Page 214 - MaterialsTrial-JapaneseArmy-1950

President of the Court: Operations Order No. 224 of the Kwantung Gendarmerie will be
read out. Simultaneously, a translation of the document will be made in Japanese. The
accused may use the earphones at their disposal.

State Prosecutor: Accused Yamada, was this order issued by the Gendarmerie subordinated
to the Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army?

Accused Yamada: It was an order of commander of Gendarmerie General Shirokura, who
served prior to my appointment to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army.

Question: I understand that. But when you took over the post of Commander-in-Chief of
the Kwantung Army, did you abolish this practice of consigning human beings to the Ishii
Detachment, or did you not?

* See p." 165. ** See pp. 183-86.

Answer: No, I did not annul this order, but I regarded it as a temporary order which did not
have subsequent validity.

Question: You regarded it as a temporary order. But are you now convinced by the
document just presented to you, that in 1943 people were being sent by the Kwantung
Gendarmerie to the Ishii Detachment for annihilation?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Was the Kwantung Gendarmerie at that time under the subordination of the
Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army—General Umezu, your predecessor?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And when, in 1945, Colonel Tamura reported to you on the visit of inspection he
made to Detachment 731 on your instructions, didn't he tell you that persons were being held
for purposes of experimentation in Detachment 731 's inner prison?

Answer: Yes, Colonel Tamura did tell me this.

Question: And when General Kitano reported to you on the researches on bacteriological
weapons, did he not tell you that Detachment 731 was performing experiments on living
people?

Answer: Yes, he did tell me this; but when it was, I cannot recall exactly. And it was just
by way of information as to the results of experiments in sprinkling plague fleas from aircraft,
but not in the form of a report.

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