World War II Pows

Someone’s most important traits aren’t usually seen till something brings it out. War causes many to experience traumatic mental, and physical abuse. In these dire moments what stays the same or changes is what truly defines someone. During World War II, Louie Zamperini was originally deployed as a bombardier, only to be captured as a POW to the Japanese. In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, she explored his journey and struggle for survival, showing that war affects people in different ways.

During World War II, soldiers held captive by the Japanese were treated with nothing short of brutality. Japan’s treatment of their POWs was abominable, and many POWs died because of it. In the study, Persistence of traumatic memories in World War II prisoners of war by Lance Rintamaki, the author reveals that approximately 37% of POWs held by the Japanese were killed, compared to less than 1% that were held

War is an incredibly ambiguous phenomenon. In today’s world it feels easy to forget anything but life in relative peace. World War II shook the globe. Now, it has has dwindled to mere ripples in between pages of history textbooks and behind the screens of blockbuster films. In Lee Sandlin’s spectacular essay, “Losing the War,” he explains that in the context of World War II, the “amnesia effect” of time has lead to a bizarre situation; “the next generation starts to wonder whether the whole thing [war] ever actually happened,” (361). All that seems to be remembered is a reverie; a spectacle of valiance and bravery. The older generation —the ones who were there—simply became the collateral damage. The war, in all its infamy, can never be

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. Then Japan began to fight for world dominance. Germany, Japan, and their allies were know. as the Axis. The countries that entered the war to stop the Axis, such as the United States and England, were known as the Allies. Germany and Japan treated POWs (prisoners of war) slightly worse than Jews, kept them separate from the Jews, and were brutal to the POWs.

Word War II has been the most significant war in the history of civilization. It killed over 60 million soldiers and, innocent people. The war was incorporated into two significant campaigns which were Kokoda and Tobruk. Kokoda combatants were Australia and, United States. The war was fought in July 1942 to November 1942 against Japan. Tobruk’s combatant were Nazi Germany and Italy. Tobruk started their war on April 10, 1941 to November 27, 1941 against Australia- British.

What is it like to feel like less than a human? This is what the Jewish prisoners during the Holocaust felt like. Dehumanization makes people feel like they are less than human. The Holocaust was one of the most cruel events of dehumanization in history. The Nazis were successful in fully dehumanizing Jewish prisoners in concentration camps. This brutal treatment often led to the loss of hope in these camps, part of the Nazis goal. In Night, Eliezer Wiesel’s memoir, he tells of the many instances where he experienced dehumanization during his time at several concentration camps. The Nazis eliminated people’s humanity in many ways, including starvation, nakedness, and taking away their names in exchange for a number.

“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. Over all, this story allows us to observe changes within the mentalities of army officers.

The Japanese were put into internment camps for a safety precaution because of what their country did to our Military base. All of their personal belongings were taken after they packed only 1 luggage per family. They were forced into terrible living conditions and they couldn 't even buy their own land in the internment camp.

There were many appalling prison camps during the Civil War, but the most infamous was Andersonville. A shocking 13,000 people died in this camp(Bartels). Andersonville was run from February of 1864 until April of 1865. When the North found out about what happened at Andersonville, people were outraged. They wanted justice, and so the man running the camp, Henry Wirz, was tried and hanged for war crimes(Kohn). By the end, any prisoner who was not too ill to move was taken from the prison(Holst). Thousands prisoners died at Andersonville because of overpopulation, bad conditions, and the South not improving conditions.

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.

Many innocent people were taken into these camps, a lot were even arrested. They were told to leave

More than three million Jews were killed in concentration camps during World War Two. The concentration camps were extremely brutal and people who experienced them were treated like animals. When Jewish people were thrown into concentration camps, not only had they been stripped of their basic rights, but they had been stripped of their lives as well. Everyday they would witness fellow jews dying or being killed. Anyone who ever lived in a concentration camp knew that they could have died any day. They knew that they no longer had control over their lives. Living in a place like that changed people drastically. In Night, Elie Wiesel uses characterization, imagery, and symbolism to show how awful his time in the concentration camps was and how it contributed to his loss of faith.

The Nazi’s starved everyone in those camps except for themselfs. The Jews didn’t have a lot of food, it got to the point where their legs were like sticks and their ribcages were clear. People were dying daily because it was unhealthy for them to have so little food. People knew they were going to die with the way they were fed. They could probably hear there stomach rumbling throughout the day and

If I was one of the thousands of incarcerated Japanese-American "citizens" during World War II, and I was asked to pledge my allegiance to a country of which I could not even attain a valid citizenship, a country that had imprisoned myself and my family because of our ethnicity, it would be an easy decision. No. Furthermore, if they expressed their audacity by asking me if I would be willing to serve in their military, my answer would be synonymous. No. Even with the numerous consequences that would come with my chosen responses, I wouldn 't change them for the world.

The POWs worked from sunrise to sunset with only one day off every ten days. Out of 61,000 men who were slaves, 13,000 died on or because of the job (“World War Two”). Guards would assign pointless assignments for the POWs to perform. One such burden was to have the men carry huge bags of coal up and down hills just to tire them out. They had the POWs build their airfields and mine their coal. They would also charge the POWs to farm their fields and load supplies on and off ships (Hillenbrand). Demeaning tasks were also authorized in the camps. One of the most popular ones was cleaning out the “outhouse” if it could be called that. They would have to scoop the waste into a bucket and heave the bucket outside of camp. The rancid smell stayed with them for days afterwards. Some camps also dabbled in sex slavery and raped many women and even some men (“Japanese POW Camps”). Radio interviews were also a common way to break a man’s spirit. If the prisoners refused to cooperate then the Japanese would either torture them into doing it or they would send them off to a punishment camp