Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union
Encyclopedia
By the end of :World War II there were from 560,000 to 760,000 Japanese POWs in the Soviet Union
and Mongolia
interned to work in labor camps. Of them, about 10% died (50–60,000), mostly during the winter of 1945–1946.
The majority of the approximately 3.5 million Japanese armed forces outside Japan were disarmed by the United States and Kuomintang
China and repatriated in 1946. Western Allies had taken 35,000 Japanese prisoners between December 1941 and 15 August 1945, i.e., before the Japanese capitulation The Soviet Union held the Japanese POWs much longer and used them as a labor force.
After the defeat of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, Japanese POWs were sent from Manchuria
, North Korea, South Sakhalin
and Kuril Islands
to Primorski Krai, Khabarovsk Krai
, Krasnoyarsk Krai
, Kazakhstan (South Kazakhstan Province
and Zhambyl Province
), Buryat-Mongol ASSR, and Uzbek SSR
. In 1946, 49 labor camps for Japanese POWs under the management of GUPVI housed about 500,000 persons. In addition there were two camps for those convicted of various crimes.
Handling of Japanese POWs was, in line with the USSR State Defense Committee
Decree no. 9898cc "About Receiving, Accommodation, and Labor Utilization of the Japanese Army Prisoners of War" ("О приеме, размещении, трудовом использовании военнопленных японской армии") dated by 23 August 1945.
A significant number of Japanese were assigned to the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (over 200,000 persons), in eight camps, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur
(two camps, for two railroad branches), Sovetskaya Gavan
, Raychikha railroad station (Khabarovsk Krai), Izvestkovaya r/r station (Khabarovsk Krai), Krasnaya Zarya (Chita Oblast
), Taishet, and Novo-Grishino (Irkutsk Oblast
).
The repatriation of Japanese POWs started in 1946.
Those remaining after 1950 were detained having been convicted of various crimes. The release of these persons continued from 1953 under various amnesties, and the last major group of 1025 Japanese POWs was released on 23 December 1956.
There are about 60 associations of Japanese former internees and members of their families today. The Soviet Union did not provide the lists of POWs and did not allow the relatives of those POWs who died in captivity to visit their burial sites. This became possible after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
, one of the first researchers of the topic, who interviewed thousands of former internees came to the conclusion as follows.
However, many of the inmates do not share Kuznetsov's views and retain negative memories of being robbed of personal property, and the brutality of camp personnel, harsh winters and exhausting labor.
One of these critics is Haruo Minami
who later become one of the most famous singers in Japan. Minami, because of his harsh experiences in the labor camp, became a well-known anti-communist.
Most Japanese were captured in Soviet-occupied Manchuria
(Northeast China) and were brought to Soviet POW camps. Many Japanese died while they were detained in the POW camps; the number of death varies from 60,000 to 370,000. American historian William F. Nimmo estimated the number to be 340,000. The most commonly accepted number is 60,000–70,000 deaths out of a total of 500,000–600,000 POWS in Soviet captivity. Some remained in captivity until December 1956 (11 years after the war) before they were allowed to return back to Japan.
Those who chose to stay in Russia and eventually decided to return had to deal with significant Japanese bureaucracy. A major problem is the difficulty in providing the documentary confirmation of their status. Toshimasa Meguro, a 77 year old former POW, was permitted to visit Japan as late as in 1998. He served 8 years of labor camps and after the release was ordered to stay in Siberia.
Tetsuro Ahiko is the last remaining Japanese POW living in Kazakhstan.
only since the second half of 1980s, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union
. Until this time the only public information about any World War II POWs taken by the Soviet Union was some numbers of prisoners taken. After opening the secret Soviet archives the true scope of the POW labor in the Soviet Union
has become known, and the topic has been discussed in the press.
Japanese POWs have become the subject of the historians of Siberia
and the Russian Far East
, who gained access to local archives of NKVD
/MVD and CPSU A number of kandidat
(PhD) dissertations had been presented about Soviet POW in various regions. In 2000 a fundamental collection of documents related to POWs in the USSR was published, which contained significant information about Japanese.
In the 2000s several books about Japanese POWs were published in Russia.
About 2,000 memoirs of Japanese POWs in the Soviet Union have been published in Japan.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
interned to work in labor camps. Of them, about 10% died (50–60,000), mostly during the winter of 1945–1946.
The majority of the approximately 3.5 million Japanese armed forces outside Japan were disarmed by the United States and Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
China and repatriated in 1946. Western Allies had taken 35,000 Japanese prisoners between December 1941 and 15 August 1945, i.e., before the Japanese capitulation The Soviet Union held the Japanese POWs much longer and used them as a labor force.
