Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps,
Detention of prisoners of war before the development of camps
Before the
Development of temporary camps
Following General
First purpose-built camp
The earliest known purpose-built prisoner-of-war camp was established by the Kingdom of Great Britain at Norman Cross, in 1797 to house the increasing number of prisoners from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The prison operated until 1814 and held between 3,300 and 6,272 men.[3]
American Civil War camps
Lacking a means for dealing with large numbers of captured troops early in the American Civil War, the Union and Confederate governments relied on the traditional European system of parole and exchange of prisoners. While awaiting exchange, prisoners were confined to permanent camps.
Neither Union or Confederate prison camps were always well run, and it was common for prisoners to die of starvation or disease. It is estimated that about 56,000 soldiers died in prisons during the war; almost 10% of all Civil War fatalities.
Boer War
During the Second Boer War, the British government established prisoner-of-war camps (to hold captured Boer belligerents or fighters) and concentration camps (to hold Boer civilians). In total, six prisoner-of-war camps were erected in South Africa and around 31 in overseas British colonies to hold Boer prisoners of war.[7] The majority of Boer prisoners of war were sent overseas (25,630 out of the 28,000 Boer men captured during the fighting). After an initial settling-in period, these prisoner-of-war camps were generally well administered.[8]
The number of concentration camps, all located in South Africa, was much higher and a total of 109 of these camps had been constructed by the end of the war - 45 camps for Boer civilians and 64 camps for black Africans. The vast majority of Boers held in the concentration camps were women and children. The concentration camps were generally poorly administered, the food
Boer War camps
Combatant | Name | Location | Notes | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boer | Pretoria | |||
Boer | Waterval | |||
Boer | Nooitgedacht | |||
Boer | Barberton | |||
British | Bloemfontein | The camp was constructed in 1900 following the Battle of Paardeberg. It was primarily a concentration camp for civilians, of whom 26,370 Boer women and children, 14,154 black Africans, and 1,421 Boer men died during the camp's existence.[11][12] | ||
British | Cape Town | Prisoner-of-war camps: Greenpoint Camp No. 1 and Camp No. 2.[13] | ||
British | Simonstown | Prisoner-of-war camps: Bellevue Camp and South Camp.[14] | ||
British | Natal | Prisoner-of-war camps: Ladysmith Camp (later turned into a concentration camp) and Umbilo Camp.[15] | ||
Overseas | St. Helena | The first Boer POW contingent was sent to St. Helena on 11 April 1900, where they were incarcerated at the two camps on the island, Broadbottom and Deadwood. | ||
Overseas | Ceylon | Approximately 5,500 Boer prisoners of war were transported to Mount Lavinia, housing 150 prisoners, opening on 17 December 1900, whilst a camp at Ragama, opened 8 January 1901, housing 150 dissidents and irreconcilables. On 10 September 1901 a parole camp for 80 prisoners, was established at Urugasmanhandiya, with a subsequent parole camp for 120 prisoners opening on 19 September 1901 at Hambantota .
|
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Overseas | India | |||
Overseas | Bermuda | Approximately 4,500 prisoners were sent to Morgan's Island and Tucker's Island ).
|
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Overseas | Portugal |
World War I
The first international convention on prisoners of war was signed at the
Permanent camps did not exist at the beginning of the war. The unexpectedly large number of prisoners captured in the first days of the war by the German army created an immediate problem. By September 1914, the German army had captured over 200,000 enemy combatants.[18] These first prisoners were held in temporary camps until 1915, by which time the prisoner population had increased to 652,000 living in unsatisfactory conditions. In response, the government began constructing permanent camps both in Germany and the occupied territories.[18] The number of prisoners increased significantly during the war, exceeding one million by August 1915 and 1,625,000 by August 1916, and reaching 2,415,000 by the end of the war.[19]
Geneva Conference
The
A few countries were not on the same terms as Germany and Austria. For example, Hungary believed that harsh conditions would reduce the number of traitors.
