BBC History of World War II

Horror In The East - Death Before Surrender (1x22)

Air date: Dec 05, 2000

The concluding program in a two-part documentary on Japanese tactics in World War II. Looks at why so many Japanese civilians and fighting men in the final years of the war, followed the path of `death before surrender', and reveals that, for many, the decision to commit suicide was as much the result of social pressure as a deeply felt traditional response. Talks to survivors of mass civilian suicides, such as those that took place on the island of Saipan, as well as former kamikaze pilots and Allied prisoners of war.