Page 50 - Marutas of Unit 731

e diversity of prisoners ensured the reliability of the research data. Each

prisoner was assigned a number that started with 101 and ended at 1500.

Once 1500 was reached, they began again at 101, which made it impossible

[21]
to de termine how many actually fell victim to Unit 731. No one was
allowed to sur vive Unit 731 alive. “If a prisoner sur vived the inoculation of

lethal bacteria, this did not save him from rep eated exper iments, which were
continued until death from infection super vened. e infected victims were

given medical treatment in order to test various met hods of restoring

soundness. ey were fed normally and, aer full recover y, were used for the

next experiment and infected with another type of ger m. Ultimately, no one
[22]
ever le this death factor y alive.
Since Unit 731 had been labelled a lumber mill to the locals, most either

did not worr y about the complex or were too afraid to do so. e role of

prison warden was assigned to Ishii’s own brother, Mitsuo, to ensure no
[23]
secret leaked out.

A researcher named Ueda Yataro later recalled his exper ience with a
maruta who shared a cell with four other victims. “He was already too weak

to stand. e heavy leg irons bit at his legs. When he moved, they made a

full, clanking sound. His fellow cellmates sat around him and watched him.

Nobody spoke. e water in the toilet was running with an ominous sound.

In the corridor outside the cell, the guards stood with their pistols strapped
on. e commander of the guards also was there. e man’s screams of

death had no effect on them. is was an ever yday occurrence. ere was

nothing special. To these guards, the people in here have already lost all

rights. eir names have been exchanged for just a number written across

the front of their shirts and the name maruta. ey are refer red to only as
‘Maruta Number X.’ ey are counted not as one person or two persons but