Page 19 - Unit 731

Introduction

During the Second World War, many heinous events took place. Some of those events affected international relations, some changed the fate of an entire
people, while others caused crises upon all humankind or tremendous consequences upon future generations.
Although the war ended more than seventy years ago, the collective memory and the public history of this war haunt us today: in Poland, Auschwitz
concentration camp lays bare the holocaust of the Jewish people by Germany’s Nazis, while in Japan, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park immortalises the
epic tragedy of the first atomic bomb dropped by the United States in August 1945. Auschwitz and Hiroshima are globally significant historical sites, and
thanks to these and other memorials, we are reminded that a nation that forgets the past is condemned to repeat the mistakes in the future.
Other war crimes of similar magnitude from that period have remained largely unexposed; this book aims to highlight the atrocities committed by the
Japanese on China. The use of live human beings in biochemical experiments and the implementation of germ warfare by Japanese Imperial Army Unit
731 in China during the Second World War are rarely known outside China, particularly not in the Western world.
This book uncovers and details the scope and nature of inhumane and unethical acts by Japanese scientists under the direction of the Imperial Army of
Japan in the massive compound called Unit 731 in Harbin, China. More than a million visitors annually come to this museum in Harbin to grieve, to learn,
and to pay tribute to the victims and view its artefacts and documents.
The horrific legacy of Unit 731 and its relevant material should be preserved and recognised as significant ‘Negative Heritage Properties’, to remind the
world of the importance of peace and the power of mass killing through biochemical war.
The authors uncover and expose the criminal activities of Unit 731 and their impacts both during the war and in the post-war years. Based on scholarly
research, but framed in a style suitable for the general reader, the narrative includes a large number of photographs to illuminate points. We strongly
believe in friendship with the people of Japan and those of Japanese descent, for they were also peace-loving and victims of Imperial Japan’s militarism
during the Second World War.
It is the authors’ hope that readers share our respect for history and humanity, and that they support our conviction that only through historical truth can
there be certain justice for victims, can humanity be safeguarded from repeating the mistakes of the past, and that genuine reconciliation and lasting peace
among nations can be brought about.