Page 18 - MaterialsTrial-JapaneseArmy-1950
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the Japanese Army. . . . The function of the epizootic units was to prepare for and conduct
bacteriological warfare and sabotage against the Soviet Union. ..." (Vol. 11, pp. 53-54.)
Accused Kawashima testified as follows with regard to Japan's intensification of
preparations for bacteriological warfare in 1941:
". . . During one of my visits to General Ishii in the summer of 1941, after Germany had
begun war on the Soviet Union, General Ishil, referring in the presence of divisional chiefs
Lieutenant Colonel Murakami and Colonel Oota Akira to the need for intensifying the
detachment's activities, read out to us an order of the Chief of the Japanese General Staff
insisting upon the speeding up of research work on plague bacteria as a means of
bacteriological warfare. The order made special mention of the need for the mass breeding of
fleas as plague carriers." (Vol. 3, pp. 28-29.) Speaking of Japan's state of preparedness for
bacteriological warfare at the time of Hitler Germany's attack on the U.S.S.R., accused Nishi,
formerly Chief of the Training and Education Division of Detachment 731, testified:
". . . By the time of Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941 and the concentration of
the Kwantung Army in Manchuria on the borders of the Soviet Union, the research work of
Detachment 731 in the sphere of devising effective means of bacteriological attack had in the
main been completed, and the detachment's activities were now directed to perfecting the
process of mass production of bacteria and the means for their dissemination. It was
established that plague bacteria were the most effective means of attack." (Vol. 7, p. 124.) In
1942, detachments 731 and 100 carried out special reconnoitring operations in the border
areas of the Soviet Union in preparation for bacteriological warfare. For several years before
that, on the orders of the Headquarters of the Japanese Kwantung Army, Detachment 100 had
systematically sent bacteriological parties to the borders of the Soviet Union, where they had
contaminated water sources, notably in the Tryokhrechye area, as a sabotage move.
These facts are established by the testimony of accused Hirazakura and Mitorno, as well as
of Yoshikawa and other witnesses. (Vol. 12, pp. 94 and 192; Vol. 13, pp. 57-58.)
With the object of testing the effectiveness of bacteriological weapons, Detachment 100 in
September 1944 held so-called manoeuvres on the Anta proving ground of Detachment 731.
The manoeuvres were attended by representatives of the Headquarters of the Kwantung
Army.
Witness Fukuzumi Mitsuyoshi, who was present at these manoeuvres, testified:
". . . Research in methods for the mass employment of bacteria was conducted by means of
experiments on special proving grounds, special apparatus and aircraft being used. Large-
scale experiments of this kind were called 'manoeuvres.' Such 'manoeuvres' were held in
September 1944 at Anta Station. . . . The experiments were made on 300 cattle and sheep.
This experiment showed good results, as all the animals were infected and died.
Representatives of the Headquarters of the Kwantung Army arrived by plane to witness these
manoeuvres." (Vol. 13, p. 49.)
In 1945 there was a second period of intensified activity by detachments 731 and 100 and
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