PARADE MAGAZINE
March 5, 2000 - Page 10

Japanese Finally May Pay POWs

About 25,000 U.S. soldiers and 1200 civilians were used as slave labor by Japanese companies in World War II.   Hundreds now are seeking compensation and their cases soon will be in the courts.   One case represents about 300 men, including survivors of the Bataan Death March in 1942.   More than a dozen cases were filed in California which allows "victims of Nazis or their allies" to sue companies that do business in the state.

Why all these lawsuits now?   Newly declassified documents, says Linda Goetz Holmes, a historian who is going through the data.   "For the first time, secret Japanese diplomatic and military messages ... (Indicate) the companies asked for U.S. prisoners and were directly responsible for what happened to them on company property", adds Holmes, who interviewed many of the men for a book.   None has had full health for the rest of their lives."   Four of every 10 POWs died under the Japanese.