sandakan death marches
Today I went to the Sandankan Memorial Park.
It commemorates the Sandakan death marches.
During ww2, the Japanese had a number of POW camps located throughout asia. Near the end of the war the surviving POW were marched for several hundred kilometers through the jungle. Of the more than 2000 Australian and British soldiers who lived in this camp, only only six survived. They survived after escaping into the jungle.
Reading the description of what happened and some of the memories of the survivors of the camp and the marches made me incredibly sad. I cried.
Sometimes I feel as though humans are inherently good, but hearing about things like this makes me think that's not true. When I consider that things like this are probably happening every day in Africa* and other places around the world I despair at the human race.
* Of the Darfur conflict in Sudan "UN officials estimate over 400,000 people have lost their lives and some 2 million more have been driven from their homes." since 2003 link
It commemorates the Sandakan death marches.
During ww2, the Japanese had a number of POW camps located throughout asia. Near the end of the war the surviving POW were marched for several hundred kilometers through the jungle. Of the more than 2000 Australian and British soldiers who lived in this camp, only only six survived. They survived after escaping into the jungle.
Reading the description of what happened and some of the memories of the survivors of the camp and the marches made me incredibly sad. I cried.
Sometimes I feel as though humans are inherently good, but hearing about things like this makes me think that's not true. When I consider that things like this are probably happening every day in Africa* and other places around the world I despair at the human race.
* Of the Darfur conflict in Sudan "UN officials estimate over 400,000 people have lost their lives and some 2 million more have been driven from their homes." since 2003 link