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GRAPHIC
Let's talk about plagues and bioweapons in China.
Not in #Wuhan but in Harbin.
What happens when one wicked man seizes control of a good organization?
Meet Shiro Ishii. Founder of Unit 731.
Let's talk about plagues and bioweapons in China.
Not in #Wuhan but in Harbin.
What happens when one wicked man seizes control of a good organization?
Meet Shiro Ishii. Founder of Unit 731.
The Japanese were one of the first major powers to begin seriously studying the effects of disease relating to casualties in war.
Historically most casualties were due to illness, not combat.
Historically most casualties were due to illness, not combat.
During the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 the Japanese Imperial Army began research on treatment of infectious diseases.
Japanese medical care was so effective the Russians abandoned their wounded to be treated by Japanese medical professionals.
Japanese medical care was so effective the Russians abandoned their wounded to be treated by Japanese medical professionals.
In the aftermath of the Japanese victory the Russians ceded Manchuria and the Sakhalin islands.
Shiro Ishii joined the IJA in 1921, and by 1927 began advocating for a biological weapons program.
By 1936 Ishii was the director of Unit 731.
By 1936 Ishii was the director of Unit 731.
Harbin was the largest of the facilities spread throughout the Empire. Covering 6km, it was used as a research, development, and testing site for bubonic plague and other deadly diseases.
The means by which they went about the tests were horrific.
Kidnapped farmers would be placed in the facility, injected with viruses, and vivisected without anesthetic.
Men, women, and children, were all subjects of experimentation. An estimated 300,000 people were killed.
Kidnapped farmers would be placed in the facility, injected with viruses, and vivisected without anesthetic.
Men, women, and children, were all subjects of experimentation. An estimated 300,000 people were killed.
Experiments included studies on plague, frostbite, and STDs.
In the late stages of the war nearly all evidence was destroyed and the men responsible were sworn to secrecy.
Official recognition of the atrocity did not occur until the 1980s when people started to speak out.
In the late stages of the war nearly all evidence was destroyed and the men responsible were sworn to secrecy.
Official recognition of the atrocity did not occur until the 1980s when people started to speak out.
In the aftermath of the WW2 and the early stages of the Cold War the United States and Soviet Union both wanted to seize the research and criminals involved.
Not for justice.
But to use them.
Shiro Ishii, and the majority of the criminals involved, were pardoned.
Not for justice.
But to use them.
Shiro Ishii, and the majority of the criminals involved, were pardoned.
If you want to learn more, read Unit 731 Testimonies.
It is a macabre horror story from start to finish.
It is true, it is important, but I would not recommend exposing yourself the to the horror.
This thread is a very condensed look at a relatively unknown atrocity.
It is a macabre horror story from start to finish.
It is true, it is important, but I would not recommend exposing yourself the to the horror.
This thread is a very condensed look at a relatively unknown atrocity.
