Xinhua via Getty ImagesJapanese personnel in protective suits carry a stretcher through Yiwu, China during Unit 731s germ warfare tests. all the Japanese scientists immunity from war crimes prosecution in exchange for the germ warfare data gathered from experiments in Harbin. [86][87] Then, the prisoners would be transported through a secret tunnel dug under the facade of the central building to the inner-prisons. [6] The United States covered up the human experimentations and handed stipends to the perpetrators. Listen above to the History Uncovered podcast, episode 51: Unit 731, also available on. Unit 731 was a biological warfare research division of the Imperial Japanese Army, which was founded in 1936. [37] Some of these bombs were designed with porcelain shells, an idea proposed by Ishii in 1938. One of the unit members raped her; the other member took the keys and opened another cell. A portion has been preserved and is open to visitors as a War Crimes Museum. Shiro Ishii ran Unit 731 and performed cruel experiments on prisoners until he was apprehended by the U.S. government and granted full immunity. Nishiyama reportedly intended to publish the list online to encourage further study into the unit.[98]. The prison cells had wooden floors and a squat toilet in each. They also were exposed to as much as 1,800rounds of yperite gas. At the time of his arrival in Japan, he had no knowledge of what Unit731 was. Unit 731 was the creation of a brutal psychopath, Lieutenant-General Ishii Shiro. And out of all the areas in which World War II was fought, none were active as long as what would come to be known as the Pacific Theater. Led by Lieutenant-General Ishii Shiro, 3,000 Japanese researchers working at Unit 731's headquarters in Harbin infected live human beings with diseases such as the plague and anthrax and then eviscerated them without anesthesia to see how the diseases infected human organs. It routinely conducted tests on people who were dehumanized and internally referred to as "logs". [91] Prisoners were repeatedly reused for experiments as long as they were healthy enough. The gas was adamsite (sneezing gas), and as the gas filled the chamber the man went into violent coughing convulsions and began to suffer excruciating pain. They also carried out biological wars by contaminating water and farmlands with disease-carrying germs. Phone booth-like tanks were used as portable gas chambers for the prisoners. [4] Japanese researchers performed tests on prisoners with bubonic plague, cholera, smallpox, botulism, and other diseases. [93] The "special team" worked in these two inner-prison buildings. Some prisoners were alive in the Unit for over 12months, and many female prisoners gave birth in the Unit. Then their general symptoms and damage to skin, eye, respiratory organs, and digestive organs were observed at 4hours, 24 hours, and 2, 3, and 5days after the shots. Though "a large number of babies were born in captivity", there have been no accounts of any survivors of Unit731, children included. [122], Japanese Biological Warfare operations were by far the largest during WWII, and "possibly with more people and resources than the BW producing nations of France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and the Soviet Union combined, between the world wars. Weeping redness of the skin of the upper part of the body. According to one eyewitness account, the limbs made a sound like a plank of wood when struck with a cane. Skeleton crews of Ishii's Japanese troops blew up the compound in the final days of the war to destroy evidence of their activities, but many were sturdy enough to remain somewhat intact. Abundant mucous nose secretions. This team wore white overall suits, army hats, rubber boots, and pistols strapped to their sides.[86]. Among the individuals in Japan after its 1945 surrender was Lieutenant Colonel Murray Sanders, who arrived in Yokohama via the American ship Sturgess in September1945. [126], In 2018, Japan disclosed the names of 3,607 members of Unit 731. [20] In a further parallel, the corpses of "sacrificed" subjects were disposed of by incineration. It is known that victims were also starved before these tests began. November 1940. Unit731 tested many different chemical agents on prisoners and had a building dedicated to gas experiments. [68] Until Sanders finally threatened the Japanese with bringing the Soviets into the picture, little information about biological warfare was being shared with the Americans. Williams, Peter, and Wallace, David (1989). Estimates of those killed by Unit731 and its related programs range up to half a million people, and none of the inmates survived. Wound patterns and penetration depths were then compared on the bodies of the dead and dying inmates. The Japanese doctors and army commanders who had perpetrated the Unit731 experiments received sentences from the Khabarovsk court ranging from 2 to 25years in a Siberian labor camp. There were also twelve members who were formally tried and sentenced in the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials. Meanwhile, prolonged X-ray exposure sterilized and killed thousands of research participants, as well as inflicting horrible burns when the emitting plates were miscalibrated or held too close to the subjects nipples, genitals, or faces. Originally set up by the Kenpeitai military police of the Empire of Japan, Unit731 was taken over and commanded until the end of the war by General Shir Ishii, a combat medic officer in the Kwantung Army. [102], Unit731 had branches in Linkou (Branch162), Mudanjiang, Hailin (Branch643), Sunwu (Branch673), Toan, and Hailar (Branch543). Established by Emperor Hirohito in 1936, Unit 731's exact mission varied over the course of its operations, but two main focuses remained constant. [123] That staff member decided to enter the cell. There was space between the outer walls of the cells and the outer walls of the prison, enabling the guards to walk behind the cells. [6], One graduate of Unit 1644, Masami Kitaoka, continued to perform experiments on unwilling Japanese subjects from 1947 to 1956. [133] In April2018, the National Archives of Japan released the names of 3,607members of Unit731, in response to a request by Professor Katsuo Nishiyama of the Shiga University of Medical Science.