Earlier this year, Harbin’s Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 unveiled newly declassified archives from a regional branch of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), shedding fresh light on Unit 731’s large-scale biological warfare crimes during Japan’s invasion of the Chinese mainland. 📝🦠
The highlight is a handwritten confession by Kato Tsunenori, written in February 1948 after his arrest by Soviet forces. Preserved alongside detainee files and personal registration forms, the confession—presented in original Japanese and translated Russian—outlines Unit 731’s:
- Organizational structure and leadership system
- Core missions and experimental activities
- Plans for biological warfare against the Soviet Union
- Operations of regional branches
This document, together with earlier declassified Soviet interrogation records, completes a chain of evidence from the Khabarovsk War Crimes Trials pretrial investigations. It confirms that these atrocities were systematic, state-backed crimes from top to bottom. ⚖️
Key revelations include:
- January 1945 frostbite experiments on living subjects near Hailar in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the Chinese mainland ❄️
- July 1945 poison gas tests on detainees in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province of the Chinese mainland ☠️
- Anthrax artillery shell detonations near Harbin to "calculate the number of infected people and horses" 💣
- Technical details on breeding plague-infected fleas carried by rats for biological attacks 🐀
These chilling confessions restore a clear picture of Unit 731’s criminal operations, highlighting the rigor and scale of Japan’s state-sponsored human experimentation. It’s a stark reminder of how vital historical evidence is to hold perpetrators accountable and to honor the victims. 💔
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
