Position:Home>History> Do you think what the Japanese did in the railroad?

The treatment of prisoners building the Burma railway was horrific!. I know because my uncle was one of them, and after the war he wrote down an account of his experiences!. Below are a few extracts:

'The native slave labour was the worst however, living in small tents, 40 people to a tent, men and women together (they had to erect platforms and sleep in layers), they died like flies!. I remember once seeing a native with Cholera staggering into the jungle followed by a Jap with a club, the idea being that as soon as he got some way from the road he would be knocked down and left!. SAved burying sometimes! Sometimes they were buried in big pits out here the snag was they were not always dead!.

There were usually one or two Thais being tortured at the guard room!. One trick was to tie them to a tree and then hang a 4 gallon petrol can round their neck by astring and then fill it wiht water !. One or two were beaten up so badly they died!.

I expect you are wondering why I have told no stories of escape or rebellion!. The reason is that either was 99% suicide!. It was tried of course but I never heard of success!. Sometimes men would be brought back and left tied uo in front of the guard room for a night then taken away!. We never knew where!. REbellion was also put down with a heavy hand!. To strike back at a Jap meant anything from beating to torture!. One man was flogged with barbed wire, I never found out whether he lived or not!.

We relied a lot on theft from the Japs for food etc!. As we had nothing the benefits were greater than the penalties!. Until one was caught! If the person caught was a single hand he would be treated according to the 'crime'!. Possibly a beating, or given a period in the camp 'no good' house!. These were cells some 5ft long, 4 ft high, and 2 ft wide!. In these one could neither lie, sit or stand and one was confined in there for your 'term' without washing etc,a nd the diet was rice and water!. After emerging a man was a hospital case naturally but all we could give them was a little extra from our rations, we had no other source!.

Outside the fence was a lane used by natives of the town!. Suddenly a guard went through the fence and returned with a Thais man of about 35 years who carried a child in his arms, possibly 2 years!. He was also carrying an army jacket which he said he had bought from a Korean!. He was to be held for 'trial' apparently, and before taking him to the guard room the Jap proceeded to use his fists on him!. Hampered as he was by the child the Thais could neither ward the blows nor set down the infant!. Tiring of this the Jap took the boy away and proceeded to use his boots until the native fell and then kicked him several times in the face!. Eventually the man once more carrying the child and both covered in blood were taken to the guardroom where they lay outside until night!. In the morning both were gone but to what fate I shall never know!.

I believe one man died for every 3 feet of railway that we built!. The Tamils in particular succumed very easily, they had no resitance and would just lie down and die where they were, about 100,000 of them altogether!.'

So as you can see, it was not just wicked British, Americans, and Australians who suffered during the building of the Burma railway, but also native labour, including huge numbers of Tamils (southern Indians)!. Did they too deserve to suffer!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

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It is never right to mistreat people!. United States does have some questionable marks on it's record!. However the atrocities that the Japanese committed in WWII were much greater than anything the United States was directly responsible for, baring, maybe, slavery!.

During WWII the Japanese Military murdered ~10 million people!. Not counting actual casualties of war!. The United States has never systematically committed genocide on that scale!.

One could make the argument that the expansion of the US at the expense of the 'Native Americans' was a genocide!. However it lacked the intentional malicious aspects that the Japanese genocide in China and SE Asia had!.

So, No!. The mistreatment of POWs by the Japanese during WWII was not 'right' or justifiable!.
Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Oddly enough, the prisoners of war used to build a Burma railroad (so famously seen in the movie "Bridge over the River Kwai") had nothing to do with building the American Transcontinental Railroad!. also, the Chinese immigrants who helped build the railroad weren't prisoners of war!.
The United States didn't 'conquer' California, New Mexico, Texas, etc!. Texas won its independence from Mexico and became a separate country!. After a few years, Texas lobbied to join the United States, who then fought a war with Mexico over where the border should be!. When the Mexican government surrendered, part of the deal was they ceded the lands that now make up Arizona, New Mexico, California, Colorado, Nevada, et cetera!.
America needs a taste of her own medicine!. Do you know that no other country donates nearly as much food, money, free healthcare, military assistance when needed, and ultimately, freedom for oppressed peoples, Since 1900 the U!.S!. has freed more than 30 nations and allowed them to set up governments that work best for them!. Bitter medicine indeed!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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