History
The majority of Japanese who were held in the USSR did not consider themselves as "Prisoners of War" and referred to themselves as "internees", because they voluntarily laid down their arms after the official capitulation of Japan, i.e., after the end of the military conflict. The number of Japanese prisoners captured in combat was very small.After the defeat of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, Japanese POWs were sent from Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, North Korea, South Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
and Kuril Islands
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
to Primorski Krai, Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Russian Far East. It lies mostly in the basin of the lower Amur River, but also occupies a vast mountainous area along the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center of the krai is the...
, Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It is the second largest federal subject after the Sakha Republic, and Russia's largest krai, occupying an area of , which is 13% of the country's total territory. The administrative center of the krai is the city of Krasnoyarsk...
, Kazakhstan (South Kazakhstan Province
South Kazakhstan Province
South Kazakhstan Province is the southernmost province of Kazakhstan, with a population of 2,282,500 people. Its capital is Shymkent, with 539,600 people. Other cities in South Kazakhstan include Turkestan, Sayram, Kentau, Arys, Shardara, Jetysu, Saryag'ash and Lenger...
and Zhambyl Province
Zhambyl Province
Jambyl Province is a province of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Taraz. The population of the province is 1,000,000; the city is 335,100. The province borders Kyrgyzstan, and is very near Uzbekistan. Jambyl also borders three other provinces: Karagandy Province, South Kazakhstan Province and Almaty...
), Buryat-Mongol ASSR, and Uzbek SSR
Uzbek SSR
The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Uzbek SSR for short, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union since its creation in 1924...
. In 1946, 49 labor camps for Japanese POWs under the management of GUPVI housed about 500,000 persons. In addition there were two camps for those convicted of various crimes.
Handling of Japanese POWs was, in line with the USSR State Defense Committee
USSR State Defense Committee
The State Defense Committee was an extraordinary organ of state power in the USSR during the German-Soviet War which held complete state power in the country.-General scope:...
Decree no. 9898cc "About Receiving, Accommodation, and Labor Utilization of the Japanese Army Prisoners of War" ("О приеме, размещении, трудовом использовании военнопленных японской армии") dated by 23 August 1945.
A significant number of Japanese were assigned to the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (over 200,000 persons), in eight camps, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Komsomolsk-on-Amur is a city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, situated on the left bank of Amur River. It is located on the BAM railway line, northeast of Khabarovsk. Population: -Geography and climate:...
(two camps, for two railroad branches), Sovetskaya Gavan
Sovetskaya Gavan
Sovetskaya Gavan is a town in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, and a port on the Strait of Tartary which connects the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with the Sea of Japan on the south. Population: 29,100 ; The name of the town is often informally abbreviated to "Sovgavan".-History:The bay on which...
, Raychikha railroad station (Khabarovsk Krai), Izvestkovaya r/r station (Khabarovsk Krai), Krasnaya Zarya (Chita Oblast
Chita Oblast
Chita Oblast was a federal subject of Russia in southeast Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. It had extensive international borders with China and Mongolia and internal borders with Irkutsk and Amur Oblasts, as well as with the Buryat and the Sakha Republics. Its...
), Taishet, and Novo-Grishino (Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of Angara River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk. Population: -History:...
).
The repatriation of Japanese POWs started in 1946.
| year | number released | notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1946 | 18,616 | |
| 1947 | 166,240 | |
| 1948 | 175,000 | |
| 1949 | 97,000 | 971 transferred to PRC People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... |
| 1950 | 1,585 | leaving 2,988 remaining in USSR |
Those remaining after 1950 were detained having been convicted of various crimes. The release of these persons continued from 1953 under various amnesties, and the last major group of 1025 Japanese POWs was released on 23 December 1956.
There are about 60 associations of Japanese former internees and members of their families today. The Soviet Union did not provide the lists of POWs and did not allow the relatives of those POWs who died in captivity to visit their burial sites. This became possible after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Japanese internees and Russians
Historian S. Kuznetsov, dean of the Department of History of the Irkutsk State UniversityIrkutsk State University
Irkutsk State University was founded in October 1918 in Irkutsk, Siberia.At present, the University consists of 10 faculties, 4 educational institutions and 2 branches. Over 18 thousand students including 300 foreign students from 27 countries study at University in 52 specialties. More than 620...
, one of the first researchers of the topic, who interviewed thousands of former internees came to the conclusion as follows.
However, many of the inmates do not share Kuznetsov's views and retain negative memories of being robbed of personal property, and the brutality of camp personnel, harsh winters and exhausting labor.
