Governor of the Federation of Malay States and the British Straits Settlements. , British Governor-General of North Borneo Smith, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Steikmaier, Governor-General of Sumatra Spitz, Justice of the British Straits Settlements Michael Alvin and Justice of the Federation of Malay States Durruti. On May 21, 1945, all other senior prisoners of war were transferred to the Fengtian Allied Prisoner of War Concentration Camp, and the Zhengjiatun Prisoner of War Camp was closed.

At 4:30 a.m. on August 16, 1945, less than 17 hours after Japan announced its unconditional surrender, the North American rescue team from the Shenyang Prisoner of War Camp code-named "Operation Cardinal" came from Xi'an Air Force Base in China. Departing and flying to Shenyang at 10:30 a.m., the rescuers rescued and took over the prisoner-of-war camp after parachuting. On August 20, General Devshenko, member of the Military Commission of the Baikal Military District outside the Soviet Red Army, and his party visited the prisoner-of-war camp and announced that Shenyang Allied prisoner of war camps were officially liberated.

At around 0:00 on August 27, General Wainwright and other senior prisoners of war were rescued back to Shenyang and evacuated to Xi'an, China on the same day. On September 2, 1945, at the Japanese surrender ceremony held aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, General Wainwright and General Patchwad were invited to be the signing witnesses for the Japanese surrender signed by Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces MacArthur. These two signatures were given to the two generals as souvenirs.

Special historical memory, witnessing the historical status of China’s battlefield from a special perspective.

The Shenyang Japanese Prisoner of War Camp is a negative legacy written on the lives and sufferings of Allied prisoners of war. The study and reflection on the history of the Shenyang Allied Prisoner of War Camp aims to warn mankind not to forget history and to oppose war.

In 1978, the German Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland, was included in the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO. In the assessment report made by the organization on June 6 of the same year, the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Museum was not a museum in the ordinary sense. It provides irrefutable, concrete and tangible evidence of the most serious crimes against humanity. Backed by these shocking evidences, it will certainly contribute to maintaining world peace.

The Shenyang Allied Prisoner of War Camp also has international influence, with more than a dozen countries and regions directly related to it. In recent years, the Shenyang Allied Prisoner of War Camp has increasingly attracted the attention of domestic and foreign academics and the press. In particular, the Shenyang Allied Prisoner of War Camp not only witnessed the history of humanitarian principles being trampled on and humanity being ravaged, but also witnessed the friendship between Chinese workers and foreign prisoners of war. It carries the special memories of Allied prisoners of war and their life-and-death friendship with the old Shenyang people. This special historical memory also witnessed the historical status of the Chinese battlefield in World War II from a special perspective.

Today, most of the survivors of the Allied prisoner of war camp in Shenyang have died, and the few who are alive are also dying. In their hearts, including their families and descendants, Shenyang, China is their special spiritual sustenance and spiritual home. That special life experience closely connected them with China. In recent years, some old prisoners of war have visited Shenyang and told future generations about their friendship with the Chinese workers, which shows the value of this traditional friendship passed down from generation to generation.