The countries in the east continued their fight to help the Red Cross provide support to POWs. At the end of the war, a Franco-German agreement was made that both countries would exchange their prisoners, but the French kept a small number while the Germans released all French prisoners.[20]
Krasnoyarsk
Throughout World War I, captured prisoners of war were sent to various camps including the one in Krasnoyarsk. There was a point[when?] where a large mix of nationalities was together in Krasnoyarsk which included Bulgarians, Czechs, Germans, and Poles. Many prisoners were nationalists, which led to violence within the camp. Militants would be forced to put down the instigators and keep the camp running.[21]
Polish–Soviet War
From autumn 1920, thousands of captured Red Army soldiers and guards had been placed in the
In a joint work of Polish and Russian historians, Karpus and Rezmer estimate the total death toll in all Polish POW camps during the war at 16–17 thousand, while the Russian historian Matvejev estimates it at 18–20 thousand.[23][24]
On the other side of the frontline about 20,000 out of about 51,000 Polish POWs died in Soviet and Lithuanian camps[25]
While the conditions for Soviet prisoners were clearly exposed by the free press in Poland,[25] no corresponding fact-finding about Soviet camps for Polish POWs could be expected from the tightly controlled Soviet press of the time. Available data shows many cases of mistreatment of Polish prisoners. There have been also cases of Polish POWs' being executed by the Soviet army, when no POW facilities were available.[25]
World War II
The
- Article 10 required that POWs should be lodged in adequately heated and lighted buildings where conditions were the same as their own troops.
- Articles 27–32 detailed the conditions of labour. Commissioned officers were not required to work, although they could volunteer. The work performed was largely agricultural or industrial, ranging from coal or potash mining, stone quarrying, or work in saw mills, breweries, factories, railway yards, and forests. POWs hired out to military and civilian contractors and were paid $.80 per day in scripin U.S. camps. The workers were also supposed to get at least one day per week of rest.
- Article 76 ensured that POWs who died in captivity were honourably buried in marked graves.
Not all combatants applied the provisions of the convention. In particular the Empire of Japan, which had signed but never ratified the convention,[26] was notorious for its treatment of prisoners; this poor treatment occurred in part because the Japanese viewed surrender as dishonourable. Prisoners from all nations were subject to forced labour, beatings, murder, and even medical experimentation. Rations fell short of the minimum required to sustain life, and many were forced into labour. After March 20, 1943, the Imperial Navy was under orders to execute all prisoners taken at sea.[27] Japanese POW camps are found throughout south-east Asia and the Japanese conquered territories.
Escapes
The
The
The Great Papago Escape, on December 23, 1944, was the largest POW escape to occur from an American facility. Over 25 German POWs tunneled out of Camp Papago Park, near Phoenix, Arizona, and fled into the surrounding desert. Over the next few weeks all were recaptured.[29]
The escape of Felice Benuzzi, Giovanni ('Giuàn') Balletto, and Vincenzo ('Enzo') Barsotti from Camp 354 in Nanyuki, Kenya, to climb Mount Kenya. The account is recorded by Benuzzi in No Picnic on Mount Kenya. After their attempt to climb Mount Kenya, the trio "escaped" back into Camp 354.[citation needed]
Role of the Red Cross
After
Allied camps
- Featherston prisoner of war camp, New Zealand
- List of POW camps in Australia
- List of POW camps in Britain
- List of POW camps in Canada
- List of POW camps in India
- List of POW camps in Kenya
- List of POW camps in occupied Germany
- List of POW camps in the United States
- List of POW camps in USSR
- Lom prisoner of war camp, Norway
- Skorpa prisoner of war camp, Norway
- Zonderwater POW camp in Cullinan, South Africa
Conditions in Japanese camps
In the lead up to the Second World War, Japan had engaged in several conflicts aimed at expanding its empire, most notably the
Believing it was shameful to be captured alive in combat, the Japanese ran their prisoner-of-war camps brutally, with many Allied prisoners of war dying in them. The Japanese field army code included a "warrior spirit", which stated that an individual must calmly face death. Those who disobeyed orders would be sentenced to death via decapitation, usually carried out by the katana of Japanese officers. The sword was seen as a symbol of wisdom and perseverance to the Japanese, and they perceived that it was an honor to die by it.[30]
Allied prisoners-of-war in Japanese camps were forced to engage in physical labour such as building bridges, erecting forts, and digging defence trenches. These prisoners received limited food, and once their military uniforms wore out, no replacements were given. Some brutal prison guards would answer requests for water with their beatings or rifle butts. Prisoners who were seen as no use, physically weak, or rebellious, would often be killed. At the end of the war, when the camp inmates were released, many had lost body parts, and many were starved and faced extreme emaciation. Some prisoners feared execution by the Japanese in response to American bombing. The brutality of the guards caused traumatized prisoners to suffer mental illnesses that persisted for decades afterward. In many cases, survivors of camps were traumatized or ended up living with a disability. Many survivors went home or to other areas of the world to have a successful life as a businessman, or they would devote themselves to helping poor people or people in the camps who were in need of support. A former PoW, Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey, stated that the Japanese committed brutal atrocities. Some of these included filling a prisoner's nose with water while the guards tied them with barbed wire, then they would stand on the prisoners, stepping on the wires. Or the guards would tie a prisoner on a tree by their thumbs, with their toes barely touching the ground, and leave them there for two days without food or water. After the two days of torture, the prisoner would be jailed prior to execution, after which their corpses would later be burnt.[31]
Life in the POW camps was recorded at great risk to themselves by artists such as
In 2016, war historian Antony Beevor (who had recently completed his book The Second World War), said that the UK government had recently released information that in some Japanese PoW camps prisoners were fattened up to be killed and eaten. Apparently, Winston Churchill had been aware of this atrocity, but kept the information secret; families would have been too distressed to learn that their sons had been the victims of cannibalism rather than killed in action.
