Eric Lomax, a former British soldier who was tortured by the Japanese while he was a prisoner during World War II and half a century later forgave one of his tormentors - an experience he recounted in a memoir, The Railway Man (1996) - died on Monday in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England. He was 93.
Mr Lomax met the man who tortured him, including multiple water-boardings and breaking of bones, in 1993. Mr Lomax wrote of the meeting: "I had come with no sympathy for this man, and yet Nagase, through his complete humility, turned this around. In the days that followed we spent a lot of time together, talking and laughing.... We promised to keep in touch and have remained friends ever since."
A film based on The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, is scheduled to be released in 2013.
Mr Lomax met the man who tortured him, including multiple water-boardings and breaking of bones, in 1993. Mr Lomax wrote of the meeting: "I had come with no sympathy for this man, and yet Nagase, through his complete humility, turned this around. In the days that followed we spent a lot of time together, talking and laughing.... We promised to keep in touch and have remained friends ever since."
A film based on The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, is scheduled to be released in 2013.