Page 201 - MaterialsTrial-JapaneseArmy-1950

Answer: I do. As I stated, the 1st Division of Detachment 731 investigated problems of
bacteriological warfare, the 2nd Division studied the employment of the bacteriological
weapon under field conditions, the 4th Division engaged in the mass production of lethal
germs and also studied methods of storing them.

Question: What division conducted experiments on human beings under laboratory
conditions?

Answer: The 1st Division.

Question: Were the experiments on living people conducted only in the prison, or in other
places as well?

Answer: They were conducted in two ways: in the prison and on the proving ground.

Question: Which of the detachment's divisions experimented on human beings on the
proving ground?

Answer: The 2nd Division.

Question: Will you please describe the detachment's production equipment, its capacity,
and how the bacteria were cultivated.

Answer: I worked as Chief of the 4th Division's Production Section, and I will therefore
first tell about the production equipment of this section.

The equipment for the mass production of germs in this section consisted of two units. I
shall begin with the first unit. It consisted, firstly, of boilers in which the medium for the
cultivation of the germs was prepared. There were four of these boilers, each of about one-ton
capacity. The medium was put into Ishii cultivators, which were contained in specially
designed autoclaves; there were 14 of these autoclaves, each of them capable of holding
about 30 cultivators. It was therefore possible, when working at full capacity, to have 420
cultivators in the autoclaves at one time. There were two refrigerators for cooling the
cultivators. After the medium had cooled, the bacteria were inserted. The bacteria multiplied,
and then were skimmed off. There were two special rooms for this purpose.

Question: What quantity of germs was produced in one month?

Answer: With the 4th Division's equipment operating at maximum capacity, and under
optimum conditions, it was theoretically possible to produce in one month about 300
kilograms of plague germs. But, in practice, only 500 cultivators were used, which made it
possible to produce in one cycle 10 kilograms of plague bacilli, each cultivator yielding 20
grams.

Question: What quantity of typhoid germs could be produced when operating at maximum
capacity?

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