During World War II, the Japanese earned the reputation for cruelty toward their prisoners which surpassed the treatment accorded to POWs held by Germany and Italy. The conduct exhibited by the Japanese soldier was the result of a combination of ancient social and religious traditions made manifest by twentieth century documents. Through constant inculcation of ancient myths nurtured by a national religion, the Japanese believed that their holy mission was world domination. Believing themselves to be of divine origin, they treated all other races as inferior; therefore, the POWs suffered cruelties as sub-humans. The Japanese inflicted punishment and torture in the name of their emperor, believing that they did so through divine instruction. This study reveals how they arrived at this conviction.

Interviews with Max Glauben, a Holocaust survivor from Warsaw. Glauben discusses his family origins, growing up with Sephardic Hebrew, education, the invasion of Poland, losing the family business, the move to the ghetto and life there, people's different reactions to oppression, ventures outside the ghetto, escalating extermination by the Germans, Warsaw Uprising, transfer to KL Lublin, the organization of the camp, transfers to and labor at Wieliczka, Mielec, Budzyn and Flossenburg, illness, sabotage, daily routine in the camps, the approach of the front, being on a train strafed by Allied planes and wounded, escape, rescue by American forces, moving to the United States, and his thoughts on faith.