Unit 731 Interview Transcript
Reporter: Hello and welcome back to radio station 119.3 where we bring you the latest interviews of the century! Today we have a special segment dedicated to unit 731, Asian Auschwitz that took place before World War 2. For those who do not know what happened, Unit 731 was based at the Pingfang district of Harbin, the largest city in the Japanese ‘puppet state’ of Manchukuo, which is now known as Northeast China. General Shiro Ishii was the leader of the Army Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory. Within this group was a secret organisation known as the “Togo Unit”, which conducted chemical and biological investigations in Manchuria. Here with us now, is expert historian Dr Sun who will be providing us with a more thorough examination into this topic. Sharon, could you give us a background of what happened?
Expert: During this time, many prisoners of war and civilians were victimized under the rule of General Ishii. He was a microbiologist who studied medicine at Kyoto Imperial University. In 1920, after completing university, he joined the Army Medical Corps. 8 years later, he decided to tour the Western hemisphere, specifically visiting the United States and Europe, aiming to gather as much information so he could learn all he could about the use of bacteriological weapons they used in World War One. After finally getting permission, Ishii began to acquire the means to set up a secret research laboratory in the new Japanese-invaded province of Manchuria in China. In 1936, at a formal gathering, where he was celebrating the commencement of the project, Ishii outlined the purpose of the laboratory. He told those who gathered, “Our God-given mission as doctors is to challenge all varieties of disease-causing micro-organisms; to block all roads of intrusion into the human body; to annihilate all foreign matter resident in our bodies; and to devise the most expeditious treatment possible. However, the research upon which we are now about to embark is the complete
Expert: During this time, many prisoners of war and civilians were victimized under the rule of General Ishii. He was a microbiologist who studied medicine at Kyoto Imperial University. In 1920, after completing university, he joined the Army Medical Corps. 8 years later, he decided to tour the Western hemisphere, specifically visiting the United States and Europe, aiming to gather as much information so he could learn all he could about the use of bacteriological weapons they used in World War One. After finally getting permission, Ishii began to acquire the means to set up a secret research laboratory in the new Japanese-invaded province of Manchuria in China. In 1936, at a formal gathering, where he was celebrating the commencement of the project, Ishii outlined the purpose of the laboratory. He told those who gathered, “Our God-given mission as doctors is to challenge all varieties of disease-causing micro-organisms; to block all roads of intrusion into the human body; to annihilate all foreign matter resident in our bodies; and to devise the most expeditious treatment possible. However, the research upon which we are now about to embark is the complete