POW > Japan: WWII

Tjimahi

Tjimahi camps were run by the Japanese on Java and consisted of both Internment and POW camps.

The prisoners shaved their heads because they thought the Japanese would be less likely to beat them and to combat lice.  As a result the camp was know as the kalen koppen kamp or bald head camp.  The POW camp existed from April to October 1942 and issued bamboo tokens with values burnt into the wood. There was a triangular shaped token with 1 cent in the middle and a I and K on either side which stood for Internment camp.  A second type had a picture of a cup of coffee with steam above it forming kkk and een koffie (one cup of coffee).  A third type featured barbed wire with the letters kkk above and the word shag underneath which means tobacco.  These tokens are very scarce.