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Unit 731 Testimony

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Hal Gold, Unit 731: Testimony (Yenbooks, 1996)

Over the fifty years since World War II, we have been made aware of atrocities committed during those years. We are most aware of Nazi Germany; less in the consciousness, but still a part of the common knowledge, is Stalin's treatment of Russians during and after the war. But the actions of the Japanese army in China during the thirties and forties-- and their ultimate consequences-- have gone largely unreported in the Western press. Americans were first made aware of the scope and depth of Japan's war crimes in the late 1980s by two investigative journalists, Williams and Wallace, in their book Unit 731: Japan's Secret Biological Warfare in World War II. Soon after, Godfrey Ho released the first of four exploitation films based on the activities of Unit 731, called Men Behind the Sun (a film partially subsidized by the Chinese government). Gradually, Americans became more aware of what happened (especially in the case of the Rape of Nanjing), but the numbers-- conservative estimates put the death toll in China between 1930 and 1945 at thirty million-- and the specific case of Unit 731 are still largely unknown to Americans.

Hal Gold fires another shot in the battle to set things right with his book Unit 731: Testimony. During 1993 and 1994, an exhibition based on the activities of Unit 731 toured Japan, and a handful of ex-Unit 731 personnel testified about their actions and the actions of others. It was the first time the Japanese government had allowed evidence that Unit 731 even existed to be publicized. Gold's book starts with a history of Unit 731, and then provides transcriptions of many of the testimonies given during the exhibition.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about Unit 731: Testimony is the quotidian attitude of the employees recounted in much of the testimony. While a number mentioned initial pangs of conscience once they realized what it was Unit 731 was actually doing, almost all of them say that they simply got used to it. And we think kids are desensitized to violence today? Wonder what the average teen would do if he found himself in a room where a live vivisection, without benefit of anesthesia, were being performed.

Gold gets his message across by being invisible. He puts the facts on the table as plainly as possible, and then lets the testifiers speak for themselves. The facts lead to one conclusion: the U. S. government (and specifically MacArthur and Truman) were fully aware of the activities of Unit 731, which turned over all surviving test results and documents in exchange for immunity against war crimes prosecution (many of MacArthur's surviving memos and letters dealing with Unit 731 strongly imply that the general didn't consider those activites to be war crimes at all). Allegations were made during the Korean War that the United States, with help from Unit 731 commander Shiro Ishii, carried out a biological attack on Pyongyang. Gold never conclusively proves the case, but the circumstantial evidence points to the conclusion that those allegations are true.

The testimonials, on the other hand, speak volumes before they are even read. Japan is changing, as a culture, and the government's ability to allow the disclosure of fifty-year-old state secrets are a promising beginning. (As a side note, Gold also mentions at least three aborted operations the Japanese were considering that would almost certainly have altered the course of the war. It really makes one think to realize that the Japanese had a submersible aircraft carrier sitting not far off the coast of Oregon-- and decided not to use it.)

This is a powerful book, and one that should become a standard text in twentieth-century history classes. In terms of scale and in terms of horror, the Japanese occupation of what they called Machuria was the chief atrocity of the twentieth century. And you know what they say about history forgotten. ****

Unit 731 Testimonial is written as a sort of follow-up to a nationwide tour of the Unit 731 exhibition in Japan. This exhibition sought to educate Japanese citizens on what had been until recently an ignored part of their history.

What made these exhibits intereresting, and this book, is that it worked as a forum for veterans and victims alike to recount their stories. Privates, doctors, secret police all came out to speak (some anonimously) about their role in the horrific activities of Unit 731.

Unit 731 Testimonial does not describe the history of the Japanese Bilogical Warfare research. Rather it concentrates on the actual experiences of people involved in the human experiments. Some of those quoted were truly ignorant of what Unit 731 was really doing, others had suspicions, while a few knew in detail. Some of those quoted did not actually participate in Unit 731's activities, but had been personally involved in similar atrocities and compelled by the exhibit to recount.

Unit 731 is invaluable as a resource in understanding the mentality of the Japanese involved in BW related atrocities during World War II.

