In the last decade the experiences of POWs has been brought into the spotlight by a series of controversies. Although the numbers of POWs ran into millions, conparatively little has been written about them. This text examines the experiences of individual prisoners-of-war, looking in particular at alleged war-crimes and ensuing claims for compensation levelled against the Japanese. Political considerations are shown to have proved weightier than, in many cases, heinous crimes against humanity.