japanese war crimes, unit 731

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#1

I came across unit 731 on the internet…they were a top secret Japenese organization that operated in a complex with 150+ buildings in it. Towards the end of the war the buildings were destroyed to hide evidence of their war crimes. This is disturbing…
(From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731)

A special project code-named Maruta used human beings for experiments. Test subjects were gathered from the surrounding population and were sometimes known as “logs” (maruta 丸太). This term was the result of the feeling of the scientists that killing a prisoner was the same as cutting down a tree. The test subjects ranged from infants, to old people, to pregnant women along with the fetus. Many experiments were performed without the use of anesthetics because it was believed that it might affect the results.

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Vivisection
Live vivisections were performed on prisoners infected with various diseases; scientists would remove organs to study the effects of the disease on the human body.
Prisoners were amputated limb by limb to study blood loss.
Arms were cut off and reattached to opposite sides.
Limbs were frozen and sawed off.
Stomachs were surgically removed and the esophagus was reattached to the intestines.
Parts of brain, lungs, liver, etc were taken out.
Vivisection of a pregnant woman (impregnated by one of the doctors) and the fetus.
[edit]
Weapons testing
Grenade tests used human targets at various distances and positions.
Flame throwers were tested on humans.
Bombs were tested on humans tied to stakes at various positions.
[edit]
Other experiments
Human subjects were deprived of food and water to study the effects and duration before death.
Prisoners were placed in pressurized chambers until they died.
Frostbite experiments were conducted on prisoners to determine how long humans can survive when exposed to extreme temperatures.
Temperature experiments were performed to determine the relationship between temperature, burns, and survival rate.
Prisoners were placed into centrifuges and spun until they died.
Animal blood was injected into humans.
Prisoners were bombarded with lethal doses of x-ray radiation.
Gas chambers tested chemical weapons on prisoners.
Air bubbles were injected into prisoners’ bloodstreams to simulate a stroke.
Sea water was injected into prisoners to determine if it could be substituted for saline.

Also, at the end of the war the US bought the information that the Japenese had gathered, and in exchange they granted the Japenese scientists amnesty.
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731

#2

Read a bit about them, they also tried various methods of surgery on the “Logs”. ie. Shoot one in the stomach and then try to “save” him.

About the yanks taking the info. THey also took NAZI info as well, that had been researched in a similar fashion.

Including tests on subjects who had be frozen to death in tubs of ice cold water!!!

It is a moral discussion looked into in the film “extreme measures” with hugh grant.

Once this info was produced what do you do with it?

The info is there. Do you use it and risk the back lash, or do you throw it away? In both things there are equal arguments.

My view on it has always been, that the info itself is not evil. Only the people who gathered it were.

If someone died to gain that information, and it could help another person live, then it should be used. That original victim, did not die in vain.

To throw the information away, to me, smacks of throwing the victims and the memiories of them away.

#3

yeh i agree, the US wasnt wrong in taking the information although it still disgusts me to think that some of those Japanese scientists got away clean. although i read that the Russians prosecuted some of the scientists but not on a large scale.

also, it is interesting to not that until recently right wing japanese historians were completly denying the existence of unit 731. then, the government admitted that in fact there was a unit 731.

#4

the japanese also toyed with chemical warfare on their “logs”. they injected the plague, malaria, anthrax etc. to see how the victims bodies would react. towards the end of the war they developed a chemical bomb that they almost used against the americans, but they were stopped many times.

#5

The honourable thing to do (by Japanese standards and for once I agree) would be to take the information and then shoot the scientists anyway. Deals made with people without honour don’t count apparently.

#6

thats gotta be among some of the most sickening things i have read/seen

#7

This may an old thread but here’s a link to a 3 part article i wrote on this subject http://www.combatsim.com/review.php?id=729

#8

Trully shocking stuff mate, welcome aboard though. Nice to have some decent articles to debate over. You should maybe get in touch with Temjin and his ww2 site.

#9

Just a little fact for you guys about unit 731. They planned on releasing the plague in san francisco late in the war in an attempt to win/attack/piss off the americans. Cause overall damage basically.

#10

http://roswell.fortunecity.com/skulls/37/unit731.htm

#11

the following story would sound ugly, dont read it if you have already eaten, or perfect if you are planning to lose a few pounds.
in a very cold envionment, a chinese girl would be tied outside the building (-20 degrees). Japanese soldier pouring ice water to the girl for more than 10 hours, then they put the girl’s hand into warm water. Suddenly, one of the japanese officer would use all his strength to pull the girl’s hand, most of the skin would come off like a glove, with only bones left. they did it for entertainment

again in a very cold envioment, a chinese would be force to put his hand in to a very cold places (-20 to -50 degrees). then when his hand are completely frozen, the japanese would smashed their hands with sticks, breaking it up into pieces. Japanese students are around and try to close their eyes, but they are immediately asked to open their eyes again.

chinese in a very high pressure places, where their eyes, the stuff inside his body would pop up slowly, where he eventually be smashed into some sort of minzed meat

japanese would take away the stomach of the chinese. So everything the chinese eat would go directly without being digest. the chinese would die slowly due to hunger. they did it for entertainment

Japanese would cut chinese arms and legs off, then switch places. so that their feet would be on the upper side of the body, while their hands would be on the lower side of the body. They again did this for entertainment

get a chinese and replace his blood with horse blood. the person would die painfully and slowly

#12

Yeah I know about this stuff too. The depictions in my articles was kept to a minimum but during research I was astounded at the sheer number of variations of perverted torture the Imperial Army personnel performed. The detailed events are myriad.

I was in combat and do not shrink from wounds or blood but for a couple weeks of wading through researching all the crap they perpetrated gave me a bizarre mindset. Part of it wasn’t just the atrocities but the maniacal laughter and games they made up. Damn! After ingesting countless depictions and descriptions of things as you mention FW 190 pilot I had this depressed feeling that took days to overcome.

Amazing that 2 completely diverse societies such as Germany and Japan could both conclude that the stuff they did was A-Ok.

#13

i knew about some atrocities the Japanese did towards the Chinese, like the rape of Nanking, but wow, the Japanese scientists were probably worse than the german scientists. This helps me understand why some or many Chinese still resent Japanese.

Were these experiments only conducted on Chinese citizens? What about PoWs?

#14

Jon- some POWs were experimented on also… :frowning:

#15

WoW I never knew they did this stuff .Thats some sick sh*t :evil:

#16

The people of Thailand are still pretty anti-Japanese too.

#17

A little bit off-topic from alephh’s updates:

#18

as you said that the Japanese did some atrocities towards the Chinese(not only Chinese ,should be most of Asian in the WW2),especially in Nanking in December 1937.The Nanking Massacre remains one of the most inhuman and horrifying crimes ever committed in the human civilization history.I come from Nanking and went to the Nanking Massacre memorial for several times before,about 300000 civilians were killed,thousands of feminie was raped ,even some under age…
by the way:According to some chinese books these exeriments also cinducted on some Russian POW(probably was captured in Nomonhan campaign), Korean,and Chinese POW( CCP’s 8th Army & guerilla )
,

#19

The use of bio and chemical warfare by the japaneses is one of the reasons wich I am always said that if they could fabricate a Atomic Bomb, they would use it. :roll:

Off course the 731 unit is far less know than the facts of August 1945.

#20

Saved many a downed airmen floating in the ocean though…