Evening star., 1943-08-30
War Prisoners Labor

outlines Oh the agreement be-
tween the War Manpower Commits
sion and the War Department on
employment of prisoners of war to
meet domestic labor shortages indi-
cate the extreme care with which
our authorities are approaching this
project. Some forty nations ratified
the Geneva Convention of 1899, pre-
scribing in detail the treatment to
be accorded prisoners of war. A far
more effective curb on any nation
holding prisoners of war, however, is
the desire to avoid any action which
would lead to reprisals against it's
own nationals held prisoner in other
lands. The nation holding the larg-
est number of prisoners of war has
the whip hand, so to speak, and can
pretty much make its own rules.
The Army reports there are about
100000 prisoners of war now in this
country. Last June, in requesting
appropriations for their care during
the current fiscal year, War Depart
ment authorities estimated there
would be as many as $50, 1000 here by
next summer. There easily may be
many more. The use of these
prisoners in labor projects permis-
sible under the Geneva Convention
might be an item or no small impor-
tance, in view of our own manpower
shortages.
International law provides that
labor furnished by prisoners of war
shall have no direct relation with
war operations" and specifically
prohibits the use of war prisoners
for manufacturing and transporting
arms or ammunition of any kind. or
for transporting material intended
for combatant units" While in to-
tai war nearly every form OF labor
has some direct relation to war
operations, some authorities have
held that labor in the manufacture
of war materials other than arms
and ammunition, provided it is not
directly connected with military
operations, is probably not covered
by the convention.
Germany, which undoubtedly holds
the greatest number of prisoners OF
war, has Disseminated in their en-
ployment, depending on the nation
ality Of the prisoners. Polish prison.
ers have been used to build military
fortif1cations, for instance, Germany
removing them from protection of
the Geneva Convention on the theory
that the Polish government no longer
exists. British, prisoners, on the
other hand, are said to have been
treated with more consideration.
Early in the war, one observer re-
ported that every soldier in German
hands" Is involuntarily working to
prolong Axis war efforts, repairing
highways, building railroads leading
to factories supplying war materials,
filling bomb craters after RAF raids,
and taking the places in the field OF
thousands of peasants" Japan, not
a signatory to the Geneva Conven-
ton, reported that it would be bound
by its terms. nevertheless. There
have been no recent reports on the
details of Japan's use of American
prisoners of war. although earlier
descriptions afforded small room for
comfort.
The Army's agreement with the
War ManpoWer Commission leaves
the Army as the judge of the type
of labor to be performed by war
prisoners, with weight given to rec
concentrations from the VINO. One
condition is that stipulated" efforts
to hire other labor must have failed
before prisoners can be used. Pre-
vailing rates of pay govern, the Gov
ernment retaining the difference be-
tween such pay and the compensa-
ton provided for prisoners under
the Geneva Convention. If these
and other restrictions appear to
pamper prisoners held in this coun-
try, citizens should realize that our
authorities are not thinking so much
about the prisoners we hold in our
hands as of those prisoners-our
sons, brothers and fathers-held by
our enemies.