Australian Prisoners of War

How many Australians were POWs during WW2?

• 30,000

• 25,000

• 15,000

• 50,000

Answer explanation

30,000 Australians were POWs

21,467 were prisoners of the Japanese, of which 1/3 didn’t survive.

8,591 were held by Germany, with 97% surviving the war.

How did the Germans treat Australian POWs?

• Harshly, as they were influenced by Nazi racial ideas

• They rarely suffered the same brutalities as Jews, Slavs and other ‘inferior’ groups

• Many were killed during the Holocaust

• They suffered starvation, disease, brutal treatment and forced labour

Explain how Japanese treatment of prisoners was influenced by racial ideas, and their beliefs about those who surrendered.

Answer explanation

Soldiers of the Japanese army were told to fight to the death and had contempt for soldiers who surrendered. Most POWs suffered years of starvation, disease, brutal treatment and forced labour. The Chinese, in particular, were severely dealt with by the Japanese and millions were slaughtered by their captors.

How do historians believe POWs managed to survive imprisonment?

• Singing

• Sharing

• Mateship

• Letters from home

Answer explanation

Historians believe that the tradition of mateship and sharing helped POWs to survive imprisonment.

Which of the following were conditions prisoners working on the Burma–Thailand railway faced?

• They were forced to stand for hours on end

• Forced work for 6-8 hours

• Suffered diseases such as ebola

• Terribly sick men did hard labour in the place of others who were even sicker

Using the image, What evidence is there to suggest that POWs were forced to work hard?

Answer explanation

A group is being marched back into the compound probably from a hard day’s labour; prisoners are ‘cleaning’ their own latrines

Using the image, What evidence is there to suggest that POWs were vulnerable to tropical diseases, such as malaria?

Using the image, What evidence is there to suggest that POWs were underfed and malnourished?

Using the image, What evidence is there to suggest that POWs maintained strong ties of mateship?

Using the image, What evidence is there to suggest that POWs had to look after their own medical needs?