More deaths occurred in Japanese PoW camps than in any others.[32] The Red Cross were not able to drop parcels into these camps because they were too well defended to fly over.[33]
Canadian camps
The Second World War was mainly fought in Europe and western Russia, East Asia, and the Pacific; there were no invasions of Canada. The few prisoners of war sent to Canada included Japanese and German soldiers, captured U-boat crews, and prisoners from raids such as Dieppe and Normandy.
The camps meant for German POWs were smaller than those meant for Japanese prisoners and were far less brutal. German prisoners generally benefitted from good food. However, the hardest part was surviving the Canadian winters. Most camps were isolated and located in the far north. Death and sickness caused by the elements was common.
Many camps were only lightly watched, and as such, many Germans attempted escape. Tunnelling was the most common method. Peter Krug, an escapee from a prison located in
Fighting, sometimes to the death, was somewhat common in the camps. Punishments for major infractions could include death by hanging. German POWs wore shirts with a large red dot painted on the back, an easily identifiable mark outside the camps. Therefore, escapees could be easily found and recaptured.[34]
- Japanese in Canada
In the wake of the Japanese attacking Hong Kong, the Philippines and Pearl Harbor in which 2000 Canadians were involved, Canadians put a large focus onto Japanese-Canadians even though innocent. Japan seemed to be able to attack along the Pacific and Canada could potentially be next. Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King implemented the War Measures Act and the Defence of Canada Regulations; therefore, they could not get involved with Canadian services along with the Italians and Germans. The Nikkei (Canadians and Immigrants of Japanese origin) were stripped of possessions, which were later auctioned off without consent. The intense cold winters made it hard to live as the Nikkei were placed in camps; these campers were made of Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Canadians. They lived in barns and stables which were used for animals, therefore unsanitary. It took 5 years after the war for the Nikkei to gain their rights. Compensation was given but was not enough to cover the loss of properties. Over 22,000 Nikkei were put into these camps.[35]
Axis camps
- List of POW camps in Germany and German-occupied countries (Stalags)[36]
- List of Japanese war ships
- List of POW camps in Italy
- List of POW camps in Japan
- List of POW camps in Switzerland
Cigarettes as currency
In many POW camps, cigarettes were widely used as currency known as 'commodity money'. They performed the functions of money as a medium of exchange because they were generally accepted among the prisoners for settling payments or debts, and the function of money as a unit of account, because prices of other goods were expressed in terms of cigarettes. Compared with other goods, the supply of cigarettes was more stable, as they were rationed in the POW camps, and cigarettes were more divisible, portable, and homogeneous.[37]
Korean War
U.N. camps
The International Red Cross visited United Nations-run POW camps, often unannounced, noting prisoner hygiene, quality of medical care, variety of diet, and weight gain. They talked to the prisoners and asked for their comments on conditions, as well as providing them with copies of the Geneva Convention. The IRC delegates dispersed boots, soap, and other requested goods.
A prison camp was established on the island of
In 1952 the camp's administration was afraid that the prisoners would riot and demonstrate on May Day (a day honoring Communism) and so United States Navy ships (such as the USS Gunston Hall) removed 15,000 North Korean and Chinese prisoners from the island and moved them to prison facilities at Ulsan and Cheju-do. These ships also participated in Operation Big Switch in September 1953 when prisoners were exchanged at the end of the war.[citation needed]
Communist camps
The Chinese operated three types of POW camps during the Korean war. Peace camps housed POWs who were sympathetic to communism, reform camps were intended for skilled POWs who were to be indoctrinated in communist ideologies and the third type was the normal POW camps. Chinese policy did not allow for the exchange of prisoners in the first two camp types.[39]
While these POW Camps were designated numerically by the communists, the POWs often gave the camps a name.
