Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, a notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment during World War II, identified the crimes of the Japanese army on Tuesday at the site where he served 79 years ago in China.
Shimizu, 94, arrived by plane in the city of Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Monday evening and visited the former site of Unit 731's headquarters building, including the office of the unit commander, the specimen room, and the site of the frostbite laboratory on Tuesday morning.
He recalled that in the specimen room, he had seen a variety of dissected human organs soaked in formalin-filled bottles, and that he had been ordered to collect the bones of prisoners who were used as experimental subjects.
He also went to the Monument of Atonement and Peaceful Non-War to make an apology and repentance. Shimizu expressed his apologies and repentance to the Chinese victims, the victims of Unit 731, and the deceased.
Shimizu was among the last batch of Unit 731 Youth Corps members sent by Japan to Harbin, where he spent more than four months witnessing the war crimes committed by the unit, including the cultivation of pathogens, human dissections and human experiments. He fled China with the retreating Japanese forces on August 14, 1945.
In 2016, Shimizu revealed his identity as a former Unit 731 member and began to expose the atrocities of the Japanese aggressor through public speeches and interviews, aiming to tell historical truths.
This visit is Shimizu's first return to Chinese soil in 79 years. He had previously expressed a strong desire to return to China to pray for the deceased and apologize to their families. The trip was made possible by donations from various Japanese civilian groups.
Overcoming many difficulties to return to China is about hoping that the Japanese authorities can face history squarely, safeguard peace, and not repeat the mistakes of war, Shimizu said.
Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Japanese aggressor that engaged in lethal human experimentation and biological weapons manufacturing in China during World War II. The unit is estimated to have killed between 200,000 and 300,000 people. It was based in the Pingfang District of Harbin, the largest city in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (now Northeast China, formerly named Manchuria) and had active branch offices throughout China and Southeast Asia.
Unit 731 was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes committed by the Japanese aggressor troops. It routinely conducted tests on people who were dehumanized and internally referred to as "logs". Experiments included disease injections, controlled dehydration, biological weapons testing, hypobaric pressure chamber testing, vivisection, organ procurement, amputation, and standard weapons testing. Victims included not only kidnapped men, women (including pregnant women) and children but also babies born from the systemic rape perpetrated by the staff inside the compound.
Former member of Japanese germ-warfare unit identifies war crimes in China
Former member of Japanese germ-warfare unit identifies war crimes in China
Former member of Japanese germ-warfare unit identifies war crimes in China
