During the Second Sino-Japanese War, which ended up merging with the fights of the Second war World, Japan used weapons and biological tests, mainly against Chinese civilians and POWs. The study of the effects of biological weapons on human beings was developed by Unit 731, created by direct authorization of Emperor Hirohito. This unit was led by general Shiro Ishii and, in its years of operation, it was responsible for the deaths of more than three thousand people.
What was Unit 731?
THE Unit 731 was created by Japanese general Shiro Ishii in 1931. This general believed strongly in the power of the chemical weapons and bacteriological and so, since 1931, he used the laboratory of the Army Medical College in Tokyo to develop his first research in this area.
Ishii was known to the Emperor for his water purification works and, until 1936, his researches were conducted unofficially and with few resources. However, the fate of his studies was changed after an epidemic outbreak of cholera killed some 6,000 Japanese soldiers in Manchuria. Supposedly, this outbreak was caused by Chinese spies who would have poisoned the water.
Thus, by order of the Japanese emperor, the “Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Unit” in 1936. The officialization of Unit 731 happened, therefore, from the Imperial Seal given by Hirohito. After that, the Japanese Assembly approved that this unit receive large amounts of money. Unit 731's budget money was camouflaged within military spending, which kept its character strictly secret.
Unit 731 had as a façade, therefore, the function of carrying out the purification of the water used by the Japanese soldiers for the purpose of avoid poisonings and cholera outbreaks (caused mainly by drinking contaminated water) and other diseases, whether or not caused by enemy. However, secretly, Unit 731 promoted studies to develop chemical and biological weapons.
In addition, Unit 731 carried out gruesome tests on humans to record the limits of the human body when subjected to extreme situations that could happen on the battlefront and purposefully contaminated its prisoners with various diseases.
What was the Unit 731's operating context?
Unit 731 operated during the period when Japan was fighting China, in the SecondSino-Japanese War, and against the United States and other Allied nations during the Second World War. It is important to remember that Japan's entry into the two wars happened because of the imperialist interests that Japan had in neighboring regions in Asia.
The tension between China and Japan was strengthened after the invasion of Manchuria, which took place in 1931. The trigger for the conflict, however, only occurred in 1937, when Chinese and Japanese troops clashed in Beijing after a disagreement. Throughout the war, Japan wreaked havoc in various parts of China. It is estimated that about 20 million Chinese have died during that conflict.
The Sino-Japanese War ended up merging with the fighting of the Second World War from 1941. Japan's entry into this war happened after the completion of surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. The next day, the United States declared war on the Japanese. Both conflicts were only ended in 1945.
Tests performed by Unit 731
Through the war years, Unit 731 kept its secret researches in full swing. Historian Antony Beevor states that this unit mobilized around three thousand scientists and doctors from the Japanese medical universities and, in addition, had more 20 thousand employees who performed other diverse tasks|1|.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
In addition to the large amount of staff, journalist Edward Behr claims that by 1941 Unit 731's initial budget had increased tenfold, which totaled an expense of 30 million yen|2|. All this information allows us to understand, therefore, how extensive the role of this secret unit in the Japanese war effort was.
Unit 731 kept under its control barrels that contained bacteria that caused numerous diseases, such as typhus and smallpox, and stored compounds such as anthrax. The prisoners used as guinea pigs were called by the Japanese as marutas ("wooden logs", translated from Japanese). Edward Behr brought in his book Hiroíto – behind the legend reports from people who worked at Unit 731:
Ozone [worked at Unit 731 issuing secret documents] describes how marutas, […], were victims of various forms of research: some were infected with dysentery or injected with tetanus; others (some wearing masks, some not) were taken outdoors and “bombed” with cyanide; still others were locked in “cold chambers” at minus 50 degrees and frozen to death. […] Other experiments were even more terrifying: to control the limits of human duration, prisoners were forced to carry heavy Army backpacks and march in a circle in the cold Manchurian climate, with minimal amounts of food and water, until they die of exhaustion|3|.
And historian Antony Beevor brings information about attempts to chemical and bacteriological warfare that were carried out and planned by Japan throughout the war:
In 1939, during the Nomonhan battle against Marshal Zhukov's forces, the unit spread typhus pathogens in rivers, but the effect was not recorded. In 1940 and 1941, black plague-contaminated cotton and rice husks were airlifted into central China. In March 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army planned to use plague flies against Americans and Filipinos on the Baatan Peninsula […]. Later that year, typhus, plague, and cholera pathogens were sprayed in Chekiang Province in retaliation for the first American bomb attack on Japan.|4|.
Despite all the horrors caused by Unit 731, its great mentor and leader, Shiro Ishii, has not been convicted for none of the crimes committed at his command during the war. the general Douglas MacArthur, who headed the occupation of Japan after the war, dropped any charges against Shiro Ishii and, in return, the United States had access to all of Unit 731's secret information. The immunity granted to Ishii was extended to all of his subordinates.
The Soviets requested that at least Shiro Ishii be condemned for the horrors of Unit 731, however, the Soviet requests were rejected by the United States. Ishii lived until 1959 and died from throat cancer.
|1| BEEVOR, Antony. The Second World War. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 2012, p. 853.
|2| BEHR, Edward. Hiroíto – behind the legend. São Paulo: Globo, 1991, p. 214.
|3| Idem, p. 213.
|4| BEEVOR, Antony. The Second World War. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 2012, p. 854.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