- Camp 1 – Changsong – near Camp 3 on the Yalu River.
- Camp 2 – Pyoktong – on the Yalu River.
- Camp 3 – Changsong – near Camp 1 on the Yalu River.
- Camp 4 – north of Camp 2
- Camp 5 – near Pyoktong.
- Camp 6 – P'yong-yang
- Camp 7 – near Pyoktong.
- Camp 8 – Kangdong
- Camp 9 – P'yong-yang.
- Camp 10 – Chon ma
- Camp 11 – Pukchin
- Camp 12 – P'yong-yang- (Peace Camp) was located in the northwestern vicinity of the capitol. Nearby were several other camps including PAK's Palace.
- Bean Camp – Suan
- Camp DeSoto – P'yong-yang locale – The camp was near to Camp 12.
- Pak's Palace Camp – P'yong-yang locale – Located in the northernmost area near the Capitol. The camp was near Camp 12.[citation needed]
- Pukchin Mining Camp – between Kunu-ri and Pyoktong – (aka. Death Valley Camp).
- Sunchon Tunnel – - (aka. Caves Camp)[citation needed]
- Suan Mining Camp – P'yong-yang
- Valley Camps – Teksil-li
Vietnam War
South Vietnamese Army camps in South Vietnam
By the end of 1965, Viet Cong suspects, prisoners of war, and even juvenile delinquents were mixed together in South Vietnamese jails and prisons. After June 1965, the prison population steadily rose, and by early 1966, there was no space to accommodate additional prisoners in the existing jails and prisons. In 1965, plans were made to construct five POW camps, each with an initial capacity of 1,000 prisoners and to be staffed by the South Vietnamese military police, with U.S. military policemen as a prisoner of war advisers assigned to each stockade.[citation needed]
Prisons and jails
- Con SonNational Prison
- Chi Hoa National Prison
- Tam Hiep National Prison
- Thu Duc National Prison
- plus 42 Province jails
Camps
- Bien Hoa camp – in III Corp area was opened May 1966
- Pleiku camp – in II Corps area was opened August 1966
- Da Nang camp (Non Nuoc) – in I Corps area was opened in November 1966
- Can Tho camp – in IV Corps area was opened December 1966
- Qui Nhon (Phu Tai) – opened March 1968 (for female PoWs)
- Phu Quoc Island – off the coast of Cambodia, opened in 1968
North Vietnamese Army camps
- "Alcatraz" – North Central Hanoi
- "Briarpatch" – 53 km (33 mi) WNW of Hanoi
- "Camp Faith" – 14 km (9 mi) West of Hanoi
- "Dirty Bird" – Northern Hanoi
- "Dogpatch" – 169 km (105 mi) NNE of Hanoi
- "Farnsworth" – 29 km (18 mi) SW of Hanoi
- "Hanoi Hilton" – Hoa Lo, Central Hanoi
- "Mountain Camp" – 64 km (40 mi) NW of Hanoi
- "Plantation – Northeast Hanoi
- "Rockpile" – 51 km (32 mi) South of Hanoi
- Sơn Tây – 37 km (23 mi) West of Hanoi
- "Skidrow" – 10 km (6 mi) SW of Hanoi
- "The Zoo" – SW suburb of Hanoi
Yugoslav wars
Serb Camps
- Manjača camp – Banja Luka, Republika Srpska
- Sremska Mitrovica camp – Sremska Mitrovica, Vojvodina
- Stajićevo camp – Stajićevo, Vojvodina
Other Camps
- Čelebići prison camp – Konjic, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Lapušnik prison camp – Kosovo
Afghanistan and Iraq wars
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2020) |
The United States of America refused to grant prisoner-of-war status to many prisoners captured during its
The legality of this refusal has been questioned and cases are pending in the U.S. courts.[
- Abu Ghraib prison – 32 km west of Baghdad, Iraq
- Parvan, Afghanistan
- Camp Bucca – near Umm Qasr, Iraq
- Camp Delta – Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
See also
- List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States
- American Civil War prison camps
- Finnish Civil War prison camps
- Internment camp
- List of prisoner-of-war escapes
- List of World War II POW camps
- Military prison
- Eden Camp Museum
Notes and references
- ^ "Prisoner of war (POW)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
- ^ Fooks, Herbert C. (1924). Prisoners of War 297.
