Changi Pow Camp Research Paper

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the internment of Japanese Americans on the West coast of the United States. On going tension between the United States and Japan rose in the 1930’s due to Japan’s increasing power and because of this tension the bombing at Pearl Harbor occurred. This event then led the United States to join World War II. However it was the Executive Order of 9066 that officially led to the internment of Japanese Americans. Japanese Americans, some legal and illegal residents, were moved into internment camps between 1942-1946. The internment of Japanese Americans affected not only these citizens but the

The Japanese had to go to camps mainly because it was their civil duty. They could not function properly in society because of racism, especially when the Japanese attacked pearl harbor. After the attack nobody trusted Japanese-Americans. The government felt that they needed to protect them from society. Americans had very strong feelings towards these people and there was propaganda made to encourage the withdrawal of Japanese people. Even the creators of looney tune cartoons made an episode of how the Japanese man is a savage and extremely ruthless person to anything. Some episodes were about the Germans as well, and how they train the youth to believe in these horrible things, and growing up

Everyone that even looked to be Japanese would be mistrusted and be labeled as “the enemy.” On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt issued an executive order which rounded up every Japanese person that lived in the US as they were seen to be threats to the nation. Many endured names such as being called an “alien.” In March, the government shipped the Japanese to relocation camps where they were sure to be not in contact with the enemy. Any former possession that the internees might had had were usually gone shortly afterwards as their lands would be repressed. Despite the fact that most of these Japanese were Nisei, native-born American citizens whose parents were Japanese, and that some volunteered for military service they were still put into these camps. They were housed in barracks and used communal areas, for washing and eating. Over half of those taken in were merely children. These camps were then overseen by military personnel. All internees over the age of 17 were given a loyalty test were they were asked questions. 120,000 Japanese were taken in, and only 60,000 survived. In 1988, the U.S. Congress passed legislation which awarded formal payments of $20,000 each to the surviving internees. At the end of the war some remained in the US and rebuilt their lives, others however were unforgiving and returned to Japan.

     Unfortunately, the Japanese-Americans living on the west coast were given no time to show what their loyalties were: they were expelled from the area. They were shipped off to remote locations in the more barren sections of the country. The living conditions at the camps were inadequate at best. Residents were forced to endure extreme cold and extreme heat, cramped living spaces, poor meals, and a lack of indoor plumbing. The whole time, they were under the watchful eyes of armed military police. They were treated as prisoners.

Japanese soldiers are widely remembered as being cruel and indifferent to the fate of Allied prisoners of war. Cruelty could take different forms, from extreme violence and torture to minor acts of physical punishment, humiliation and neglect. Some prisoners were made to hold a heavy stone above their heads for many hours. Others might be forced into small cells with little food or water.

The Japanese soldiers had no sense of remorse or sorrow for the prisoners instead they pushed them to their breaking point. Many prisoners collapsed which proved fatal because if you fell behind you became a practice dummy for the Japanese to sharpen their bayonet skills and techniques of killing on you. On one occasion, a prisoner was falling behind in the rear so tanks that followed lined themselves up to run over the victim and squish him into the pavement to make it look as if he were from a cartoon. Since the Japanese could

In 1949, a large group of Chinese immigrants was pushed out of Sonora and looking for a new town to settle. These Chinese immigrants had war stricken families back in their homeland, so going back wasn’t an option. A small camp was established and as the Gold Rush grew and grew so did this camp. Until, the camp had a population of around 5,000. This camp was called Washingtonville and Camp Washington. In modern days, it is referred to as Chinese Camp.

During World War II American soldiers who were caught by the Japanese were sent to camps where they were kept under harsh conditions. These men were called the prisoners of war, also known as the POWs. The Japanese who were captured by the American lived a simple life. They were the Japanese internees of World War II. The POWs had more of a harsh time during World War II than the internees. While the internees did physically stay in the camps longer, the POWs had it worse mentally.