Although the majority of literature on WWII atrocities focuses on Nazi Germany and it's "Final Solution," other horrible acts were being committed as well in Asia by the Russians and Japanese.
Among these were Stalin's Gulags, the Japanese comfort women, Bataan Death March and Rape of Nanking.
Gold's book, "Unit 731: Testimony," takes a look at another wartime atrocity the Japanese have refused to own up to for the past 50 years: a program set up by the military to experiment with biological weapons on humans and other heinous human tortures that were expounded as "scientific advancement."
Gold's book is divided into two sections, a Historical Overview in which he explains how the idea of a human experimentation lab began in the Russo-Japanese War and became a horrific reality due to one man, Ishii Shiro; and a second section in which testimonies are given on criminal acts by the participants, including researchers, Kenpeitai officers, nurses and professors.
The historical overview lays out factual groundwork of Unit 731 and gives explicit details on some of the experiments, including live autopsies, biological tests and frostbite trials; which is some of the most disturbing literature I have ever read. Even as the bilogical weapons scare makes the headlines today, Gold gives proof that this isn't a new event in the world as the Japanese unleashed fleas with the Cholera disease on the Chinese citizens. After the war is over in 1945, Gold continues to explain how Unit 731 was covered up (with American help), and how some of the war-time criminals became wealthy professors and businessmen in Japan and set up world-wide companies like Green Cross. Gold also discusses the Japanese's unwillingness to admit their guilt about such crimes and how the majority of the Japanese citizens either don't know of their country's war-time atrocities or scoff at such notions as unfair accusations. (And people wonder how there are nut-jobs out there who dispute the Holocaust as ever happening.)
The testimony section is equally as shocking in that the participants recall their brutal crimes with some even trying to defend their actions.
Overall, this is a very disturbing and powerful book that I highly recommend. It's one of those books where the reader is shocked as they read the words and a book that will force the reader to keep thinking about it even if they are not reading it at the time. I can only give it four stars though in that as Gold cites very good sources on Unit 731, including personal testimony, he hints at some very serious allegations about the US during the Korean War, including biological bombs dropped by US Troops and the creation of the AIDS virus by the American military, that he gives no evidence to. To throw out accusations like that should force the author into making two choices - backing it up with facts, documents, or other info - or leaving it out of the book.

The past year I had the opportunity to work in Japan. I was excited about this as I have had a interest in Japan for a while. Before I say anything about the book I want to mention that all the Japanese people I met and befriended were/are some of the most honest and loyal people that I have had the pleasure to have met. However, one thing did bother me. I came across Unit 731 in an English speaking newspaper but I had no idea what it meant. I talked to one of my expat friends to see if he knew what Unit 731 was. I was shocked to find out the truth of Unit 731. What even shocked me more was the fact that most Japanese people deny that Unit 731 ever existed. I had some of my students write term papers about how people from other countries(the US) made these stories up to make Japan look bad. My girlfriend who is Japanese even has the same opinions as some of my students, even though she has read the book and many others that deal with subjects about Japan's war record. This book was helpful to understand the horrors of war which hopefully will not be repeated again.

Most of the information that you read on World War II involves the battles for Europe or the Pacific. We have books on the German concentration camps. But very few books are written on Japanese atrocities. This is one that should be read. With personal testimonies from the perpetrators this book adds an additional insight into what happened.

Along with the almost unreadable atrocities committed on the prisoners of Unit 731 was the almost unbelievable cover up contributed to by the United States government. In exchange for the secrets that the Japanese government had unravelled about biological weapons and the effects of frostbite, etc on the human body. The U.S. government was definately up to speed on what had happened but blocked the Japanese from being held accountable at pacific war crimes trials in exchange for all the information that the Japanese government provided. Everything was turned over to the U.S. This is something that needs to be explored more in depth and I would be interested to read.

All in all, this was a very good book. At times the thought of these things being done to human beings is almost incomprehensible, but it did happen. This is a book to read.

A sad episode in human history, this book details the inhuman and sadistic human experimentations perpetrated by the Japanese military, primarily on the populace of China. The evil deeds included vivisection, freezing human subjects to study frostbites, and spreading airborne biological agents to target populations. A clear indictment of Japanese military which lost its accountability to its government and the people, as it had happened in Nanking, China.