[134][135]. Unit 731 was split into eight divisions. In this way, Unit 731 was performing the service of human experimentation for the entire Japanese medical community, in an on-going feedback loop. It was based in the Pingfang district of Harbin, the largest city in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (now Northeast China) and had active branch offices throughout China and Southeast Asia. That guard would then telephone to the "Special Team" in the inner-prison (Shiro Ishii's brother was head of this Special Team). These bacteria were injected into subjects regularly, and the resulting infections were studied. From 1948 to 1958, less than five percent of the documents were transferred onto microfilm and stored in the US National Archives before they were shipped back to Japan.[118]. ", Prisoners were injected with diseases, disguised as vaccinations,[25] to study their effects. World War II devastated the lives of more than 100 million people around the world. [131], In 1997, international lawyer Knen Tsuchiya filed a class action suit against the Japanese government, demanding reparations for the actions of Unit731, using evidence filed by Professor Makoto Ueda of Rikkyo University. After I had watched for about ten minutes, I could not stand it any more, and left the area. But that didn't stop a Japanese army medical officer named Shiro . Other sources suggest that it was the usual practice in the Unit for surgeons to stuff a rag (or medical gauze) into the mouth of prisoners before commencing vivisection in order to stifle any screaming. [14], A prison break in the autumn of 1934, which jeopardized the facility's secrecy, and an explosion in 1935 (believed to be sabotage) led Ishii to shut down Zhongma Fortress. The fleas were then packed in dust and sealed inside clay bomb casings. 1936-1945: Unit 731 the Asian Auschwitz was a massive biological warfare research program of the Japanese Imperial Army under the command of Lt. General Dr. Ishii Shiro in Pin Fang, Manchuria outside the city of Harbin. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi responded that the Japanese government did not then possess any records related to Unit731, but recognized the gravity of the matter and would publicize any records located in the future. Some of the prisoners managed to jump out but these were only the bold ones. [89] Once deemed healthy and fit for experimentation, prisoners lost their names and were given a three-digit number, which they retained until their death. November 1940. 94111; A Short History of Biological Warfare (PDF) p. 12, A Short History of Biological Warfare (PDF) p. 27, Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department, war crimes committed by the Japanese armed forces, biological weapons facility in Sverdlovsk, List of war apology statements issued by Japan, List of Japanese-run internment camps during World War II, List of Axis personnel indicted for war crimes, Poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services, Unethical human experimentation in the United States, "Unmasking Horror A special report. Its true purpose was masked as the Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory. In unit 731, human targets were used to test grenades positioned at various distances and in various positions. [citation needed], In August2002, the Tokyo district court ruled for the first time that Japan had engaged in biological warfare. The two Russians opened their handcuffs, took the keys, and opened some other cells while yelling. Millions of inhumane experiments occurred in this research center. After Japan occupied Manchuria in 1931, Ishii Shiro created Unit 731 and began testing biological weapons on unwilling human test subjects. [81] Sheldon H. Harris documented that the victims were generally political dissidents, communist sympathizers, ordinary criminals, impoverished civilians, and the mentally disabled. An expedition to Nanjing involved spreading typhoid and paratyphoid germs into the wells, marshes, and houses of the city, as well as infusing them in snacks distributed to locals. The author Seiichi Morimura published The Devil's Gluttony[ja] () in 1981, followed by The Devil's Gluttony: A Sequel in 1983. [107] Sanders took this information to General Douglas MacArthur, who was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and responsible for rebuilding Japan during the Allied occupations. [32] Yuasa said that when he performed vivisections on captives, they were "all for practice rather than for research", and that such practises were "routine" among Japanese doctors stationed in China during the war.