Japanese veteran recalls germ warfare

cctv.com 08-29-2005 13:35

Japan was the only country to use biological weapons during the Second World War. To develop those weapons, the Japanese military set up germ research centers across China. One of these was the infamous Unit 7-3-1 based near Harbin, capital of the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. More than 3-thousand Chinese people were killed in experiments at the unit. Now, in the second installment of our special series to mark the 60th anniversary of China's victory in the war against Japanese aggression, a Japanese veteran who served in Unit 731 tells his story.

In Chiba, Japan, an old man in his eighties often visits a small shrine in the mountains in remorse for what he did in China more than 60 years ago.

In May 1939, 16 year old Yoshio Shinozuka was sent to China and assigned to the Japanese military's Unit 731. There, he and other young soldiers learned about biological warfare, including how to develop deadly germs.

Japanese Veteran Yoshio Shinozuka said, "I remember the spring of 1940, we were ordered to develop a large quantity of germs. Later we learned that these germs were transported to Nanjing and other parts of China, causing catastrophe for the people."

In 1942, Shinozuka started to take part in experiments on human beings. He was afraid when he first conducted surgery on a live person, but he got used to it. After three operations, Shinozuka's superior officer told him that he was qualified.

The Veteran also said, "Typhoid, cholera, anthrax, we bred these germs. That was what we did every day. When we got them, we used them to infect Chinese people who we had seized to test their effects. Through the experiments, we made the germs more deadly. We have a great deal of guilt."

These biological weapons were delivered secretly to various parts of China. One of the major incidents was on November the 4th, 1941, when Unit 731 waged germ warfare in Changed in Central China's Hunan Province, causing three outbreaks of bubonic plague in two years. More than 150 thousand Chinese civilians were killed.

The war is over, but for years, the Japanese government denied the existence of these units. On August 27 2002, Tokyo's local court ruled that the Japanese military HAD launched biological warfare in China, killing civilians, but as usual, it dismissed claims for compensation from the Japanese government.

Yoshio Shinozuka was imprisoned in the northeast of China after the war. After he was released in 1956, he returned to Japan. With deep regret over what he did in China, Shinozuka appeared in court many times to testify for the Chinese victims.

Shinozuka has pledged that he will spend the rest of his life appealing for justice for the Chinese victims.

Editor:Liu Fengming  Source:CCTV.com