michaelmaltby
Colonel
"... Most of them refused repatriation in the POW exchange as they thought it disgrace to be known as POWs.
They stayed behind in Russia as Soviet citizens."
That, Shin, is putting the kindest possible light on the subject.
My only source is Coox, granted, but he was deeply immersed in Japanese life and values ....His Nomonhan is exclusively about the IJA side of the event.
Paraphrasing, here is what he understands happened in POW negotiations with the Soviets:
In the last days of shooting Zhukov's armored forces surrounded large chunks of IJA, meanwhile, the IJA was holding very few Russian soldiers (the Russians feared being taken prisoner and would save a grenade for themselves).
The Soviets 'suggested' a prisoner swap .... on a one-for-one basis ... and the IJA (stupidly, IMO) agreed to that arrangement. When the swap took place the IJA showed up with their 400 odd Russian soldiers, the Soviets took note of the count and said "right .... we'll go and get you yours" and they came back with the matching number of IJA prisoners. All unaccounted prisoners were declared "dead" and no one knows the real numbers, IIRC, that went into slavery.
Coox states that IJA officers that were swapped were de-briefed by their IJA brass and then left alone in a room with a loaded revolver on the table. Their suicide being reported as a glorious battlefield death.
Knowing that history about the Soviets ... learned so painfully ... I can't believe any Japanese leader would ever trust Stalin .... to negotiate peace with America, really!
They stayed behind in Russia as Soviet citizens."
That, Shin, is putting the kindest possible light on the subject.
My only source is Coox, granted, but he was deeply immersed in Japanese life and values ....His Nomonhan is exclusively about the IJA side of the event.Paraphrasing, here is what he understands happened in POW negotiations with the Soviets:
In the last days of shooting Zhukov's armored forces surrounded large chunks of IJA, meanwhile, the IJA was holding very few Russian soldiers (the Russians feared being taken prisoner and would save a grenade for themselves).
The Soviets 'suggested' a prisoner swap .... on a one-for-one basis ... and the IJA (stupidly, IMO) agreed to that arrangement. When the swap took place the IJA showed up with their 400 odd Russian soldiers, the Soviets took note of the count and said "right .... we'll go and get you yours" and they came back with the matching number of IJA prisoners. All unaccounted prisoners were declared "dead" and no one knows the real numbers, IIRC, that went into slavery.
Coox states that IJA officers that were swapped were de-briefed by their IJA brass and then left alone in a room with a loaded revolver on the table. Their suicide being reported as a glorious battlefield death.
Knowing that history about the Soviets ... learned so painfully ... I can't believe any Japanese leader would ever trust Stalin .... to negotiate peace with America, really!
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