What were the conditions like in the prisoner of war camps?
Forced to carry out slave labour on a starvation diet and in a hostile environment, many died of malnutrition or disease. Sadistic punishments were handed out for the most minor breach of camp rules. Most prisoners of war (POWs) existed on a very poor diet of rice and vegetables, which led to severe malnutrition.
What was the worst prison camp in ww2?
Auschwitz
Auschwitz was the largest and deadliest of six dedicated extermination camps where hundreds of thousands of people were tortured and murdered during World War II and the Holocaust under the orders of Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler.
How were prisoners treated in ww2?
Prisoners were routinely beaten, starved and abused and forced to work in mines and war-related factories in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions. Of the 27,000 Americans taken prisoner by the Japanese, a shocking 40 percent died in captivity, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
What conditions did the prisoners of war live in during working on the railway?
Consequently, the prisoners were malnourished, dehydrated, and predisposed to illness. These factors, compounded by the unsanitary conditions in the work camps and the tropical environment, meant that disease was rampant. Dysentery and diarrhea were responsible for more than one-third of all deaths on the railway.
What did prisoners of war eat?
The inventive POW cooks made meals of fried spam on bread, toast with prune spread and hot chocolate made from chocolate that arrived in the parcels for Sunday breakfast. Sunday lunch would be toast smeared with pate, goon soup and coffee.
How many POWs died in Japanese camps?
3,500 POWs
Approximately 3,500 POWs died in Japan while they were imprisoned. In General, no direct access to the POWs was provided to the International Red Cross. There is a great deal of evidence the ICRC did visit some camps which were made ‘presentable’ to them by the Japanese.
What did ww2 prisoners eat?
They ate only one substantial meal a day — generally in the evening — which consisted of their potato ration combined with any meat or cheese ration from a Red Cross parcel.
