Page 42 - MaterialsTrial-JapaneseArmy-1950

The interrogation is conducted through interpreter Lamanov, Georgi Grig o r i e v i c h,
who was warned of his liability to prosecution under Art. 95 of the Criminal Code of the
R.S.F.S.R.

Signed: Lamanov

Question: You are charged with crimes punishable under Art. 1 of the Decree of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. of April 19, 1943.

Do you plead guilty to the substance of the charge?

Answer: Yes, I fully plead guilty to the charge made against me in the order of December
6, 1949 under Art. 1 of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. of
April 19, 1943, and I wish to state the following:

It is true, from January 1943 to the day I was taken prisoner (August 1945), I served in
Detachment 731 of the Kwantung Army as Chief of Branch 673 and also as Chief of the
Training Division of that detachment.

I took an active part in carrying out the chief function of Detachment 731, namely:
manufacturing bacteriological weapons to be used for conducting war against the Soviet
Union and the Mongolian People's Republic, devising methods of conducting this war and
training cadres for this purpose.

I was well aware of the fact that Detachment 731 and its branches in Sunyu, Hailar,
Linkow and Hailin were engaged in manufacturing weapons for conducting bacteriological
warfare from the moment I arrived in Detachment 731, for already at that time I made myself
familiar with the exhibits, charts and diagrams of the work done by the 1st, 2nd and 4th
divisions of the detachment, with the secret data kept in a special room of the General
Division of the headquarters of Detachment 731.

From January 1943 to July 1944, and then from June to August 1945, I was in charge of
Branch 673 of Detach ment 731 in the town of Sunyu, which was engaged in breeding white
rats, mice and guinea pigs, in catching field rodents and in breeding fleas.

All these were sent to Detachment 731 for the purpose of making bacteriological weapons
that had been taken into commission by the Japanese Army for the purpose of conducting
bacteriological warfare.

In March 1945, owing to the military reverses sustained by the Japanese forces in the
region of the South Seas and to the preparations for war against the Soviet Union, the work of
the Sunyu Branch, as of Detachment 731 as a whole, began to be activized on orders from the
Chief of Detachment 731, Lieutenant General Ishii, in conformity with the operation and
strategical plans of the Kwantung Army.

In particular, the breeding and catching of rodents and the breeding of fleas to be sent to

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