When the atrocities of world war two are brought up, many people think of the biggest travesties the war caused, like the holocaust and Pearl Harbor. They think of the Jews and Americans slaughtered with almost ungodly techniques, and the countries that committed these war crimes. But one such case never comes to the mind of the average Joe, Unit 731 and its founder, Shiro Ishii. Ishii was born into a rich family on June 25th, 1892 in the Kamo district, Chibe prefecture, and southeast of Tokyo (Byrd 15). Shiro joined the military as soon as possible due to his great love for Japan and the emperor (Ammentorp). During his service, he went to Kyoto Imperial University and joined the medical department, where he would prove to be very proficient …show more content…
It was disguised as a water treatment plant to raise any alarms (Hudson). Unit 731 was used as a location of human experimentation by Shiro, using live patients to test diseases on, and most importantly, the effects and curing of frostbite (Byrd 32). Patients were infected with various diseases such as anthrax and syphilis, and then dissected live, called vivisections, for information (Byrd 29). There was extensive use of the technique, saying that using anesthetic would skew their results and not show the true effect of the diseases on the body (Byrd 30). Rape and torture was frequent, and Ishii showed no mercy for any prisoner (Hudson). The test subjects were usually Chinese and Russian prisoners of war, to which the Japanese showed zero remorse (Byrd 23). Experiments such as removing the stomach and tying the esophagus to the intestines, and removal of limbs from one part of the body and moving it to another area were commonplace, and all under supervision of Ishii (Hudson). Ishii was described as completely emotionless in all the war crimes being committed within his compound, showing how truly evil he was (Byrd