Thursday, August 23, 1945. The Red Army and the Japanese.

The Battle of Shumshu ended with the Red Army defeating the Imperial Japanese Army on the island.

The Red Army took Port Arthur.

Stalin ordered Japanese POWs in the hands of the Red Army to be transported to the USSR.  The Japanese would start repatriating them the following year, but in 1949 some were transferred to Communist China, and the final Soviet repatriation was accomplished in 1950.  At that time there were over 2,000 remaining who were not repatriated.  Some of them returned after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but some chose to voluntarily remain in Russia as, by that time, they'd integrated into Russian society and had families.

This behavior was typical for Communist countries, which tended to regard POWs as criminals and hold them for long periods of time after hostilities ceased.

"Captain Leekins, G-2 Island Commander, Colonel Haregawa and party leaving, USS Amick (DE 168), Palau Islands, 23 August 1945."

In contrast, Douglas MacArthur ordered, on this day, the release of 5,000 Filipinos held for security reasons.

President Truman awarded the Medal of Honor to twenty-eight servicemen.

The PLA prevailed in the Battle of Baoying.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 22, 1945. Surrenders.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Displaced Persons, Imperial Japanese Army, Japan, Marshall Islands, Red Army, Romania, The Holocaust, World War Two