In the winter of 1945, the Soviet Union deported a large number of Japanese prisoners of war to the Siberian region, numbering as high as 600,000. At that time, the mines in Siberia were in dire need of labor, so the Soviet Union decided to send these Japanese prisoners of war there. This scene is quite ironic, because in the past, the Japanese used to take people around and do hard labor, but now they have become coolies driven by others, which can be described as a happy retribution. There was a deep hatred between the Soviet Union and the fascists, so it was natural that they would not be soft on Japanese prisoners of war. The climate of Siberia is extremely harsh, almost uninhabitable for human habitation, and has been a place of exile for prisoners since ancient times. As soon as the Japanese prisoners of war arrived in Siberia, they were subjected to the severe cold of minus forty or fifty degrees, and a large number of people died on the first day.
However, for the USSR, these prisoners were an additional gain, and death was not a loss. The Japanese had to brave the cold wind every morning to work on the open construction site, and the Soviet overseers even had to kick them out of bed. The lunch meal is basically frozen potatoes, and sometimes a bite will break your teeth. These Japanese could only swallow their anger, because the Soviet Union did not intend to treat them preferentially. Siberia is deserted, and if it annoys the Soviets, no one will even care if they are thrown into the wilderness to feed the bears. At first, the Japanese prisoners of war hoped that their motherland, Japan, would be able to negotiate with them to get them out of the bitter sea, but Japan was already too busy to take care of itself. Despite Japan's eagerness to reclaim the 600,000 laborers, it lacked sufficient leverage to negotiate with the Soviet Union.
Thus, although time has passed, only a few prisoners of war have been able to return to Japan, and the rest are still struggling in Siberia. By the end of the first year, 50,000 Japanese prisoners of war in Siberia had died, and their bodies were buried haphazardly. During the year, they had thoughts of escaping, but soon found themselves with no chance of escaping. The bitter cold conditions in Siberia made going out almost tantamount to death, and even if you managed to escape from the POW camps, you could not escape from Soviet territory. In the Soviet Union, the Japanese could not hide their identity, so fleeing only added to the suffering. They could only honestly stay in Siberia and continue to drive for the Soviets. Forced labor in Siberia was divided into grades, with work such as road building and mining being the most arduous, and the largest number of prisoners of war died in these posts.
There were relatively idle posts in the Soviet army, such as boiling bathwater for female soldiers, which made some people complain. In the harsh conditions of Siberia, bathing was already difficult, but a group of Japanese prisoners of war provided the female soldiers with the convenience of boiling water. The Japanese prisoners of war were selected to boil water for the female soldiers, but they were unhappy with the easy job. They even said they would rather commit suicide than boil bath water for Soviet female soldiers. This has caused some people to wonder, because boiling water seems to save time and effort, and can also avoid some of the risks of being beaten, why do they complain so much?In fact, there are cultural differences.
In Japan, the bathing culture is very unique, and there is a lot of red tape in bathing, and one of the default rules is that the person who serves others to bathe is usually of low status, and is usually held by domestic servants. Therefore, for these Japanese prisoners of war, it was humiliating to boil bath water for Soviet female soldiers. In Japan, only inferior people bathed others, and these prisoners of war, although they were not of high status in Japan, were not reduced to such a state. Some even came from aristocratic families, and in the past they had great glory, but now they want to do such things like servants, which is unacceptable to them. Although they have lost their dignity as captives, and they have lost their dignity by being whipped into coolies, it is strange that they suddenly think of the word dignity when faced with the task of boiling water.
Although the Soviet army asked the Japanese prisoners of war to boil water for the female soldiers, they were unwilling and had to do so. However, when they found out that the Soviet Union did not care about their attitude, they could only silently continue to complete the work, which showed that their previous statement that "it is better to be broken than to be whole" is nothing more than empty words. The Soviet female soldiers had long been in contact with these Japanese prisoners of war, known as "bathers", but were dissatisfied with their performance. These Japanese soldiers often lazy and slippery, boasting that they were men of the Great Japanese Empire and looked down on Soviet female soldiers, which made the female soldiers feel angry and laughing. Despite claiming to be men, the Japanese prisoners of war who were assigned to boil the bath water were all weak, short, and obscene-looking, and could not even do the work on the construction site, so they were sent to boil the water.
However, they actually had the face to mock the Soviet female soldiers, and these female soldiers stood up and were stronger than them!What's more, these Soviet female soldiers are all heroes who defend their homes and defend the country, and what are these Japanese prisoners of war, who dare to look down on Soviet female soldiers?The Soviet women were not polite to these prisoners of war, and when they saw their wild words, they replied with ridicule, and after a few times, the Japanese prisoners did not dare to speak again, which made the Soviet soldiers quite happy. During World War II, these Japanese soldiers were once arrogant, but now they have become prisoners, without the slightest of the dignity of soldiers. Even among the prisoners of war of fascist countries, they can be said to be the most humiliating group. It is no wonder that such a group of guys who bully the weak and are afraid of the hard still dare to launch a war of aggression.
After a long time, the Soviet Union finally agreed to release the Japanese prisoners of war, who had nearly 600,000 when they arrived, but only 400,000 when they returned home. The rest of the people have been laid to rest in the Siberian snow, and those who have returned alive have been ravaged beyond recognition by the cold Siberian winds. This is the price paid by the aggressor, and when they choose to invade, they should be prepared to bear the cost.