- ^ Thomas James Walker (1913). The depot for prisoners of war at Norman Cross, Huntingdonshire, 1796 to 1816. Constable & Company.
- ^ "National Life After Death". Slate. Archived from the original on August 29, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
- ^ "Andersonville: Prisoner of War Camp-Reading 1". Nps.gov. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
- ^ |"US Civil War Prison Camps Claimed Thousands". National Geographic News. July 1, 2003. Archived from the original on February 25, 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-990915-11-6.
- ISBN 978-1-990915-11-6.
- ISBN 1-4039-6150-6.
- ^ A Century of Postgraduate Anglo Boer War Studies, p. 32, at Google Books
- ^ Arthur Clive Martin (1957). The Concentration Camps, 1900–1902: Facts, Figures and Fables. H. Timmins. p. 31.
- ^ "Black Concentration Camps". Anglo-boer.co.za. 2010. Archived from the original on August 15, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
- ^ Changuion, Louis (2022). Vasgevang! Die lewe van die Boere in die Suid-Afrikaanse krygsgevangenekampe gedurende die Anglo-Boereoorlog, 1899-1902. Centurion, South Africa: Kraal Uitgewers. p. 24.
- ^ Changuion, Louis (2022). Vasgevang! Die lewe van die Boere in die Suid-Afrikaanse krygsgevangenekampe gedurende die Anglo-Boereoorlog, 1899-1902. Centurion, South Africa: Kraal Uitgewers. p. 26.
- ^ Changuion, Louis (2022). Vasgevang! Die lewe van die Boere in die Suid-Afrikaanse krygsgevangenekampe gedurende die Anglo-Boereoorlog, 1899-1902. Centurion, South Africa: Kraal Uitgewers. pp. 27–28.
- ^ Phillimore, Geo G.; Bellot, Hugh H. L. (1919). "Treatment of Prisoners of War". Transactions of the Grotius Society. 5: 47–64.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3744-3.
- ^ a b Hinz (2006), p. 92.
- ISBN 3-89861-352-6.
- ^ .
- ^ Davis, Gerald H. (Summer 1987). "Prisoner of War Camps as Social Communities in Russia: Krasnoyjarsk 1914–1921". East European Quarterly. 21 (2): 147.
- ^ Rezmer, W.; Karpus, Zbigniew; Matvejev, G. Red Army POWs in the Polish POW camps 1919–1922. p. 671.
- ^ "Czerwonoarmiści w niewoli polskiej". Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
- ^ "ПЛЕННЫЕ КРАСНОАРМЕЙЦЫ В ПОЛЬСКИХ ЛАГЕРЯХ". Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 83-231-0627-4.
- ^ "International Humanitarian Law – State Parties / Signatories". Icrc.org. July 27, 1929. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
- ^ Mark Felton, Slaughter at Sea: The Story of Japan's Naval War Crimes (Naval Institute Press, 2008) p94
- ISBN 1-84018-904-5.
- ^ "The Great Escape at Camp Papago Park: The Swastika Tattoo". Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
- ^ a b Race War!: White Supremacy and the Japanese Attack on the British Empire. NYU Press (2005)
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/65101. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Holocaust.
- ISBN 0-349-11937-6.
- ^ Melady.J (1981). Escape from Canada – The Untold story of German POWs in Canada 1939–1945. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada. D805.C2M45
- .
- ^ Werner Schwarz. "Kriegsgefangenenlager (Liste)". Moosburg.org. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
- JSTOR 2550133.
- ^ Truce Tent and Fighting Front, 1992
- ^ "Chinese operated three types of POW camps for Americans during the Korean War". April 1997. Archived from the original on April 3, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-275-99300-9.
Bibliography
- Burnham, Philip. So Far from Dixie: Confederates in Yankee Prisons (2003)
- Byrne, Frank L., "Libby Prison: A Study in Emotions," Journal of Southern History 1958 24(4): 430–444. in JSTOR
- Cloyd, Benjamin G. Haunted by Atrocity: Civil War Prisons in American Memory (Louisiana State University Press; 2010) 272 pages.traces shifts in Americans' views of the brutal treatment of soldiers in both Confederate and Union prisons, from raw memories in the decades after the war to a position that deflected responsibility.
- Horigan, Michael. Elmira: Death Camp of the North (2002)