Thursday, Nov. 10, the Detroit Council of World Affairs, and Wayne State University’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, will welcome author and retired Foreign Service Officer, Ulrich “Rick” Straus, who will discuss his recent book “The Anguish of Surrender: Japanese POWs of World War II.”

This event will take place in the WSU Adamany Undergraduate Library in the Community Room on the third floor at 4:30 p.m. Parking is available in structures 2 and 5, and is $3.50. Please RSVP to Kris Yurgin Cummings at 313.577.8270 or ap0606@wayne.edu by November 7, 2005.

The book tells the story about Japanese prisoners of war held by the United States and its allies during World War II. Frederic Pearson, Director of the Center for Peace & Conflict Studies, which houses the Detroit Council for World Affairs, said that this event is important because “many Americans are not aware that the Japanese were taken prisoner during World War II, which deviated from Japan’s no-surrender policy. This event will offer insight to historical and cultural beliefs about war, and the still pertinent question of surrender and humiliation in Eastern societies.”

Straus lived in Japan for more than 20 years. Although he was born in Germany to German parents, he attended high school in the US and joined the US military shortly after graduation. Straus became a U.S. citizen in late 1945, got his commission, and was assigned to GHQ, Tokyo. He held numerous jobs, principally dealing with German documents at the Tokyo Trial and in G-2 (Intelligence) at Gen. MacArthur’s headquarters. Straus served in the Political Section of Embassy Tokyo in 1959-1964, at US Mission, West Berlin, on the Japan Desk in the State Department, and at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. He was Consul General on Okinawa during 1978-1982. He retired in 1986. During the following decade, Straus has worked at the State Department dealing with declassification of documents and as director of its Japanese Language Training program. He also taught adult education courses on Japan and the US-Japan relationship at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities.

For more information about this and other upcoming events, please contact the Center for Peace & Conflict Studies at 313.577.3453, or visit www.pcs.wayne.edu.

The Center for Peace & Conflict Studies at Wayne State University develops and implements projects, programs, curricula, research and publications in areas of scholarship related to international and domestic peace, war, social justice, arms control, globalization, multicultural awareness and constructive conflict resolution.

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