Marutas of Unit 731: Human Experimentation of the Forgotten Asian Auschwitz (Uncovering Unit 731, #2)

by Jenny Chan

Seventy years after the war, through Wang Xuan’s relentless efforts, a means of curing rotten legs finally was found.

Since the U.S. scientists were unable to conduct the same types of human experiments, they were more than eager when the Japanese scientists

offered them their real-world experience in exchange for their freedom.

he invented a water filter that could be carried alongside the troops.[8]

One such test was to drain gradually the victims’ blood to see if death occurred from the lack of blood.[11] The unit drew 500 cc of blood from each prisoner every 3-5 days.

their bodies grew weaker, they were dissected for further research. An average prisoner lasted a maximum of a month. Due to brutal winters faced

best method for treating frostbite and increase th...

“The second squad which was responsible for poison gas, liquid poison; and the First Squad which was responsible for electrical experiments. Two

bandits were used by each squad for the experiments.

16 Chinese prisoners escaped from prison, making it difficult for the Tōgō Unit to sustain confidentiality at the Zhong Ma location.

The complex’s huge size drew international attention and when asked what the structure was, the scientists replied that it was a lumber mill as human subjects were logs, or in Japanese, “maruta”s.

other research centers related to Unit 731. The following are some known research centers related to Ishii’s Network and when they were

Unit 731 had a 10 million yen budget in 1940 alone with 5 million yen to be spent on experimental work by the order of the Emperor.[14]

I beseech you to pursue this research, based on the dual thrill of (1), a scientist to exert efforts to probing for the truth in natural science and research into, and discovery of, the unknown world and (2), as a military person to successfully build a powerful military weapon against the enemy.”[15]

Translation: Map of the location of special unit No. 731, hiding

Unit 731 structures

The buildings in number 7 and 8, nicknamed “Ro” and “Ha”, were very important since they housed the logs and were heavily guarded to ensure secrecy. Building

Buildings 7 and 8 were designed to house 400 inmates, but most believe that an average of 200 inmates were housed at any given time.

Each cell had windows near the floor to make it easier to draw blood samples and

walls were 30-40 centimeters...

technicians in white coats handled the victims who were tied in bags so tightly that their head and feet touched each other.[19]

The infected victims were given medical treatment in order to test various methods of restoring soundness. They were fed normally and, after full recovery, were used for the next experiment and infected with another type of germ.

More important to me than the man’s death was the blood flowing in the human guinea pig’s body at the moment just before his death.

The hand cart disappeared in the direction of the dissection room with the tall chimney looming above.”[24]

observe first-hand how diseases affected each organ once a human dies; the putrefactive bacteria could set in and destroy the result of a good experiment.

“I participated in vivisections. I did them every day. I cannot remember the amount of people dissected. At first, I refused to do it. But then, they would not allow me to eat because it was an order; gradually I changed.”

Experiments were conducted on a Chinese woman with syphilis. Because she was alive, the blood poured out like water from a tap.”

The man was still in front of me as if he was dead. Altogether, six experiments were done on him including one where his arm was amputated. Almost one and a half hour later, the operation ended and he was dead.”

Report “A” described how victims react to anthrax.

males. All subjects infected with anthrax in the study survived around 2-4 days. Descriptions of the vivisections

The “G” Report by Shozo Kondo Toshu concerned the biological effects of glanders.

The “Q” report, also by Shozo Kondo, is a study of the effects of bubonic plague on humans.

Glandular, Cutaneous, or Septicemic Plague, but most of the subjects were infected with the Glandular Plague.

Researching and understanding how germs work was important to Unit 731 since the first division was engaged in breeding plague and cholera germs, gas gangrene, anthrax, typhoid, paratyphoid fever, and other diseases for their use in bacteriological warfare.

Anta Testing Grounds

Anta Testing Grounds were only 146 kilometers north of Harbin, Ishii used a light aircraft for the short flight if the only people traveling were him and his aide.[33]

“… With the available equipment and its rate of output, the Production Division… could manufacture as much as 300 kilograms of plague bacteria monthly, or 800 to 900 kilograms of typhoid germs”.

In Branch 543 of Ishii’s Network in Hailar, there were about 13,000 rats in the summer of 1945.[35]

In particular, the breeding and catching of rodents and the breeding of fleas to be sent to Detachment 731 were intensified, since the spreading of plague germs by scattering plague-infected fleas was regarded as the most effective means of bacteriological warfare.”

Branch 673 of Detachment 731 under my command had been involved in these criminal activities, on my orders all the branch’s service premises and living quarters, equipment, materials, and documents were destroyed by fire, and for the same purpose, on my orders, on August 14, 1945, poison in the shape of potassium cyanide was issued to the entire personnel (120 men) to be taken by them to commit suicide in the event of the danger arising of their being captured by the Soviet forces.”

front. The purpose was to cause epidemics among the civilian population that would result in millions of painful deaths.

bacteria shells filled with plague and anthrax germs, gas gangrene, and other disease producing substances were exploded in direct proximity to victims tied to stakes.

Flags and smoke signals were used to guide the planes and enable them to find the proving ground easily. A special plane took off from Pingfan Station, and when it was over the site it dropped about two dozen bombs, which burst at about 100 or 200 meters from the ground, releasing the plague fleas with which they were charged.

These people were then disinfected and taken back by plane to the inner prison at Pingfan Station, where observation was established over them to ascertain whether they had been infected with plague.”[37]

fragmentation bomb was exploded by electric current about 50 meters away from them. A number of those tested were injured by bomb splinters and simultaneously, as I afterwards learned, infected with anthrax,

ten were injured by shrapnel contaminated with gas gangrene germs and within a week they all died in severe torment.”[39]

From their research, they came out with the designs of these bacteriological bombs.

Later trials were conducted using a suspension of anthrax spores as the payload. The suspension had a concentration of 50 to 100 milligrams of spores per cubic centimeter of liquid.”

“U Bomb—The 30kg U bomb was designed to spray liquids by means of compressed air at a predetermined altitude. The bomb had a detachable nose covering a spray head. It was equipped with an impact nose fuze, a delay tail fuze and a self-timing tail mechanism which operated upon release from the airplane.

Due to the smaller explosive charge, bacterial survival was greater, but the penetrating force of the bomb fragments and area of dispersion was not as great.