BRIEF OVERVIEW AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF UNIT 731
Unit 731 was started after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Operations in Unit 731 continued throughout the course of World War II until its conclusion in 1945. World War II created the necessity for Unit 731 research because Shiro wanted to use his data to help Japanese soldiers survive in difficult and violent conditions. By conducting experiments on enemy prisoners, the Japanese scientists were successful in producing vital medical research at the expense of human lives. Shiro also tested a variety of chemicals to develop biochemical weapons and experimented with diseases in an attempt to create biological "bombs" which would infect enemy troops. Japan's involvement in the bloodiest war in history was a catalyst in creating the urge to continue the Unit 731 program.
UNIT 731 NARRATIVE
Unit 731 was active from the time period of 1938, after the main lab was built, to the conclusion of World War II in 1945. Led by Ishii Shiro, a highly respected medical researcher and eventual surgeon general in the Japanese imperial military, Unit 731 used Chinese and other Asian prisoners who refused to cooperate during interrogation. Japanese researchers worked at Unit 731’s headquarters in Harbin and infected human test subjects with diseases such as the plague and anthrax to study their effects on the human body. The purpose of these experiments were to collect important data to advance Japanese medicine and to help soldiers on the battlefield against Allied enemies. The following are the main fields of experimentation conducted in Unit 731:
Vivisection
Vivisection was tested on men, women, and children without anesthesia to study the capabilities of the immune system and internal organs. During the operation, organs were taken out, infected, swapped, and altered while the human subject was still alive. External body parts were also tested by removing and swapping limbs to study blood loss and response from the body.
Germ Warfare
Diseases were intensively researched and human subjects were used to study its effects. Plague-invested fleas were dropped over Chinese towns by Japanese planes to study how it fast it would spread. This alone was responsible for hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. Using data from experiments, doctors were able to develop biological weapons through the usage of bacteria and viruses.
Frostbite Testing
Japanese physiologist Yoshimura Hisato conducted experiments by taking human subjects outside and dipping limbs in water to freeze them. Effects of different water temperatures were tested by beating victims in various areas to see if any part was frozen.
Rape and Forced Pregnancy
Female prisoners were forced to become pregnant for experimentation purposes. Scientists studied the effects of diseases on the fetus and the woman's reproductive organs.
Vivisection
Vivisection was tested on men, women, and children without anesthesia to study the capabilities of the immune system and internal organs. During the operation, organs were taken out, infected, swapped, and altered while the human subject was still alive. External body parts were also tested by removing and swapping limbs to study blood loss and response from the body.
Germ Warfare
Diseases were intensively researched and human subjects were used to study its effects. Plague-invested fleas were dropped over Chinese towns by Japanese planes to study how it fast it would spread. This alone was responsible for hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. Using data from experiments, doctors were able to develop biological weapons through the usage of bacteria and viruses.
Frostbite Testing
Japanese physiologist Yoshimura Hisato conducted experiments by taking human subjects outside and dipping limbs in water to freeze them. Effects of different water temperatures were tested by beating victims in various areas to see if any part was frozen.
Rape and Forced Pregnancy
Female prisoners were forced to become pregnant for experimentation purposes. Scientists studied the effects of diseases on the fetus and the woman's reproductive organs.
Location where the experiments took place
HEURISTIC ANALYSIS AND ESSENTIAL HISTORICAL QUESTIONS
HEURISTICS
1. Chinese Medical Journal
This document was written to document cases of biological warfare by the Japanese in China during World War 2. The author is not stated in the document, but is presumably part of an investigative team for the U.S., China, or other allied nations as they report the japanese as the enemy. The selection of the document above focuses on the weaponization and use of the Bubonic Plague by the Japanese. This document clearly contributes to exposing the Japanese war crimes committed by Unit 731. It brings to light Japan’s use of biological warfare, which is illegal around the world.
