UNIT 731
THE FORGOTTEN AUSCHWITZ
SECOND EDITION
BY DEREK PUA
DANIELLE DYBBRO AND ALISTAIR ROGERS
SECOND EDITION FOREWORD
I vaguely remember learning about Japanese war crimes in school, but Unit 731 was something that I had never heard of in my life. I started doing some precursory research and read about human experiments done in the name of advancing the medical field, or simply for the satisfaction of scientific curiosity. This sounded similar to the experiments conducted by the Nazis during World War II; however, while the Nazi narrative is well-versed in school curriculums, Asian victims who were affected by Japanese imperial oppression and military aggression are largely left out of the historical discussion in education.
As I started reading about the experiments, at first I was horrified, but I was soon numbed to the descriptions, of civilians that were cut open without anesthetic after being deliberately infected with the plague. I soon realized that the historical controversy surrounding Unit 731 is not so much what occurred during the experiments themselves, but rather the more than 70 years of insufficient apologies and, at times, denial of Japans systematic and militarily sanctioned biological warfare research program.
For me personally, this research has allowed me to dig deeper into the Pacific theater of World War II through the lens of Japan and China, rather than the European and American narrative focus that I know well.
Through the research done for this second edition, I hope that others not only can learn something new about the experience of World War II, but can learn to think critically about issues from this time period.
The call for the Japanese government to fully apologize for the crimes committed at Unit 731, and other facilities, has joined similar demands for international recognition of the countless victims of Japanese imperial control. However, important to note is that the Japanese government is not isolated in debating the legitimacy of claims of Japanese war crimes victims. The government documents and trial transcripts I examined reveal inconsistencies from both the Japanese and the American governments that, frankly, are unnerving.
Danielle Dybbro, 2017
PREFACE
Growing up in Hong Kong, I heard much about the terrors that my grandparents on both sides of the family had endured under the rule of the Japanese during their invasions of Pacific East Asia. One grandfather narrowly escaped with his life during the bombing of Shanghai and another was recruited as a child soldier in British Malaya. While these tales horrified me as a child, it sparked an interest in me that would set me on the path of attaining my bachelors degree in history at the University of San Francisco. I was so intrigued by the subject that by the time I was fourteen, I had read Iris Changs award winning book, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, which was a gift from my grandfather, who insisted that this portion of history can never be forgotten. I took these words to heart and made it my mission to ensure just that.
I was first introduced to the topic of Japans biological weapon program when I was just 15 years old during a family vacation to Harbin in Heilongjiang province. Although it has been a long time since then, I clearly remember the shock and dread that befell me as I made my way through the ruins of Unit 731. By this point, I had already known much about Japanese war crimes that were carried out during the war, but Unit 731 was much different; my research has introduced me to a whole new level of brutality that I previously thought was unfathomable. How one can commit such inhumane acts on his fellow man I will never know.
The topic of Unit 731 eluded my curiosity for much of my childhood despite my personal attachment to the subject of Japanese war crimes, and wouldnt enter into my scope of research until my first year of university. By that point, I had researched multiple atrocities committed by the Japanese during the Second World War, but Japans biological weapons program exceeds all of them in its brutality and inhumanity.
As I grew up, I realized that most people in the world, even my peers in Hong Kong, were either indifferent or ignorant of the subject. Though I was disappointed by this realization, it continues to provide me with the motivation and drive to spread the knowledge of this largely forgotten past; as the age-old expression by George Santayana goes: Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
Derek Pua, 2016
INTRODUCTION
Unit 731 was the main administrative hub in a network of research facilities under Imperial Japans top secret biological weapons program. The program was headed by Major General Shiro Ishii. Ishii and his team performed innumerable inhumane experiments on Chinese, Russian, and American prisoners. These prisoners were dehumanized and referred to as marutas, or logs. Some prisoners were infected with diseases, then vivisected after a period of time to observe the diseases effect on human anatomy. Some were used to test the effective ranges of bombs and certain weapons, while others were forced to endure excruciating frostbite experiments. These are only a few examples of the experiments carried out by the Japanese.
One could argue that these Japanese atrocities carried out were typical of the chaos and brutality that often accompany warfare; but this cannot be said for Unit 731. Much like their counterparts in Nazi Germany did in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, the Japanese experimented on humans like lab rats, all in the name of medical and military advancement.
The full extent of Unit 731s experiments is not known, but since the 1980s more information has emerged due to admissions of guilt from former members, testimonies from soldiers civilians, the declassifying of government documents, and the unearthing of previously unknown sources. As the scholarship continues to evolve, it is important to understand that for East Asia, the American declaration of war against Japan at the end of 1941 came over a decade after Japans invasion and occupation of Manchuria. And with the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, the implementation of Japans secret biological warfare research was soon to follow.
CHAPTER 1
Beginnings
The Early Life of Shiro Ishii
Japans involvement with biological warfare begins and ends with one man: Shiro Ishii. Ishii had a long interest in biological warfare and understanding the limits of what the human body could endure under very harsh conditions and treatments. Despite an intellect that was apparent to his superiors, Ishii had rightfully developed the reputation as a heartless, sadistic individual, who cared little for the suffering he imposed on his victims. A closer look into his life before becoming the head of Unit 731 helps present a clearer understanding of his desire to advance Japans biological and chemical warfare program in the Far East during the Asia-Pacific War of 1931-1945.