[21]. [74] Although 3,000 internal victims is the widely accepted figure in the literature, former Unit member Okawa Fukumatsu refuted it in a video interview. Japan Confronting Gruesome War Atrocity", "Japan guilty of germ warfare against thousands of Chinese", "CIA Special Collection ISHII, SHIRO_0005", "United States Responses to Japanese Wartime Inhuman Experimentation after World War II: National Security and Wartime Exigency", "Ruling recognizes Unit 731 used germ warfare in China", "Japan - Insects, Disease, and History | Montana State University", "Unit 731 and the Japanese Imperial Army's Biological Warfare Program The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus", "Pure Evil: Wartime Japanese Doctor Had No Regard for Human Suffering", "Unmasking Horror: A special report. Sud shouted "brute!" A prisoner would be taken from his cell. Feels sick. When the plague bacillus had been bred to what was felt to be a sufficiently lethal caliber, the last generation of victims to be infected were exposed to huge numbers of fleas, Y. pestis preferred vector of contagion. the plan of Unit 731 was to use kamikaze pilots to infest San Diego, California, with the plague. September 1937. In 1952, human experiments carried out in Nagoya City Pediatric Hospital, which resulted in one death, were publicly tied to former members of Unit731. 10-14 Unit 731 performed medical experiments, such as human vivisections, on detained Chinese, Koreans, Mongolians, Russians and Americans, However, Unit 731 was likely the largest biological-warfare production facility in world history. These experiments also showed how easily we can rationalize these kinds of actions if we believe that we are doing it for the greater good. Sixty minutes later the pulse was 106 per minute and the temperature was 39.4 degrees. An attack on Changde in 1941 reportedly led to approximately 10,000 biological casualties and 1,700 deaths among ill-prepared Japanese troops, in most cases due to cholera. Potential witnesses, such as the 300 remaining prisoners, were either gassed or fed poison while the 600 Chinese and Manchurian laborers were shot. 1341361982pp. Unit731 was divided into eight divisions: Unit731 had other units underneath it in the chain of command; there were several other units under the auspice of Japan's biological weapons programs. [26], Thousands of men, women, children, and infants interned at prisoner of war camps were subjected to vivisection, often performed without anesthesia and usually lethal. [1], Some test subjects were selected to gather a wide cross-section of the population and included common criminals, captured bandits, anti-Japanese partisans, political prisoners, homeless and mentally disabled people, which included infants, men, the elderly and pregnant women, as well as those rounded up by the Kenpeitai military police for alleged "suspicious activities". But when I picked up the scalpel, that's when he began screaming. [29], According to A. S. Wells, the majority of victims were Chinese,[31] with a lesser percentage being Russian, Mongolian, and Korean. But before Unit 731 was broken up in 1945, it committed some of the most torturous human experiments in recorded history. [64][user-generated source? Japanese personnel in protective suits carry a stretcher through Yiwu, China during Unit 731s germ warfare tests. [68], In 2002, Changde, China, site of the plague flea bombing, held an "International Symposium on the Crimes of Bacteriological Warfare", which estimated that the number of people slaughtered by the Imperial Japanese Army germ warfare and other human experiments was around 580,000. Approximately 30 kilograms (66lb) of bubonic plague bacteria could be produced in a few days. Heavy objects were dropped onto bound victims to study crush injuries, subjects were locked up and deprived of food and water to learn how long humans could survive without them, and victims were allowed to drink only sea water, or were given injections of mismatched human or animal blood to study transfusions and the clotting process. Unit member Naeo Ikeda wrote: In my experience, when A type blood 100 cc was transfused to an O type subject, whose pulse was 87 per minute and temperature was 35.4 degrees C, 30 minutes later the temperature rose to 38.6 degrees with slight trepidation. Guards would hold him while another guard would smash the victim's head open with an ax. It also operated a secret research and experimental school in Shinjuku, central Tokyo. In 1932, Surgeon General Shir Ishii (, Ishii Shir), chief medical officer of the Imperial Japanese Army and protg of Army Minister Sadao Araki, was placed in command of the Army Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory (AEPRL). He gave up the idea, left and locked the door, then later went on to his experimental work. Flamethrowers were also tested, on both covered and exposed skin. Unit 731 - Japans Secret Human Experiments Disturban History 236K subscribers Subscribe 22K 702K views 1 year ago Formed in response to western powers developing their own chemical and. The unit is estimated to have killed between 200,000 and 300,000 people. The Unit731 complex covered six square kilometers (2.3sqmi) and consisted of more than 150buildings. . Unit 731 was a secret chemical and living warfare research unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Xinhua via Getty ImagesUnit 731 personnel conduct a bacteriological trial upon a test subject in Nongan County of northeast Chinas Jilin Province. Then, have a look at four of the most evil science experiments ever performed and find out whether or not any of the highly disturbing Nazi research actually contributed anything to medical science. Inmates of these facilities were infected with several of the most lethal pathogens known to science, such as Yersinia pestis, which causes bubonic and pneumonic plague, and typhus, which the Japanese hoped would spread from person to person after being deployed and depopulate disputed areas. There was a Chinese woman in there who had been used in a frostbite experiment. The Supreme Court of Japan ruled in 1997 that the testimony was indeed sufficient and that requiring it to be removed was an illegal violation of freedom of speech. 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