2. Russian Request to Interrogate Japanese on Biological Warfare
This document written by the U.S. General Headquarters was written to inform the chief of staff of the benefits of allowing the Russians to interrogate Japanese war criminals affiliated with Unit 731. This document was written in the time leading up to the Tokyo War Tribunals as Russia was looking for further evidence of Japanese war crimes. This document also mentions how all U.S. documents and interrogations on the subject were secret and top secret, showing how the U.S. is beginning to make the issue disappear. This document supports the U.S. covering up Unit 731 as they did not declassify documents or allow the U.S.S.R. to interrogate Japanese prisoners.
3. DOD Q’s & A’s Regarding Unit 731
This document is a written interview on the DOD, with the interview primarily focusing on the treatment of U.S. POWs by the Japanese. This document and interview was written well after World War 2 and the Tokyo War Tribunals. This document clearly states the U.S. attempts to cover up Unit 731. When questioned on whether the U.S. POWs were subject to biological experiments, the DOD answers that there is no evidence to support it, as well as saying that they have done many document searches, coming up with nothing. This is clearly a cover-up attempt as well as an attempt to keep it out of the public eye as there is plenty of documentation on Unit 731 as well as many accounts of U.S. POWs being part of experiments.
ESSENTIAL HISTORICAL QUESTIONS
To what extent did unit 731 have in modern medicine and what modern advances did they help create?
1. Chinese Medical Journal
This document was written to document cases of biological warfare by the Japanese in China during World War 2. The author is not stated in the document, but is presumably part of an investigative team for the U.S., China, or other allied nations as they report the japanese as the enemy. The selection of the document above focuses on the weaponization and use of the Bubonic Plague by the Japanese. This document clearly contributes to exposing the Japanese war crimes committed by Unit 731. It brings to light Japan’s use of biological warfare, which is illegal around the world.
2. Russian Request to Interrogate Japanese on Biological Warfare
This document written by the U.S. General Headquarters was written to inform the chief of staff of the benefits of allowing the Russians to interrogate Japanese war criminals affiliated with Unit 731. This document was written in the time leading up to the Tokyo War Tribunals as Russia was looking for further evidence of Japanese war crimes. This document also mentions how all U.S. documents and interrogations on the subject were secret and top secret, showing how the U.S. is beginning to make the issue disappear. This document supports the U.S. covering up Unit 731 as they did not declassify documents or allow the U.S.S.R. to interrogate Japanese prisoners.
3. DOD Q’s & A’s Regarding Unit 731
This document is a written interview on the DOD, with the interview primarily focusing on the treatment of U.S. POWs by the Japanese. This document and interview was written well after World War 2 and the Tokyo War Tribunals. This document clearly states the U.S. attempts to cover up Unit 731. When questioned on whether the U.S. POWs were subject to biological experiments, the DOD answers that there is no evidence to support it, as well as saying that they have done many document searches, coming up with nothing. This is clearly a cover-up attempt as well as an attempt to keep it out of the public eye as there is plenty of documentation on Unit 731 as well as many accounts of U.S. POWs being part of experiments.
ESSENTIAL HISTORICAL QUESTIONS
To what extent did unit 731 have in modern medicine and what modern advances did they help create?
- Unit 731 had a large hand in the advancement of modern medicine. The unit experimented a lot in disease research and progression. In experimenting, they performed many observations and vivisections at different points in the progression of diseases. From this they learned how diseases affect the body and how they spread throughout it. This information was later used by the U.S. to discover better disease treatments and methods that would have taken years or decades to discover humanely.
- The U.S. had very little involvement during World War 2. The only involvement during were the American POWs that the Japanese experimented on. After the war, the U.S. seized control of all of the research data. They then translated that data from a warfare focus to a medical one. This data was then used to develop advanced treatments.
- The U.S. decided to cover up these war crimes as the data recovered from them had a direct medical impact. As well, they were committed mostly on those from the U.S. or countries that were not world powers, such as China and Manchuria. Contrary to this, the German war crimes were committed with no research intent and directly targeted a specific ethnicity. Also, the German war crimes directly affected many major European powers, making it more difficult to cover up.
- Many have not heard of Unit 731. This is because the U.S. was quick to cover it up. As well, many of the major powers of the time did not know of it. This is quite contrary to the Holocaust, making it easy to fall out of public knowledge.
THE PODCAST
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