Liberation of the camps was something that meant a great deal to both the Americans and the Canadians because of how much respect we have for our fighting men. The “Kill All Order” was definitely a huge concern when trying to free soldiers, but it didn’t always work for the Japanese. Officer Peter MacRitchie of HMCs Prince Robert was the leader in the liberation of the Shamshuipo POW in Hong Kong, one of the largest known Canadian camps during World War II. He and his team infiltrated the camp saving hundreds of Canadian and American lives. Attempting to liberate camps has always been extremely risky because it could save lives, but also get many people killed in the process. Many prisoners suffered, Nazi camps in Germany killed millions and Japanese camps killed thousands, all in extremely brutal ways. 26,000 Canadians landed in Sicily and 2,400 died. Junio beach where 14,000 stormed 1,074 massacred or wounded, the rest barely made it out with their lives or were thrown in camps to be brutally beaten and tortured. Thousands of prisoners of war triumphed, but unfortunately not everyone was so lucky, many prisoners died seconds from being home free. The “Kill All Order” was a tragic and horrifying experience, each soldier fighting for seconds more to live, some even hoped the Americans and Canadians would lose so they would never have to face death so closely ever

In 1942 Japanese high command commissioned to have build a railway between Burma and Thailand and forced 60,000 allied force pow and 200,000 asian labourers to do it for them. The railway was 420 km long and it ran through rough and rugged jungle. The POWs had only hand tools and their own strength to build the railway and the working conditions were appalling. The POWs were forced to work through the monsoon of 1943 and were given no mercy by their captors. The prisoners had become slaves.

The conventions were signed and consented to by 47 countries, with the exception of Russia and Japan, who had signed the treaty but failed to ratify it meaning that they were not legally bound by those laws. This was due to the fact that the Japanese army was against the capture of prisoners, as surrender was seen as shameful due to Bushido, a deeply instilled Japanese moral code. Allied troops that were captured by Japanese forces were therefore seen as cowards and were treated with contempt and

However, the impacts of the Changi prisoners of war, were not overcome as soon as they were released to freedom. On the contrary but many impacts lingered over the Prisoners of war for many years to come.

Upon arriving to the mainland of Japan, many of the American occupation were stunned at the utter devastation that the Japanese had endured. It was a testament to both the bravery and spirit of their armies, as well as the foolishness of their leaders, that they were able to endure the war as long as they had. Having put most of their economic resources to the war movement, much of the civilian population was left in near famine. With the armies throughout the Pacific being repatriated on a daily basis (although many wouldn't return for year) the conditions became even worse. Despair and hunger set into the populace that was described as the "kyodatsu condition." With their colonies in Asia no longer in direct control, much of their food supply imports were cut off. Japan had relied heavily upon the importation of rice, sugar, and salt, but access was now severely restricted. To make matters worse, the United States decided to take a hands-off approach to rebuild the economy, a natural decision to punish a nation that caused so much devastation to others. Malnutrition was a leading cause of preventable death in many major cities, and the rapid rise of

The Japanese brutality was heavily influenced by bushido, a historic code of honour and morals that dictates how you act and live. The Japanese treated the Australian soldiers the way they did because their code tells them that those who surrender are weak and do not deserve your thoughts, and it is considered an unspeakable disgrace. Although the Japanese Imperial military committed to follow the samurai code of bushido after the restoration of the emperor in 1868, the code that they followed was a falsification of bushido. For the Japanese soldiers, bushido meant giving their life to the emperor; surrender was shameful; those who surrendered were thought of as dead; and sympathy for the defeated was weakness. No sympathy for the defeated was definitely not a part of the traditional bushido, the one practised by the samurai. This

In the 1957 film classic The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson accepts torture through isolation rather than allow his officers or himself to be used as prisoner of war (POW) laborers along with his men (Spiegel & Lane, 1957). His refusal to compromise their Geneva Convention protections in the face of Japanese pressure presents us with an interesting ethical question: to what end does a leader continue to cling to his/her rights as a POW? By closer examination of the duty of a POW and the role of leaders in captivity, it can be argued that LTC Nicholson did not act in the best interest of his men.