Mukden
Allied Prisoner Of War Camp Memorial Museum
In 2005 the governments of
Shenyang (formerly called Mukden) and Liaoning Province started
work on the Museum. Local residents living in the 2 remaining original
barracks buildings were relocated to better housing. One of the barracks
buildings has been refurbished on the second level to recreate the bunk
areas of the POWs. The first floor is an open area awaiting displays.
The second building has been expanded and serves as an exhibit hall for
copies of documents from the US
National Archives and of interviews with local residents who
remember the camp. A third building is being constructed and will house
additional displays, artifacts, and a research center dedicated to the
history of the camp and the POWs as well as artifact procurement.
Most of the over 200 military and civilian POW camps in Asia have
disappeared. Mukden is one of the few where anything remains from
those former times and is possibly the best preserved of all the
surviving POW camp sites now.
The museum, which will be used to tell the story of Japanese
treatment of Allied POWs, will be a place that Chinese school groups
and people from all over the world can come to contemplate the evil
humans can do to one another.
The Chinese Government has designated the Museum as a research
center and materials will be preserved in Chinese, English, and
Japanese.
We have close ties with the
Mukden Allied POW Museum in
Shenyang, China. The stories, photos, and other artifacts we receive
from the men and their families will be given to the Museum in Mukden. DVD's
of these artifacts will be shared with interested museums and researchers.
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Tim Allen (son), Mildred & Oliver
(POW # 362) Allen, & Jerry Fu
outside the Museum
Erwin Johnson, POW# 277, looks at pictures on
display.
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