Unit 731: History You May not Want to Learn (Warning: Extreme Content)

During the second Sino-Japanese War and World War II the Japanese military formed an infamous secret squadron whose goal was to research and develop biological and chemical warfare. This unit showed no remorse and carried out some of the most heinous experiments in human history on men, women, children, and infants. More than 10,000 civilian and military personnel were subjected to human experimentation. The West knew about it but said nothing.

Unit 731



Based in Pingfang, Unit 731, commanded by Shiro Ishii, conducted experiments that would leave 200,000+ dead before the disbandment of the unit in August 1945 due to the Russian invasion at Manchukuo where subsidiary unit 200 was researching bio warfare. The victims of this atrocity mainly comprised of Chinese, Koreans, and American POW’s.

The divisons of Unit 731 are as follows:

Unit 731 was divided into eight divisions:

Division 1: Research on bubonic plague, cholera, anthrax, typhoid and tuberculosis using live human subjects. For this purpose, a prison was constructed to contain around three to four hundred people.

Division 2: Research for biological weapons used in the field, in particular the production of devices to spread germs and parasites.

Division 3: Production of shells containing biological agents. Stationed in Harbin.

Division 4: Production of other miscellaneous agents.

Division 5: Training of personnel.

Divisions 6–8: Equipment, medical and administrative units.

Some of the experiments conducted by Unit 731 and its subsidiary units include:

Vivisection
Victims were subjected to live autopsy without anesthesia where upon they were purposefully infected with diseases (including pregnant women who were impregnated by doctors). The reasons for this; to study the effect on human organs and avoid decomposition from affecting results, amputate limbs to study blood loss and effects of rotting and gangrene (some limbs were later attached to the other side of the body), and to remove parts of the stomach, liver, brains and lungs to observe the effects (the removal of the stomach was replaced by a direct connection from the esophagus to the intestines).

Weapons testing
Grenades were detonated near living targets to determine the effects of the explosion with regards to different distances and angles to determine how long victims could survive with their sustained injuries (if at all possible), while others were tied to stakes and were subject to the use of biological bombs, chemical weapons, and other explosive material.

Germ Warfare
Male and female prisoners were injected with venereal diseases in the disguise of inoculations (or sometimes infected via rape) to determine the viability of germ warfare, victims were infested with fleas in order to communicate the disease to an organism which could be later dropped onto a populace. Fleas themselves were also tainted with cholera, anthrax, and the bubonic plague (as well as other plagues) which were later dropped in the guise of clothing and supplies which resulted in the estimated death of 400,000 Chinese civilians. This was the origin of the “flea bomb” which infected large geographic areas and polluted land and water.

Other
In other experiments victims were hung upside down to observe how long it took for one to die due to choking and the length of time until the onset of embolism occurred after inserting air into ones blood stream.


So the west knew about this?

Having been granted immunity by the American Occupation Authorities at the end of the war, Ishii never spent any time in jail for his crimes and died at the age of 67 of throat cancer.

Why was it allowed?

The US feared that the Soviet Union might acquire Ishii's expertise and records and thus discussed a secret deal. Allied POWs had a lot of stories to tell about biological experimentation on humans. The US government successfully covered-up this and had the Allied POWs sworn to secrecy. Furthermore, prosecutors at the Tokyo War Crimes trials were warned not to investigate the specific crimes and by 1948 all Unit 731 members were offered immunity in exchange for data and co-operation.

What about the P.O.W.’s? Surely some wanted to speak out against the atrocities that had befallen them.

The discovery of the bodies beneath Tokyo , broke a cover-up which lasted for more than four decades and Allied servicemen started telling about their ordeals. Joseph Gozzo, a former aviation engineer, had glass rods inserted in his rectum during his internment. He said "Damn right I remember; I can't believe our government let them get away with it".
Ex-POW, Frank James, shared his memories with a US House of Representatives sub-committee in 1986: "We were just pawns. We Always knew there was a cover-up". The House of Representatives hearing lasted just half a day and only one of 200 US survivors was permitted to testify and the chief archivist for the US Army. The latter said that files provided by Ishii were returned to Japan in the 1950s and copies had not been made.

How were these inhumane acts kept so well hidden from the public eye and how did they surface?

