New evidence of Japanese germ-warfare unit from WWII released

New evidence of Unit 731 – a Japanese germ-warfare unit that operated during World War II – was unveiled on Friday in Harbin, the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The evidence includes 3,010 pages of archival documents, 194 minutes of video footage, 312 photographs, 12 postcards and eight letters, exposing Japanese germ-warfare crimes in detail.

Jin Chengmin, curator of the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army, said the latest evidence falls into three main categories.

The first category is criminal evidence and historical materials from official Japanese institutions, including archival documents – core resources for studying Japan's germ-warfare forces.

The second category consists of oral testimonies from members of Unit 731, obtained by the exhibition hall during a 2018 cross-border evidence collection trip to Japan. The third category includes historical evidence of crimes collected from the Japanese public.

The new evidence and historical materials reveal further details of Japan's germ-warfare system and reaffirm that the existence of Unit 731 was a top-down, premeditated, and organized state crime, Jin said.

Friday also marks the 80th anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in World War II and the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the exhibition hall.

(Cover: Footage shows archival documents from official Japanese institutions exposing Japanese germ-warfare crimes. These new pieces of evidence were released by the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. /CMG)

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