Japanese War Crimes in WWII: Injustice and Immunity
Germany was responsible for a great deal of atrocities that took place in WWII, but not all. Among the many evils committed by Nazis is the experimentation that took place in concentration and death camps. However, Germans were not alone in their efforts to scientifically progress at the expense of others. Another nation, one allied with Germany during WWII, was not unfamiliar with human experimentation. Japan. In the 1930s, Japan developed a biological warfare program that they hoped would equip them with powerful weapons, and officially called it the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army. One of the most notorious units of this program was Unit 731, which was created by Japanese military police, and was later taken over by General Shiro Ishii. The unit was located in Northern China, and it was there that some of the most grotesque human experiments in history were carried out. Subjects for experimentation were taken from surrounding areas. Most victims were Chinese, although some were Russian expatriates (Kristof 2). Many adamant accusations have been made that Allied prisoners of war, and even Americans, were …show more content…
However, the American government still investigated the matter thoroughly, and based on their findings, they granted almost every staff member of Unit 731 immunity in exchange for the research gained from human experimentation (Harris 43). The reasons behind this could have been many. Perhaps the U.S. did not want other countries, namely Soviet, to be in possession of information on biological warfare, or maybe they simply took a rare opportunity to collect information that almost no other country would do so many evil things to obtain. Whatever the cause may be, men responsible for these heinous deeds were not brought to
Germany was responsible for a great deal of atrocities that took place in WWII, but not all. Among the many evils committed by Nazis is the experimentation that took place in concentration and death camps. However, Germans were not alone in their efforts to scientifically progress at the expense of others. Another nation, one allied with Germany during WWII, was not unfamiliar with human experimentation. Japan. In the 1930s, Japan developed a biological warfare program that they hoped would equip them with powerful weapons, and officially called it the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army. One of the most notorious units of this program was Unit 731, which was created by Japanese military police, and was later taken over by General Shiro Ishii. The unit was located in Northern China, and it was there that some of the most grotesque human experiments in history were carried out. Subjects for experimentation were taken from surrounding areas. Most victims were Chinese, although some were Russian expatriates (Kristof 2). Many adamant accusations have been made that Allied prisoners of war, and even Americans, were …show more content…
However, the American government still investigated the matter thoroughly, and based on their findings, they granted almost every staff member of Unit 731 immunity in exchange for the research gained from human experimentation (Harris 43). The reasons behind this could have been many. Perhaps the U.S. did not want other countries, namely Soviet, to be in possession of information on biological warfare, or maybe they simply took a rare opportunity to collect information that almost no other country would do so many evil things to obtain. Whatever the cause may be, men responsible for these heinous deeds were not brought to