The situation of japanese military personnel held in prisoner-of-war camps in the USSR

URL: https://dspace.academy.police.md/the-situation-of-japanese-military-personnel-held-in-prisoner-of-war-camps-in-the-ussr/

Data: 2026

The present study focuses on Japanese military personnel, as well as combatants of other nationalities integrated into Japanese troops stationed in Manchuria. The main objective of this article is to analyze the complexity of the detention regime within the Soviet concentration camp system, with particular emphasis on living conditions, abuses committed by camp administrations, and the devastating impact of the hostile environment on the psychological condition of prisoners. At the same time, the investigation examines judicial proceedings initiated against war criminals, the dynamics of relations between the Soviet civilian population and Japanese prisoners, as well as the contacts of the latter with our compatriots detained in the same spaces of captivity. The study is based on rigorous documentation, making use of unpublished archival materials, the normative framework of the period, as well as an extensive body of specialized literature and memoirs of survivors published both domestically and abroad.