One of these critics is Haruo Minami
Haruo Minami
Haruo Minami was an enka singer in postwar Japan.He was born Bunji Kitazume in Nagaoka, Niigata...
who later become one of the most famous singers in Japan. Minami, because of his harsh experiences in the labor camp, became a well-known anti-communist.
Most Japanese were captured in Soviet-occupied Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
(Northeast China) and were brought to Soviet POW camps. Many Japanese died while they were detained in the POW camps; the number of death varies from 60,000 to 370,000. American historian William F. Nimmo estimated the number to be 340,000. The most commonly accepted number is 60,000–70,000 deaths out of a total of 500,000–600,000 POWS in Soviet captivity. Some remained in captivity until December 1956 (11 years after the war) before they were allowed to return back to Japan.
Japanese ex-internees today
Various associations of former internees seek compensation for their wartime treatment and for pensions from the Japanese government. An appeal to the Commission on Human Rights saysThose who chose to stay in Russia and eventually decided to return had to deal with significant Japanese bureaucracy. A major problem is the difficulty in providing the documentary confirmation of their status. Toshimasa Meguro, a 77 year old former POW, was permitted to visit Japan as late as in 1998. He served 8 years of labor camps and after the release was ordered to stay in Siberia.
Tetsuro Ahiko is the last remaining Japanese POW living in Kazakhstan.
Research in Russia
Research into the history of the Japanese POWs has become possible in RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
only since the second half of 1980s, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
. Until this time the only public information about any World War II POWs taken by the Soviet Union was some numbers of prisoners taken. After opening the secret Soviet archives the true scope of the POW labor in the Soviet Union
POW labor in the Soviet Union
Systematic POW labor in the Soviet Union is associated primarily with the outcomes of the World War II and covers the period of 1939-1956.This form of forced labor was handled by the Chief Directorate for Prisoners of War and Internees Affairs of the NKVD, established in 1939 Systematic POW labor...
has become known, and the topic has been discussed in the press.
Japanese POWs have become the subject of the historians of Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and the Russian Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
, who gained access to local archives of NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
/MVD and CPSU A number of kandidat
Kandidat
The Candidate of Sciences degree is a first post-graduate scientific degree in some former Eastern Bloc countries, such as Russia and Ukraine, which is awarded for original research that constitutes a significant contribution to a scientific field. The degree was first introduced in the USSR on...
(PhD) dissertations had been presented about Soviet POW in various regions. In 2000 a fundamental collection of documents related to POWs in the USSR was published, which contained significant information about Japanese.
In the 2000s several books about Japanese POWs were published in Russia.
About 2,000 memoirs of Japanese POWs in the Soviet Union have been published in Japan.
In Fiction
The Japanese television drama Fumou Chitai (2009) is a fictional account of the experiences of a POW after returning to Japan.See also
- Japanese prisoners of war in World War IIJapanese prisoners of war in World War IIIt has been estimated that between 19,500 and 50,000 Japanese military personnel surrendered to Allied forces prior to the end of the Pacific War in August 1945...
- Soviet invasion of Manchuria
- Japanese people in RussiaJapanese people in RussiaJapanese people in Russia form a small part of the worldwide community of Nikkeijin. They count various notable political figures among their number.-Early settlement:...
- German prisoners of war in the Soviet UnionGerman prisoners of war in the Soviet UnionApproximately two million German prisoners of war were held in the Soviet Union during World War II and in the years that followed. Most of them were captured during the great advances of the Red Army in the last year of the war. In the first months of the Soviet-German war, only about 26,000...
- Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union
Further reading
- "Japanese POW in PrimoryePrimorsky KraiPrimorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok...
(1945–1949)"- Issue 1: "POW Labor in Coal Industry" ("Японские военнопленные в Приморье (1945–1949 гг.) Вып.1 Труд военнопленных в угольной промышленности" Владивосток: Государственный архив Приморского края, Мор. гос. ун-т им. адм. Г. И. Невельского) 2005.- 152 pp.
- Issue 2: "POW Labour in Various Spheres of the Notional Economy of the Primorsky Krai"(Японские военнопленные в Приморье (1945–1949 гг.) : документы Государственного архива Приморского края Выпуск 2: Труд военнопленных в отраслях народного хозяйства Приморского края, 2006 ISBN 5834303552
- Nicole Piper, "War and Memory: Victim Identity and the Struggle for Compensation in Japan" War & Society (2001) vol. 19, issue 1, pp. 131–148.
External links
- The Notes of Japanese soldier in USSR
- Historical time table of Japanese prisoners returning in 1945 – 1958 (in Japanese) (ソ連地域の引揚経緯表)