Guests of the Emperor

September 20, 2010
In WWII more than 2,000 American, British, and Australian soldiers were transferred from POW camps in the Philippines and Southeast Asia to the largest single Japanese POW camp in existence, at Mukden, China (now Shenyang). There, they were used as forced labor for Japanese manufacturing giant Mitsubishi, best known at the time for the famed Zero fighter, in open violation of the Geneva Conventions. Conditions at Mukden were brutal, with freezing temperatures, routine beatings, forced malnourishment, and the withholding of medicine. One chilling report referenced the testing of biological weapons on the American prisoners. Much has been written about the conditions in German POW camps of the same period, but even the Nazi Party wasn't willing to risk disregarding the Geneva Conventions. Japan, however, never contemplated the possibility of defeat, or its repercussions, and this secret history shows not only the extent of their arrogance and brutality during the war to end all wars, but also the resilience and determination of the allied prisoners.