Online Exhibit
Imprisoned: Incarceration in the Pacific War
This exhibit is online-only.
Overview
Hundreds of thousands of people, both military and civilian, were incarcerated by both sides during World War II. Military became POWs, while civilians became internees. All had one thing in common; they were prisoners.
The condition and treatment of these prisoners varied based on geography, nationality, their occupation, the progress of the war, and other factors. In the Pacific Theater, Japanese prison camps were notorious for their hellish conditions, brutal treatment, and high death rates. In the United States, Japanese Americans were rounded up and removed from their homes on the West Coast, most of them transferred to incarceration camps in the middle of the country. Few Japanese allowed themselves to be captured alive. Those who did found themselves in camps along with other Axis prisoners in the United States.
