Prisoners of War, WWII

My guess is he would be reported missing at first. The Red Cross visited POW camps, so I'd say they'd be the likeliest organisation to turn to for help if one of your relatives was missing during the War.

I think the Red Cross also made it possible for family members to communicate with the prisoners (though I'm not sure if it wasn't some kind of privilege to be allowed to send and receive letters).

Probably reported missing to the war department first, unless there'd been an eye-witness of being taken prisoner. The war department would then probably look into it, find out that he was a P.O.W. and then send a card(much like the ones that said that they were dead) to his closet living relative. Mother if she was alive--eldest sister if not.

The Red Cross often did get letters through in Red Cross packages. They also brought them out. Sometimes smuggled. The Red Cross had done SOMETHING(I really have no idea what) that made it so that the Germans pretty much let them alone and let them come and go from the P.O.W. camps. They were REALLY respected by everyone--even the Germans.

The thing that I have no idea about is what would happen if he was taken prisoner by the Japs. That I haven't the FAINTEST idea about. Really. I've not done ANY research on that although I've done A LOT on the German thing. So I don't know. He would probably be reported as M.I.A. and she probably wouldn't know that he was a P.O.W. until after the war. The Germans would tell the allies when they took someone captive--the Japs didn't I think.

No, Life cannot be understood flat on a page.  It has to be LIVED; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper under his breath: "I'll te

This is a page about NZ POWs during World War II, which I think will give you some info on the matter:

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/pows-introduction

The treatment of POWs in Germany depended on the nationality of the POW. Americans or Brits were treated very differently from Polish or Russian POWs. Differently as in - much better. Even though Germany did sign the Geneva Conventions. :(

Thank you so much!

Sailors in Japanese POW camps were treated horribly. Years ago, a friend of my father's was a survivor from the crew of the USS Tang, a submarine captured by the Japanese. They were on a forced march and made to work in a copper mine. Few survived which is why this man was so special.

If your character is confirmed as a POW, most likely he was captured somewhere in the European Theatre. The Japanese often didn't bother to notify anybody, and the Red Cross had little or no access to their camps.

Depending upon the time during the war, Germany would have notified the Red Cross quickly, usually taking their prisoners to a processing camp and thence to a POW camp. Once a prisoner was in a camp, life became relatively boring. There were escape attempts, but not all that many. The inmates received "Red Cross parcels" periodically, and also could receive mail from home. For the most part, delivery was pretty good.

There are two pretty good sources I would recommend. The Last 100 Days by John Toland includes some great accounts of the liberation of some camps, and also some description of camp life. Another book, which deals with British officers, is Escape from Colditz. While it is somewhat different in that it is purely British aircrews, it still provides some great insights into how life in the camps evolved and what sort of life they had. Both of these books are in general circulation and should be available from decent-sized libraries.

If you need more, just let me know.

GP

GP
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2006 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book I
2007 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book II