Page 103 - MaterialsTrial-JapaneseArmy-1950

service work.

In the beginning of November 1940, after graduating from the Nakano School, I was
placed at the disposal of the Chief of the Harbin Military Mission, Major General Yanagita. I
served in the Harbin J.M.M. for about three months and was then appointed Assistant Chief
of the Tryokhrechye Japanese Military Mission in the village of Dragotsenka (Manchuria)
where I served until the end of January 1945; in February 1945, I was transferred to the
Hogoin camp as chief of the camp.

I served at the Hogoin, which in Russian means "Priyut" ("Refuge"), camp for about seven
months, until I was taken prisoner by the Soviet troops, i.e., until August 15, 1945.

The Hogoin camp, or "Scientific Research Division," as it was otherwise called, was under
the charge of the Harbin Military Mission, the chief of which at that time was Major General
Akikusa. The Hogoin camp had accommodation for 150 men and in it were confined Soviet
citizens who for various reasons had found themselves on Manchurian territory and had been
arrested by Japanese frontier and police detachments. Only men were confined in the Hogoin
camp, and they were employed on various agricultural work in the food supply farm. The
camp regime was severe and for the slightest violation of the regime the offenders were
punished, especially those who had intentions of escaping from the camp. Such men, with the
permission of the Harbin J.M.M., I sent to Detachment 731 of the Kwantung Army.

Question: Tell us, what is this Detachment 731 of the Kwantung Army?

Answer: When I started work, after reading the instructions, I thought that Detachment 731
was a penal battalion of the Kwantung Army, but later I learned that Detachment 731 was a
laboratory, where experiments were performed on Soviet citizens to test the action of all
kinds of bacteria.

Question: When, from whom, and under what circumstances did you learn of this?

Answer: Approximately in the middle of April 1945, when I was at the Harbin J.M.M., I
reported to the Deputy Chief of the J.M.M. Colonel Asada, on the state of the regime at the
camp, and the latter ordered me to carry out the instructions of the Harbin J.M.M. and of the
Kwantung Army Headquarters, which stated that all those who violated the camp regime,
especially those who were inclined to escape, were to be sent to Detachment 731, located
outside of Harbin, in the village of Heibo, 15-20 kilometres from the Hogoin camp. I well
remember that during the conversation Colonel Asada said in general terms that this
detachment was studying the action of bacteria, and mentioned that the Chief of the
detachment was Lieutenant General Ishii, whom I never had occasion to meet.

A month after my conversation with Colonel Asada I learned, also at the Harbin J.M.M.,
from the Chief of the Medical Division, Army Surgeon Sub-Lieutenant Maekawa, that
Detachment 731 was testing the action of bacteria on living people, in particular, on those
men whom I sent to Detachment 731 from the Hogoin camp. In all, I on various occasions
sent about 40 Soviet citizens from the Hogoin camp to certain death; they all died under the
experiments.

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