Sarah Kovner
Joan Beaumont reviews 'Prisoners of the Empire: Inside Japanese POW camps' by Sarah Kovner
Joan Beaumont
Monday, 21 February 2022
The suffering of prisoners of the Japanese dominates many Australians’ memories of World War II. More than 22,000 men and almost forty women were captured in Southeast Asia between 1942 and 1945. About 8,000 of them died. Traditionally this high death rate has been attributed to a mix of Japanese cruelty and their refusal to observe international humanitarian law. The military code of bushidō, it is argued, meant that Japanese soldiers had no respect for enemies who had surrendered.
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Published in
March 2022, no. 440