The Atrocities of Unit 731

Unit 731 scientists injecting pest bacillus into rats

Photo of the Unit 731 complex in Harbin, China

Building on the Site of the Harbin bioweapon facility of Unit 731

Scan Of Yoshimura Hisato's Frostbite Research Data

Introduction

As one of the largest and most lethal war crimes to take place in history, Unit 731 served as a secret research facility for the Imperial Japanese Army, housing countless human experimentation projects to facilitate the production of biological and chemical weaponry. The center operated in Northeast China from 1936 to 1945, dedicated for use against civilians of neighboring enemy territories, including China, Korea, and Russia. Over the course of its history, over 14,000 men, women, and children were killed inside the facility as a result of human experimentation, including purposeful infection, organ harvesting, and human limitation testing, with no known survivors.

Torture & Experimentation

Through torture and experimentation of human subjects, Unit 731 was dedicated to the research of biological and chemical agents, as well as testing the limits of the human body. Experiments of infection, chemical exposure, torture, and physiological manipulation forefronted by Japanese doctors and scientists exasperated drastic and inhumane crimes against prisoners of war.

Biological & Chemical

To research the effects of biological weaponry, prisoners in Unit 731 were purposefully injected with diseases including plague and venereal diseases to study effects of infection on the body. Through research on humans, six pathogens including anthrax, typhoid, paratyphoid, glanders, dysentery, and plague-infected fleas were developed to artificially create epidemics in enemy territories, most often used in Chinese cities. Almost 3000kg of biological agents could be manufactured on a monthly basis. Chemical agents including mustard gas and yperite-lewisite were forcibly ingested or exposed to prisoners. Effects of the chemical weapons were examined in blisters, blood, and stool. Read more on Japan’s biological warfare program here.

Torture & Physiological Manipulation

In addition to biological and chemical formats of torture, doctors of Unit 731 sought to test the physical extent of the human body. Vivisection, the practice of dissection of a living organism, was practiced on thousands of men, women (including those pregnant), children, and infants, resulting in insurmountable suffering and death. Amputation was conducted to study blood loss, including the detachment and attempted reattachment of limbs and even organs, including the stomach, esophagus, and parts of the brain. Deliberate exposure to deadly conditions such as drastic temperatures and starvation were conducted to study effects on the human body.
In addition to the many forms of torture conducted against prisoners in Unit 731, women were specifically targeted for forced insemination and pregnancy for research on the effects of disease, chemical exposure, and physical harm from mother to fetus. After exposure, pregnant women were dissected and preserved for further study. Read more on the Forced Pregnancy of Unit 731 here.

Dehumanization

The dehumanization of human subjects within Unit 731 was brutal and constant. Those captured for use in the facility were taken in windowless vehicles in darkness. Following entry into Unit 731, the prisoners were stripped of their names and identities, given three-digit numbers, and treated as cattle. Officials objectified subjects to underplay the horrific treatment prisoners endured, often referring to prisoners as “logs” in “log cabins” (testing facilities). Doctors and professionals operating on humans contributed to the dehumanization, naming prisoners as non-human primates in scientific publications. Although operating under the guise of research, witnesses of the human experimentation testified that many of the experiments had no relationship to the advancement of biological warfare, and instead were pioneered by pure curiosity and playfulness. Doctors no longer viewing prisoners as human, led experimentation with the question: “What would happen if we did this?”.

Multi-National Impact

Imperial Japan’s crimes primarily targeted civilians outside the Japanese borders, with a majority of its brutality conducted against Chinese populations. Unit 731 was based in Harbin, a city in Northeastern China closely located to the Russian border and Korean peninsula. As a result, Unit 731 was largely made up of Chinese, Russian, Mongolian, and Korean prisoners. Those captured were often political prisoners,s communist sympathizers, criminals, or the impoverished and disabled.
Chinese cities were a major target of Unit 731’s field testing, with specific focus on germ warfare. An estimated 200,000 civilians were infected by pathogens dropped by airplanes from the Japanese military. Plague-bombs were manufactured to spread disease in targeted populations. In the Quzhou area alone, over 7,000 villagers died from disease in the period of a year.
Russian prisoners of Unit 731 were often Soviet political prisoners captured by the Kempeitai in Manchuria, or civilians in Harbin. Read more on the Russian victims of Unit 731 here.

Post-war Conclusion

Following Japan’s surrender, twelve officers of Unit 731 were tried by the Soviet Union during the Khabarovsk war crimes trials and were sentenced to prison. Despite this, however, many of the officers that forefronted the crimes against civilians were granted immunity and a paid stipend by the United States government in exchange for research data. To cover up the exchange of resources between the United States and Unit 731’s members, the data and impact of Unit 731 was swept under the rug, concealed, and ignored. It was later found that much of the research provided by Unit 731 was inapplicable to most scientific contexts, and therefore useless.

There are no known survivors of Unit 731. Any survivors within the facility following World War II were swiftly murdered, and the grounds incinerated, leaving little trace of its existence. Those affected or adjacent to Unit 731’s crimes were never properly given justice by government forces, and instead, Unit 731’s crimes against humanity have been purposefully ignored and forgotten with time.

The following collections explore further into the atrocities committed by Unit 731 and adjacent programs.