Initially, the US and Japanese governments denied that atrocities had occurred but a body of official information was made public. A file from General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters states that the investigation of Unit 731 was "under direct Joint Chiefs of Staff order.......the utmost secrecy is essential in order to protect the interests of the United States and to guard against embarrassment." Finally, in 1993, US Defence Secretary William Perry promised to declassify record of WWII biological experiments so as to calm down the intense public pressure.

If anyone wishes to learn more simply search for the term “Unit 731”. There is also a documentary titled “Unit 731: Nightmare in Manchuria” and a graphic movie titled “Man Behind the Sun“.

www.Listverse.com
en.Wikipedia.org
www.Jesus-is-saviour.com

-AS-

P.S. Any additional information related to this unit is much appreciated. Also I decided to leave out extreme imagery and video in the OP but I am not against others posting such content as I believe showing the true nature of this event in all forms should be acceptable in order to put the events into proper context. Please check the T&C before doing so.

Note to Moderators: Please move as necessary. there is no "History" forum so I chose what I thought to be the best forum available.

edit on 7-7-2011 by AeonStorm because: wording + added + punc.

damn humans can be so disgusting.

imagine being alive and going thru such things. makes me so appreciative for what i have. im also pretty damn sure the US has done similar things, almost certain.

WWW II was one mean fought war. Can only imagine what other stories are still hidden.

Thanks for info on this unit.

holy #. how could something like this be kept secret for so long, i just don't get it.

www.charonboat.com...
people.bu.edu...

^ A few pictures I googled about unit 731

more information about 731... www.jesus-is-savior.com...

If I may add it is "MEN Behind the Sun" I netflixed it and thats what came up as a "save" in queue. I believe I had seen clips of this film somewhere before. It's absolutely chilling

Originally posted by oldsoulnewmind
If I may add it is "MEN Behind the Sun" I netflixed it and thats what came up as a "save" in queue. I believe I had seen clips of this film somewhere before. It's absolutely chilling

Thank you for the information, but it is actually both. For some reason the title "Man Behind the Sun" and "Men Behind the Sun" are both acceptable. As for the movie itself, I may watch it one day but such extreme movies do not appeal to me.

I can stomach watching a movie that depicts such vile atrocities but I certainly would not enjoy it.

Respect,

-AS-

reply to post by AeonStorm


Yeah the scenes I saw were from another forum I use to frequent which got the clips from user uploads on Youtube. Its hard to watch and try to fathom "Oh thats just make up and special effects", when indeed it did happen. I guess when it comes to the Nazi experiments and the Japanese Unit 731, I find myself more questioning was the world so mad, back then that our backs were turn to them and "let" it happen? I'm sorry but I have to admit this makes me pretty emotional, this is something that though it makes me horribly uncomfortable to see this is something that needs to be seen and told. We can never go back to this. Ever! If we don't learn our history we are bound to repeat it. S&F for you

War Crime Trials and Verdicts

War Crime Trials

High-level Japanese war criminals were tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. The prosecution team was made up of justices from eleven Allied nations: Australia, Canada, China, France, Great Britain, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. The Tokyo trial lasted two and a half years, from May 1946 to November 1948. The principle charges were making aggressive war and allowing atrocities against POWs and civilians.

This must have been done behind closed doors and done for the reasons in the OP....right? After all, we the people did not know about this until recently. None-the-less I found numbers regarding sentences and counts.

Can anyone verify the results and authenticity of the results below (including the date of release of this information)?

The Verdicts

Two of the twenty-eight defendants died of natural causes during the trial. One had a mental breakdown on the first day of trial, was sent to a psychiatric ward and was released in 1948. The remaining twenty-five were found guilty. Seven were sentenced to death by hanging, sixteen to life imprisonment, and two to lesser terms. All seven sentenced to death were found to be guilty of inciting mass-scale atrocities, among other counts, and hanged Dec. 23. Three of the sixteen sentenced to life imprisonment died in prison. The remaining thirteen were paroled between 1954 and 1956, with less than eight years in prison for their crimes against millions of people.