While I was reading this book, I was also reading "77 Samurai" by Lewis Bush, which is about Japan's first embassy to the United States. The two books presented interesting contrasts. "77 Samurai" gave a portrayal of Japanese people who were ready to open their doors to the outside world, after a self-imposed seclusion of 250 years, eager to learn everything they could. Less than one hundred years later, they were embarking on their conquest of China, Korea, and Souteast Asia with wanton disregard of human lives, as detailed in this book. These two books present the benevolent and the evil sides of human race. The question is, how can the same people act so differently and are the rest of us any different?

The books contains many first-hand accounts from the participants of the experiments in Unit 731, which lends the book much credibility.

Disturbing contents but very well written. A great read!

I found this book while in the states because I have not seen it in Japan. This book sparked my interest because I recently saw a Japanese TV documentary on unit 731 which pretty much delivered the facts, even going as far a visiting the acutal site in China and interviewing the curator of the Unit 731 museum there. A reader mentioned that this kind of stuff is not taught in schools (I think it should be) but the program was aired during prime time which surprised me. I could not believe that there was one reader who said it was all lies(including the book Rape of Nanking!) Maybe he missed that program.

The book deals with the specialized Japanese Unit that focused on immoral and illegal experiments (very much like the Joseph Mengala experiments of Nazi Germany). Not only does the book deal with the 'whats' and 'hows', but also presents the 'whys'. In addition, The stories are often written in the first person account. I especially liked the inclusion of the history of Japanese medicine (particularly its prestige and former exceptional medical record). Also, the focus on Ameican cover up after WWII was relevant.

Mr. Gold's book fills an important niche in the historiography of this gruesome crime that even today is not acknowledged by the Japanese government. The testimony of the many participant "butchers" are shocking since so few express genuine remorse for what they did. In absolving former emperor Hirohito of any responsibility for the war, the dye was cast for the latter day denial by both citizens and government. In fact the charter for setting up unit 731 was approved by the emperor. Today while every nazi camp guard is hunted down relentlessly, these major criminals-- who injected horrendous substances into people (i.e. horse urine, acetone etc.) who forced people to drink liquid mustard gas, who subjected people to pressure chambers until their eyes popped, froze/burned people alive to observe their resistance to temperature extremes and dissected women without anesthesia and took their babies and killed them --have gone unpunished.
While we condemn Dr. Mengele and his henchmen, what unit 731 did both in scale and devious ways of torturing and killing people surpasses Mengele. To compound this horrible crime, the estimated 10,000 or so victims who died in these experiments must be turning in their watery graves (their ashes were mostly dumped in the river) to know that general McArthur exchanged the gruesome data of their experiments for the freedom from prosecution of these brutes. All people with a sense of justice should demand that a full accounting be made of this crime of which we still know so little.

This book is probably not only an indictment of Japanese Human Biological Experiments but a condemnation of a US military industrial system that allowed the perpetrators to escape as long as the data fell into US hands and not the Soviets.

Basically before WWII the Japanese where world leaders in military medicine and during the Manchurian invasion took Chinese POWs to death camps for medical experimentation to advance science under the guidance of Professor Ishii Shiro, one of the most respected members of the Japanese medical community. The experiments were deemed so advantageous and necessary that the Japanese military built fortresses entirely devoted to human experimentation and bacteria stockpiling. This involved injecting a rat with a bacteria and then allowing a flea in a jar to feed on the rat. By creating stockpiles of infected fleas they would then design bombs to drop the fleas into towns and cities, but not before they experimented on POWs first. One experiment involved arranging POWs tied to crosses in circles in a field and then detonating the infected flea bombs in the centre to see how far the fleas could travel before infecting the host.

One of the most documented human experiment programs took place in a location called "Ping Fang" and included surgical work done on POWs not under anaesthetics, freezing POWs for frostbite tests and infecting POWs with Cholera, Epidemic Hemorrhagic Fever and THE PLAGUE all of which this book ties to the Japanese civil sector and the government under the control of a special branch called Unit 731.

This book even describes Japanese attempts at launching biological attacks on America and how after America took control of the Japans the whole thing was kept quiet so that the US military could get hold of the data as part of its Cold War. The second half of this important book is devoted entirely to witness testimony and confessions. The Japanese or US government have never admitted to these war crimes but the evidence is now available for everyone to see. Many of the death camps and human experimentation factories are still standing today. This is a pocket sized book, but an essential read. My only critic is that it does not contain some of the more famous photographs of Unit 731 in action.

This is an essential history lesson that is still a holocaust in denial.