Where can I find ww2 POW records?

Where can I find ww2 POW records?

Records of prisoners of war (POWs) were compiled by each country and are now held centrally by the Archives Division and Research Service of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Switzerland. Because of their personal nature, these records are not available to the general public.

How did the Japanese treat the Australian POWs?

Japanese military discipline was sadistic, because they administered instant or Japanese punishment. This was carried out on their own troops, but when it was administered to prisoners it was particularly vicious and brutal. [Tom Uren, Straight Left, Milsons Point, NSW, Vintage Australia, 1995, 40.]

How many Australian POWs survived ww2?

At the end of the war only 13,872 of the POWs were recovered: one-third of the prisoners had died.

What were the two most famous prisoners of war camps that Australians served?

The movement of Australian prisoners to Japan, Formosa and Korea began in 1942, continued during 1943, and was intensified in 1944 following the completion of the Burma-Thailand Railway. By early 1945 there were nearly 3,000 Australian prisoners of war in Japan.

How many WWII POWs are still alive?

The estimated number of living POWs decreased from nearly 32,550 to about 29,350, caused mainly by estimated deaths among WW II and Korean POWs.

How can you find out if someone was a POW?

. How can I find out if someone was a prisoner of war? National Headquarters has a database of former prisoners of war who returned to US control. You can also go online to aad.archives.gov/aad to access the National Archives databases.

Who treated POWs the worst in ww2?

However, nations vary in their dedication to following these laws, and historically the treatment of POWs has varied greatly. During World War II, Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany (towards Soviet POWs and Western Allied commandos) were notorious for atrocities against prisoners of war.

What happened to Australian prisoners of war after ww2?

In 1945 survivors were liberated from camps all over Asia: some in the places they had been captured, others in Burma and Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and even Japan itself.

Did Australia take Japanese prisoners?

Nevertheless, Japanese POWs in Allied camps continued to be treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions until the end of the war. Most Japanese captured by US forces after September 1942 were turned over to Australia or New Zealand for internment.

What did the Japanese do to the POWs?

The treatment of American and allied prisoners by the Japanese is one of the abiding horrors of World War II. Prisoners were routinely beaten, starved and abused and forced to work in mines and war-related factories in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Who was the longest held prisoner of war?

Floyd James Thompson
He was one of the longest-held American prisoner of war in U.S. history that was returned or captured by troops, spending nearly nine years in captivity in the forests and mountains of South Vietnam and Laos, and in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War….