The Geneva Conventions During The Second World War

According to the Australian War Memorial, “Over 30,000 Australian servicemen were taken prisoner in the Second World War and 39,000 gave their lives.” The treatment of POWs during the WW2 varied extremely depending on race, country they were prisoner to, morals and numerous other varying factors.

The Geneva Conventions were set in order to control and maintain the same level of treatment for all POWs, they were international agreements created in Geneva, Switzerland. The Conventions place restrictions on the cruelty of war and improve the conditions and provide protection for the people who aren’t actually part of the fighting such as nurses and civilians, and for people who are no longer able to fight (labeled hors de combat), inclusive
of the wounded & sick, along with prisoners of war (POW).

The Geneva Conventions consist of four conventions as well as three additional protocols. The Conventions, in numerical order controlled and ensured
1. “The Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field”
2. “The Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea"
3. “Treatment of Prisoners of War”
4. “Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War”

The three additional protocols were added in the years succeeding the implementation of the Geneva Conventions.
The protocols were created in regards to
1. “Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts” – relating to international conflicts.
2. “Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts” – relating to non-international conflicts
3. “Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem” – addition of a distinguishable emblem used universally as a symbol of aid for casualties.

The Japanese held Two thirds of Australians taken prisoner, and displayed complete disregard to the Geneva Conventions during the war. Japanese POW suffered greatly in the camps; their treatment was often barbaric and inhumane, there were no set standard procedures and the management and treatment of prisoners varied greatly from camp to camp.

During WW2 the Japanese were notorious for their aggressive approach on discipline and treatment of prisoners. Soldiers for the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) held an altered set of morals and behaved in a cruel manner. Tom Uren, a Japanese POW, in his book ‘Straight Left’, said “Japanese military discipline was sadistic, because they administered instant or Japanese punishment. This was carried out on their own troops, but when it was administered to prisoners it was particularly vicious and
brutal.”

Although the IJA were cruel, they believed what they were doing was right.
Within the IJA it was shameful to submit to the enemy and was considered ‘losing face’ and a discredit to not only themselves but their country too. They were trained to believe that ‘Seppuku’ or suicide by disembowelment was an honour, and this was a ritual carried out by all Japanese when they believed they had ‘lost face’ or were captured by the enemy. Because of this mindset the Japanese were baffled at the Australians and Western Allies surrendering, and saw them as worthless and a dishonor to their countries. In turn, the Japanese treated POWs with little to no
respect.

Whilst Japanese camps were callous and disregarded the Geneva Conventions, the Germans stuck to the Conventions and had remarkably better treatment of their prisoners in comparison to the Japanese; although, the Germans were still unjust at times.

There were approximately 8,600 Australians prisoner to the Germans n the Second World War, these prisoners, along with other Western prisoners were held in camps across Germany and occupied countries, with over 40 primary ones. The Germans treated prisoners from France, the US and the British Commonwealth in accordance to the Geneva Conventions, and were also forced to extend this humane treatment to the Jews who bore the British Army’s uniform, much to the resentment of the Germans. The prisoners were treated relatively well although they did face a few problems; there were scarce amounts of food available in the camps, although the Red Cross, which had access to nearly all of Germanys camps, helped aid the food inadequacy. However, the treatment of Soviet POWs was extremely contradictory. The Russians had not signed the Geneva Conventions and therefore the Germans used this as an excuse that they weren’t obligated to act according to the Conventions (although an invalid argument). Soviets were treated as “sub-humans”, many received a daily ration of only 700 calories, there was a lack of clothing and shelter available to soviet POWs and mass shootings and/or executions were a common occurrence. By the end of the war 3.3 of 5.7 million Soviet prisoners died in captivity compared to just over 8000 of 232,000 Western Allied prisoners, this makes it blatantly obvious the Soviet prisoners were severely mistreated.

The main difference between the German and Japanese camps was the Germans abided (for the most part) by the Geneva Conventions, which resulted in less casualties and an obvious more humane treatment of prisoners. The Japanese had no standard procedures within their camps or human rights for prisoners where as the Germans had order, maintained set policies and respected the Geneva Conventions.

Surviving as POW in WW2 was a challenge in itself and many soldiers discovered and developed new ways of coping and surviving.