ACCUSED
0 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 SENTENCE NOTES
1 7 9 1 2 3 5 6 4 5

ARAKI
G G X X X X X X X X Life Imp. Paroled 1955
DOIHARA
G G G G G X G G G O Death
HASHIMOTO
G G X X X X X - - - Life Imp. Paroled 1954
HATA
G G G G G X X X - G Life Imp. Paroled 1955
HIRANUMA
G G G G G X X G X X Life Imp. Paroled 1955
HIROTA
G G X X X X X X - G Death
HOSHINO
G G G G G X X X X - Life Imp. Paroled 1955
ITAGAKI
G G G G G X G G G - Death
KAYA
G G G G G X ? ? ? O Life Imp. Paroled 1955
KIDO
G G G G G X X X X X Life Imp. Paroled 1955
KIMURA
G G G G G - - - G G Death
KOISO
G G G G G X X - - G Life Imp. Died 1950
MATSUI
X X X X X X X X - G Death **
MINAMI
G G X X X X X - - - Life Imp. Paroled 1954
MUTO
G G G G G X X - G G Death
OKA
G G G G G X X - - - Life Imp. Paroled 1954
OSHIMA
G X X X X X X - - - Life Imp. Paroled 1955
SATO
G G G G G X X - - - Life Imp. Paroled 1956
SHIMADA
G G G G G X X - - - Life Imp. Paroled 1955
SHIRATORI
G X X X X - - - - - Life Imp. Died 1949
SHIGEMITSUX
G G G G G X X - G 7 years Paroled 1950 Foreign Minister 1954
SUZUKI
G G G G G X X X X - Life Imp. Paroled 1955
TOGO
G G G G G X X X - - 20 years Died 1948
TOJO
G G G G G G X - G O Death **
UMEZU
G G G G G - - X X X Life Imp. Died 1949

Blank: No indictment; G: Guilty; X: Not Guilty; O: Other.

** - Enshrined as "martyr" at the Yasukuni Shrine,
national war memorial dedicated to the
Shinto code of bushido - the way of the soldier.

COUNTS OF INDICTMENT:

Count 1: as "leaders, organizers, instigators, or accomplices in
the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy
... to wage wars of aggression, and war or wars in
violation of international law."
Count 27: waging unprovoked war against China.
Count 29: waging aggressive war against the United States.
Count 31: waging aggressive war against the British Commonwealth.
Count 32: waging aggressive war against the Netherlands.
Count 33: waging aggressive war against France (Indochina).
Count 35&36waging aggressive war against the USSR.
Count 54: "ordered, authorized, and permitted" inhumane treatment of
Prisoners of War (POWs) and others.
Count 55: "deliberately and recklessly disregarded their duty" to
take adequate steps to prevent atrocities.

Source: www.ww2pacific.com

WHAT IN THE # IS WRONG WITH OUR SPECIES?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I mean SERIOUSLY!!!!
What in the hell is wrong with us????
I seriously feel like I am an alien sometimes.
I am like a fish on the outside of the fishbowl looking in.
I take no part in this, I am sorry am I human, I am deeply embarrassed and ashamed of my species.
I want OUT!!!!

When looking at the verdicts and those who were paroled it seems that many members were in fact offered immunity in exchange for data and co-operation.

If there were no "back door dealings" one could be assured that most all of those involved with Unit 731 would have been put to death.

It's amazing how many parallels this story has with Operation Paperclip. Deny the USSR of knowledge, keep secret the atrocities of those we secretly granted immunity, etc.

I wonder how many of these "scientists" were brought over here to continue their studies ... A chilling though indeed.

-AS-

P.S. ... Screwed ...I totally know what you're talking about friend.

Why is this not given the media/historical attention that the tests the Nazis war crimes were given?

I remember this was one of the first crimes by the US (after WW2) that I learnt about 15 odd yrs ago that made me realise the US was no better than Russia, just different. I mean the cover up in exchange for information at the cost of any justice for American soldier victims and their families let alone all the other POWS from elsewhere. I couldn't read OP since I don't need reminding so I hope I have the right incident in mind.

It Sadden Me to read information like this. We Should be a Specie of Love and Nurturing, and we commit such Heinous acts. I feel ashamed for those so called Scientist that actually partook in those experiements, especially those on people with no anesthesia.

This really interests me, got the film on download now I need to know more, and so thought I would start with that.. By what I have read it’s sickening.
Jay

Wow, great post...really insightful.

It's awful...those experiments...victims where hung upside down, injecting them purposely with diseases, using them as "objects" to determine effects of explosions etc!? How less humane can you get?

I understand why you did leave out all that imagery (and it's probably against T&C anyway) but if those actually got it, people will really understand how different governments are to their initial thoughts.

