A pilot in Turkey, a soldier in Germany, a nurse in Indonesia, a sailor in Japan: more than 34,000 Australians have endured captivity in wartime.

They spent months or years behind barbed wire. At first somewhat dazed, they were usually hungry and bored, often cold or sick; sometimes forced to work. Always under the control of their captors, many were treated badly or beaten; some tortured or killed.

Prisoners of the Japanese, the largest group by far, suffered most severely. The balance of this exhibition reflects their experience.

Though captivity was never a matter of choice, it often confronted men and women with challenges to their self-worth. But for what they endured and how they survived, these men and women deserve our understanding, respect and admiration. Captivity was a time when lives were interrupted, hopes put away and relationships strained. For all of them, these were Stolen Years.