Page 109 - MaterialsTrial-JapaneseArmy-1950

to speed up the production of bacteriological means of warfare, General Ishii needed
additional officers.

In this connection, in the beginning of June 1945, Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung
Army, General Yamada, ordered me to visit Detachment 731 to investigate the actual
situation as regards the detachment's personnel as a whole.

General Yamada gave me this order at the Harbin aerodrome at which I had arrived with
him to attend the graduation ceremony of the combined non-commissioned officers' training
units.

At this same aerodrome General Ishii had arrived and met us there. During our
conversation with him General Yamada ordered me to visit Detachment 731, and I
immediately obeyed, going with General Ishii in his car.

Arriving at the detachment's headquarters, I made a detailed investigation of the situation
in the detachment as regards personnel, inspected the laboratories and production premises
and here became definitely convinced that Detachment 731 was a large production base for
preparations to conduct bacteriological warfare and for the mass production of means of such
warfare.

In conversation with me, General Ishii frankly told me that the detachment was preparing
to conduct bacteriological warfare against the Soviet Union, that the results achieved gave
grounds for assuming that the problem of manufacturing bacteriological weapons had been
solved, and that the production capacity created the possibility of manufacturing means of
bacteriological attack on a mass scale.

General Ishii told me that he regarded bacteriological means of warfare as an exceptionally
powerful weapon for the Kwantung Army, the effect of which had been tested by laboratory
experiments as well as by experiments on living people.

General Ishii told me openly that if necessary, the detachment was in a position to hurl
upon Soviet cities an enormous mass of bacteria, which would be spread, in the event of
attack or defence, mainly by dropping them deep in the rear of the Soviet Army.

During my inspection of the detachment's laboratories and production premises, where
lethal bacteria were produced in mass quantities, I became convinced of the truth of Ishii's
statement that Detachment 731 was in a position to commence active bacteriological warfare
against the Soviet Union. I must say frankly that I was literally amazed at the enormous
dimensions on which this lethal production was being carried on, and what I saw exceeded all
my expectations.

In General Ishii's office I saw on the walls several charts, drawings and diagrams,
illustrating the results of experiments in scattering the germs of plague, cholera and other
epidemic diseases with the aid of bombs, grenades, shells, etc., thanks to which I was able
definitely to convince myself of the high effectiveness of bacteriological means of warfare.
Accompanied by General Ishii and three officers, whose names I do not remember, I

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