about Shenyang POW museum (POW camp)

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:26:00

China will this year finish renovating a former concentration camp in Shenyang, where Japanese troops detained more than 2,000 World War II prisoners from different countries. The cultural heritage bureau in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, said it was turning the site into a museum to record war history and tell the tale of Japanese wartime atrocities. According to the 54-million-yuan (6.9 million U.S. dollars) plan, the museum will cover 12,900 square meters and will include a two-storey building, three bungalows and a water tower, all original camp buildings, and a square that will be embedded between the two-story buildings and a bungalow where the Japanese wardens used to live. Two walls will be constructed in the square inscribed with the names of all the POWs. The cavernous red-brick buildings with pitch dark corridors and tiny windows are located on Qingguang Street in Dadong District of Shenyang. It was here that the Japanese military detained more than 2,000 POWs, aged from 18 to 62, from the United States, Great Britain, Netherlands and Australia between November 1942 and August 1945. Of the POWs kept at the camp, 244 died and many others suffered grievously. Haunted by their wartime memories, many POWs from Shenyang, known as Mukden 62 years ago, established the "Mukden Survivors Group". Despite their age, many members of the group have revisited the Chinese city in recent years to mourn for their dead comrades and relive their experiences at the camp, one of the most heavily-protected Japanese WWII camps in Asia.

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:31:00

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="96%" align="center" border="0"><tbody><tr><td class="nava3" valign="top">A Chinese delegation is bringing the memories and stories of former World War II Prisoner of War (POW) camps in China to the United States between Feb. 3-14,delegation sources told Xinhua on Monday. The delegation of Shenyang Civilian Sino-American Cultural Exchange Association (SCSACEA) is on an exhibition tour in the United States at the invitation of U.S. WWII researchers and historians, Chia Ting Chen, a local associate of the SCSACEA, told Xinhua via email. The exhibition, which includes POW camp models and POW drawings, is making stops in San Francisco, Washington DC, New York and the Washington State. One of the exhibitions was held last Sunday in a community center near Washington. Much of the exhibition highlighted the stories of the former Allied Mukden POW Camp in Shenyang, China, where the Japanese military had detained more than 2,000 POWs from the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Australia between November 1942 and August 1945. Last year, the Chinese government announced that it would renovate the former camp and turn it into a museum. According to the 54-million-yuan (6.9 million U.S. dollar) renovation plan, the museum will cover an area of 12,900 square meters.   </td></tr></tbody></table>

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:33:00

about Shenyang POW museum (POW camp)

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:56:00

Shenyang Allied POWs camp, set up by the Japanese, was the most horrible of its kind in China. Between 1942 to 1945, POWs from the US, Britain, Australia, Holland, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore were kept there, as many as 2,000 at one time. Most of them died from torture in the camp. Currently only some 30 former American POWs are alive, who meet at get-togethers once in a while.  Oliver, in his 80s, came to Shenyang with his wife 3 years ago. Now he can't walk long for a foot trouble. "This is the place I tried very hard to forget, but now I want to look at it more, as long as I am alive," said Oliver.  John, with several medals on his chest, was searching the name list of the POWs on the wall for his number, 578. "I was marked 578 all through those 3 years of humiliation, and I will never forget that," said John with complex feelings.  Harris was not a "real" POW, for he was captured after the surrender of Japan. On August 16, 1945, Harris was sent to Shenyang POW camp to free Allied POWs there; however, the Japanese soldiers there knew nothing about the surrender, and captured him. Harris tried to explain, but they wouldn't listen. The next day, Harris and other POWs were eventually released.  The veterans held a memorial service at the site of the camp to commemorate the dead and there imprisonment days.  After the service, they donated many documents and things they used in the camp to the museum on the site of the camp.

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:34:00

[此贴子已经被作者于2008-5-8 22:36:59编辑过]

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:38:00

about Shenyang POW museum (POW camp)

OW camp Former site

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:43:00

about Shenyang POW museum (POW camp)

The American veterans return pow camp

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:47:00

about Shenyang POW museum (POW camp)

shenyang pow camp old Picture

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:50:00

about Shenyang POW museum (POW camp)

After the Japanese forces surrender,US-UK POW were  leaving shenyang pow camp

Eric · 发表于 2008-5-8 22:55:00

Ten Second World War veterans from the US came back to Shenyang, Liaoning Province on May 21, where they were imprisoned during the war. Some of them burst into tears when seeing the old POW camp and talking about their dead battle companions

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