Page 132 - Unit 731 Testimony

people as consumable materials. But at that time I was so involved, I was
unaware of reality. In those days, when you said the word tenno
["emperor"] and you weren't at attention when the syllable te came out, you

got your face slapped. This is the first time for me to speak about those days
in front of people. My recollection might not be complete, so please forgive
me.
One more thing. I cannot give my name yet, but when the time comes,
I will identify myself and speak openly about the facts of war, the value of

life.

Hygiene specialist (Wano Takeo)

[Wano was attached to Unit 731's Medical Examination and Treatment
Center outside of Harbin. He spoke at Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, in
July 1994.]
The Unit 731 examination and treatment center was separated from

unit headquarters, so it is less well known. At the time, there were a lot of
cases of communicable diseases, and our work was examination, treatment,
and prevention of disease for army personnel and their families. The Harbin
Army Hospital was inside the city, but our operations were located away
from it. We averaged about seventy patients per day.

Our building was called the south wing, a wooden structure built by
Unit 731. Next door was a brick building, and I saw the Ishii water
purification machine in there. When I went there, the building was not
finished yet and I was assigned to Pingfang for a while.

In our work, the biggest fear was the danger of getting infected
ourselves, with plague and other diseases. When a plague patient came in
everyone was so careful of cuts that we avoided shaving.

My main work was examining blood, urine, and feces, and looking for
changes in hemoglobin. During the four years I was at the south wing I
made frequent visits to the headquarters at Pingfang. I also had to go into
the prisons to deliver the blood samples that I brought from our division,
and receive blood samples and tissue specimens.