THE NOTORIOUS MARUTA PROJECT
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit to a military air base has brought back horrific memories to those who understand the symbolic meaning behind the numbers “731”. During WWII, those numbers stood for a covert biological and chemical research unit of the Japanese Imperial Army, stationed in the district of Harbin in Northeast China. Officially, and quite cleverly termed “The Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department”, this secret research group conducted biological and chemical experiments on humans beings, subjecting them to a style of gruesome torture not that dissimilar to what was being conducted at the same time in Germany by Nazi physician Josef Mengele (aka the “Angel of Death”).
Insiders referred to this research unit as the Maruta Project. Just to be clear, the English translation of the Japanese word means “log” or “wood”, which tells you right away how these scientists viewed their human subjects. Using a wide cross-section of the population and sparing no one (i.e. elderly, children, babies, pregnant women, political prisoners, common criminals, etc.), the vast majority of these poor souls came from China and Russia. Although it is estimated that close to 10,000 people died during the experiments, hundreds of thousands more lost their lives after researchers applied what they learned to the masses.
In order to study the potential for germ warfare, some of the human subjects were deliberately infested with germ-carrying fleas or injected with diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea. Others underwent invasive surgery (some without anesthesia) and had parts of their brain, lungs, stomach and liver removed. Or some had limbs amputated in order to study blood loss (with some later being reattached to the opposite side of the body) or limbs frozen and then thawed to study the effects of gangrene. Many others were just deprived of food and water to determine how long until the time of death.
While some of these god-awful experiments were being conducted inside laboratories, many others were performed outside while the victims were tied up to stakes and used as “targets” to test grenades, chemical warfare and germ-releasing bombs. Others were placed into centrifuges and spun until death, injected with animal blood, exposed to lethal doses of x-rays, or burned or buried alive.
The result of all this “testing” and experimentation led to the death of more than 500,000 Chinese civilians from cholera, anthrax and the plague introduced via aerial spraying and bombs of flea infected clothing and supplies. There were also biological attacks on agriculture and water reservoirs and wells, which also infected the population with typhoid, dysentery, cholera and anthrax. Or some simply died from poisoned food or candies that were given out to unsuspecting children and adults.
Although I will never understand how anyone could ever perform such torturous acts upon another human being, I am just as shocked by the US government’s reaction to these war crimes. After the war ended and Japan had surrendered, Commander Douglas MacArthur secretly granted immunity to the 731 physicians in exchange for the research they had done on biological warfare. The Soviet Union, however, pursued these atrocities and prosecuted 12 top military leaders and scientists during the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials, where they received between 2 and 25 years in a Siberian labor camp. While these trials were going on, the US responded by referring to them as “communist propaganda”. Sadly, soon after, the Soviet Union built their own biological weapons facility in Svendlovsk (referred to as “Compound 19”) and was accused of also benefitting from the 731 research. Apparently, not a single journalist has been allowed in the compound since 1992.
Although some Japanese people are in denial that their government could have been responsible for these horrific and unconscionable acts against humanity, there are others who just want to forget it or pretend it never happened. But there are many others who are outraged and angry over Prime Minister Abe’s smiling face and thumbs up and view it as “proof” that his government is dangerous.
Copyright © 2013 (Michelle Parsons, Getting Back on Your Path). All Rights Reserved.
