A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.

In international armed conflict, such persons are known as prisoners of war (PoWs) and have always been particularly vulnerable to abuse, due to their affiliation with the enemy and the fact that their captivity usually occurs against the backdrop of wartime animosity.

The rules protecting prisoners of war (POWs) are specific and were first detailed in the 1929 Geneva Convention. They were refined in the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, following the …

Prisoners of war during World War II faced vastly different fates due to the POW conventions adhered to or ignored, depending on the theater of conflict, and the behaviour of their captors. During the war approximately 35 million soldiers surrendered, with …

2024年12月20日 · prisoner of war (POW), any person captured or interned by a belligerent power during war. In the strictest sense it is applied only to members of regularly organized armed forces, but by broader definition it has also included guerrillas, civilians who take up arms against an enemy openly, or noncombatants associated with a military force.

2022年10月26日 · American prisoners were held in extremely crowded ships off the coast where thousands died from starvation and exposure. Initially during the Civil War, a system of paroles and exchanges was used. Paroled prisoners were released to their homes after signing a document pledging not to bear arms until formally exchanged.

In the largest war of the Twentieth Century — World War II - thousands of Americans were held as prisoners of war. In Europe, nearly 94,000 Americans were imprisoned as POWs.

A prisoner of war (short form: POW) is a non-combatant who has been captured or surrendered by the forces of the enemy, during an armed conflict. In past centuries, prisoners had no rights.

A prisoner of war (POW, enemy prisoner of war (EPW) or “missing-captured”) is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of …

“Prisoners of war” are combatants who have fallen into the hands of the enemy, or specific non-combatants to whom the status of prisoner of war is granted by international humanitarian law.The following categories of persons are prisoners of war: