Our town drunk was a Death March survivor. Even as a child I noticed that he was treated with respect and people took care of him and when I was grown I found out why.
As you know, children learn by example and my father took him home a few times. One day he was staggering by our house and he asked my 12 yr old brother to give him a ride so my brother got in my older brother’s car, which was parallel parked behind my mother’s car, which was behind my father’s car. My brother side-swipped both of them so all 3 of our cars were wrecked. LOL
I didn’t find out until I was grown what a hero other survivors thought he was and how they gave him credit for saving their lives. And though he had a tough life, it wasn’t without dignity or respect.
Bridge On the River Kwai, a movie from the 1950's, depicts a tiny portion of the suffering of their slave labors.