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Feature: Horrors of "forgotten" Japanese POW camp in China to be brought to life in Britain

Xinhua, October 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

The underground catacombs of one of Britain's most iconic buildings are to give westerners a rare chance to relive the dark days of one of the most notorious Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camps in China.

Liverpool's St. George's Hall is to host a photographic exhibition highlighting the Shenyang World War II Allied Prisoners Camp, originally known as Mukden POW Camp.

The camp, in northeast China, is the best preserved of more than two hundred prisoner-of-war camps established by Japan in the Asian-Pacific region.

Among the 2,000 incarcerated in the camp during World War II, were soldiers from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, France, some of them high-ranking.

The free exhibition, which takes place between Nov. 7 and 15, marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, and is aimed at remembering the plight of war prisoners.

The exhibition offers visitors a chance to relive the prisoners' dark days in the camp and illustrate their tenacious, relentless struggle against the Japanese soldiers through historic photographs as well as archives, diaries, memoirs and caricatures.

"It will give visitors to Liverpool a rare insight into the sufferings and perseverance of the Allied prisoners," said a spokesman Friday at the civic hall in Liverpool.

"The event is part of the 2015 China-UK year of cultural exchange, and is expected to bring closer the two nations which fought together in WWII and further explore the history of the Allied Forces war prisoners," added the spokesman.

Organized by Shenyang WWII Allied Prisoners Camp Site Museum, the event in Liverpool is being supported by the cities of Shenyang and Liverpool, the Shenyang cultural administration, and the cultural office of the Chinese Embassy to the UK.

St. George's Hall was chosen to host the exhibition because of its vital role as a port city in Britain's survival and eventual victory in WWII.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, told Xinhua: "As this is the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, it is right that we remember what happened to soldiers and civilians far from our homes and all across the world during those dark years. This exhibition will help us do just that."

Lihong Fan, curator of Shenyang Second World War Allied Prisoners Camp Site Museum, said: "I hope that this exhibition allows more Britons to understand this relatively unknown history, and provides an opportunity to further strengthen the cultural exchange between China and UK." Endit