Again, another tale what people do for greed and power. Disgusting.

reply to post by AeonStorm


This was disgusting... And all for war!

I could maybe understand if it was for medicinal purposes but even then it is extremely inhumane and I would probably do anything I could to stop such experiments taking place!

Thanks for bringing this to light I never knew...

reply to post by Screwed


Sometimes I think a mass extinction event would be in order. Sometimes I feel, as a species, we are not justified in continuing. However, you have to look at the complete picture. If you only look at the bad you will naturally feel this way. You just need to watch a documentary on Mother Theresa or something and that makes you feel better. But I do know how you feel. I'm also sure that America has done her fair share of these things too, as others have noted. I'm certainly not bashing America any more than I am bashing Japan. No country or people is totally perfect. We all have things we are embarrassed by. We can only move on and hopefully learn from our mistakes.

Originally posted by Theoretician
reply to post by AeonStorm

 

This was disgusting... And all for war!

I could maybe understand if it was for medicinal purposes but even then it is extremely inhumane and I would probably do anything I could to stop such experiments taking place!

Thanks for bringing this to light I never knew...

You could understand if torture was for 'medicinal purposes?' I am going to just assume that you didn't put enough thought into that answer. Torture is wrong for ANY reason. It can be justified any way you want, but wrong is wrong.

We would do well to remember that when we choose to go to war, we choose to force the opposing group to do "whatever it takes" to defeat us. You don't want to put anyone in a situation like this. You will see the ugly side of humanity come out. Not every warring nation will have the exact same opportunities for victory. Some will be forced to take drastic measures, some will not have the same standard for the value of a human life, some will simply not have the economical or technological development to reasonably be expected to meet the "humane" standard for the destruction of life, some might just be "crazy", meaning they do not prescribe to a belief system that falls within our preferred degree of similarity to our own.

Remember that, in the proposed scenario, we are at war here, folks! The only thing that could remotely be considered truly crazy when the goal of this activity is the defeat of your opponent would be something that can only decrease your chances of victory, like, for example, to send all your perfectly good weapons, food and water, and medical supplies to your enemy.

The Japanese could have believed that their idea of evil would take over the world if they did not win this war. Perhaps defeat was "not an option"? I'm not condoning the actions of the perpetrators of Unit 731, I'm merely condemning each participant in the act of war equally. What they did was no worse than what we (Americans) did, or the Germans, the Russians, Italians, or any of the major powers of the war. We all set out to kill, we all killed civilians, inadvertently or otherwise, and yes, we all tested weapons on human beings and continue to do so to this day. Did you think they used crash test dummies? Or midgets? No, I'm talking real, live people here... White people, ok? Does it get any more real than that? And I mean real, full white, so no Italians or anything, just white males from England, Ireland and Scotland. But only some parts of Scotland...

So remember the cost when diplomacy is tossed aside, when we allow our elected officials to pull the strings and allow pearl harbor to take place in order to bring us into the war, and furthermore, when we allow bankers to incite, and control the outcome of global conflicts. We might not always see eye to eye on the proper hammer in which to go about destroying one another. So maybe its best if we just don't play that game if we can't all agree on the rules. It would be much less costly to settle arguments by allowing the rest of the nonparticipants vote. Each of the 120 somethin countries could get anywhere from 1 to 25 representatives based on an algorithm devised from the percentage of the worlds population in said country, a rating given by an established human rights organization, and some other criteria. This isn't an idea for a one world gov. It's a one world court for settling disputes. The court cannot rule on how a nation governs itself. That stays the same. This idea is only for interactions between nations, not the people within them. That way big superpowers can't just say, "they are harboring wmds and terrorists" and go to war. They would have to present their evidence and suggest what nonviolent solution they would like to see happen. This could involve having court appointed inspectors run an investigation on these claims. I could go on but I didn't want to derail the thread, just wanted to present an idea for how we could avoid the "problem" stated in the OP. Peace and blessings to all.

Originally posted by vjr1113
im also pretty damn sure the US has done similar things, almost certain.

We did... Ever heard of the tuskegee airmen? sorry if it's mispelled. Black men were purposely infected with STD's like Sifilylis... again sorry for the spelling. To see what would happen to them long term. and again '___' was tested on Military men to see the psychological effects it would have on the and they would give them LARGE doses. Sorry for no reference but I saw that on Nat Geo channel.