Who were prisoners of war in World War 2?

Answer 1

Enemies captured by the other side For about the last hundred years, most nations have agreed on who are POW's and what rights and protections all POW's must be given. All that is written into a series of treaties called the Geneva-Hague Conventions. A conventional POW is a uniformed member of a national military who was captured by another national military outside his/her home nation during a military operation. The two nations need not be at war, but usually are in conflict. A conventional POW must be removed from the dangers of the combat zone, must be fed and sheltered and offered medical care, and cannot be physically abused or publicly humiliated. A POW has no right of appeal of his/her detention, and is held until the conflict ends (in WWII and Korea, the US held POWs for years, until those conflicts ended). POWs can be interrogated, but not tortured (as international law defines torture). Usually prisoners have the privilege of sending and receiving letters and packages (searched), International Red Cross inspections of POW facilities, and confirmation of POW capture is communicated to his/her home nation. Fighters not in uniform ("belligerents"), or not subject to the official discipline of higher commanders (e.g. mercenaries) who are not in national militaries are not entitled to POW rights and protections. A prisoner of war is a person that is held captive for being on the opposite side of a war, not for committing crimes. They are held until the end of the conflict unless traded.

Answer 2

Prisoners of War or POWs are soldiers, civilians or any government officials captured in war by the attacking country.

Answer 3

Everyone from the fighting side : like polish, british, french, italians, germans, russians, japans, americans, greeks, ukrainians