"Don't trust the Russians!" are the Words frequently used by the Japanese

Here is one historical fact to prove that the Russians never observe international rules, laws, agreements, etc. at all.

Potsdam Declaration was a statement issued on July 26, 1945 by Harry S. Truman, Winston Churchill, and Chiang Kai-Shek which outlined the terms of surrender for Japan as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference.

Japan accepted every condition written therein on August 15, 1945.

We know 13 articles specifically written therein, one of which states that (9) The Japanese military forces, after being completely disarmed, shall be permitted to return to their homes with the opportunity to lead peaceful and productive lives.

The Imperial Japanese Forces disarmed themselves in Manchuria, Liáodōng Bàndăo, North Korea, South Karafuto (South Sakhalin), Chishima Retsuto (Kurils Islands) without any major resistance that could have otherwise affected Japan's acceptance of the Declaration at all.

The total number of the disarmed soldiers (including some civilians) was around 600,000 taken as POWs (although Japan has never regarded them as POWs but abductees). They faced forced labors in the Soviet Union, Mongolia, the territories occupied by the Soviet Union.

More than 60,000 abductees lost their lives during their confinement in the forced labor camps. Their confinement lasted from 4 years to 11 years. They experienced brutalities, deprivation of human rights, etc.

One example of their brutality is that the Japanese abductees were forced to work outside when temperature was -30 degrees C (=-22 degrees F) in Siberia while -35 degrees C (-31 degrees F) in Mongolia, without proper clothing and sufficient food. They were confined in poor housing conditions with no heating at all. The forced labor camp is called Лагерь in Russian.

The above alone serves to prove that the Soviet Union committed a breach of what's stated in an article (9) of the Potsdam Declaration and also of Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); October 18, 1907.

When president Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin visited Japan on October, 1993, he admitted that the Soviet Union committed a grave crime against the Japanese and expressed his deep apologies for atrocities committed by the Soviet Union.

However, no compensation for the atrocities which president Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin admitted that the Soviet Union had committed,, have been paid yet to those abductees. It is believed that he apologized simply because he wanted Japan to extend "economic and technical cooperation" to Russia to develop Siberia and Sakhalin when struggling to survive after the demise of the Soviet Union.

Watch this video in which the Japanese abductees are shown returning back to their homeland with a song titled "Ikoku no Oka", literally meaning "On a hill in the distant country" was so popular in late 1940s and 1950s in Japan.

One fact we have to keep in our mind is that the footage showing the Japanese exercising with smiles was produced by the Soviet Union for its propaganda purpose, trying to prove that they were not ill-treated.

The ship shown in the film is Hikawa Maru still anchored in Yokohama Harbor http://www.nyk.com/rekishi/e/index.htm

Enjoy your shopping at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse nearby http://www.yokohama-akarenga.jp/index.html  after visiting Hikawa Maru.