Pacific Atrocities Education
  • Home
    • About >
      • FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
    • Support Us >
      • Projects you can support! >
        • Distributing Books
        • Presenting at 112th Annual Meeting of Pacific Coast Branch
        • Summer Research Relocation Fund
    • Contact
  • Stories
    • Videos >
      • Black Hearts (2021)
    • Blog
    • Podcast: Forgotten History
  • Internship
    • Summer 2023 Internship
    • Fall 2022 Internship
    • Summer 2022 Internship
    • Summer 2021 Internship
    • Fall 2020- Spring 2021 Internship
    • Summer 2020 Internship
    • Fall 2019 Internship
    • Summer 2019 Internship >
      • Public History Night
    • School Year 2018-2019 Internship
    • Summer 2018 Internship >
      • 2018 Summer Showcase + Fundraiser
    • Fall 2017 Internship
    • Summer 2017 Internship >
      • 2017 Summer Showcase & Fundraiser
  • Books
  • Archives
  • Resource Page
    • Supplementary Research Guides >
      • Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
        • Map of Unit 731
        • Personnel of Unit 731
        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
      • Rising Sun Flag - Guide >
        • History of the Rising Sun Flag
        • Atrocities Committed Under the Flag
        • Rising Sun Flag in Pop Culture
      • Pinay Guerrilleras - Guide >
        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
        • Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
        • The Legacy of the Asian Women Soldier
      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
        • Singapore World War II Timeline
        • History of World War II in the Pacific
        • History of Singapore
        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
        • Japan's Invasion of the Malay Peninsula
        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
        • Buildup to World War 2
        • The Battle of Hong Kong
        • Life during 3 Years and 8 Months
        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
        • Prisoners of War Camps
        • End of Japanese Occupation
        • War Crimes Trials
      • Siamese Sovereignty - Guide >
        • The Land of Smiles
        • The Thai-Japanese Relationship
        • Phibun’s Domestic and International Policies
        • The Free Thai Resistance Movement
        • Post WW2 Aftermath of Thailand
      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
        • Defendants of Khabarovsk War Crime
        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
        • Experiences at the Human Experimentation Complex
        • Vivisection at the Unit 731
        • Anta Testing Grounds
        • Overall Advance from the Laboratory Creations
        • The End of the War
      • Prince Konoe Memoir - Guide >
        • Who is Prince Konoe?
        • Preparation to Tripartite Pact
        • Emperor Hirohito and Prince Konoe
        • The End of Prince Konoe
      • Competing Empires in Burma - Guide >
        • What was the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • When did the China-Burma-India Theater Happen?
        • Who Fought in the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • The Second Sino Japanese War
        • Japan in the South
        • Operation U-Go
      • Battle of Shanghai - Guide >
        • The Battle of Shanghai. Background
        • Shanghai Before War
        • The First Battle of Shanghai 1932
        • Battle of Shanghai 1937
        • Aftermath of Battle for Shanghai
      • Ishi Shiro - Guide >
        • History of Biological Weapons and The Young Ishii Shiro
        • Establishment in Manchuria
        • Pingfang District - Harbin
        • Failures and Corruption
        • Post War
      • Taiwan The Israel of the East - Guide >
        • Background of Formosa
        • Industrialization of Japan
        • China During WWII
        • Taiwan under Kuomintang
        • New Taiwanese National Identity
      • Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Introduction of Wang Xuan
        • Colonel Memorandum
        • The Beginning of Biological Warfare
        • The Bacteriological Warfare on China
        • Victims in Zhejiang’s Testimonies
        • After the War
      • Rice and Revolution - Guide >
        • The French Colonial Period
        • Anti-Colonial Resistance
        • The Rise of the Communist Movement
        • Imperial Japan’s Entry into Indochina
        • The Portents of Famine
        • The Famine (1944-45)
        • Legacy of the 1944-45 Vietnam Famine
      • Clash of Empires - Guide >
        • Japan’s Imperialist Origins
        • Japan’s Competition against the West: Nanshin-ron and Hokushin-ron
        • Japanese Imperialism Through the Lens of French Indochina
        • The U.S.-Japan Relations and the Pearl Harbor Attack
      • Hunger for Power and Self-SufficiencyI - Guide >
        • The Influence of War Rations on Post-War Culinary Transformations
        • How World War II Complicated Food Scarcity and Invention
        • American Military Innovations
        • Government-Sponsored Food Inventions in Europe during World War II
        • Feeding the Army: The Adaptation of Japanese Military Cuisine and Its Impact on the Philippines
        • Mixed Dishes: Culinary Innovations Driven by Necessity and Food Scarcity
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
Contribute

Poem Written by a Former Employee of Unit 731

6/13/2020

0 Comments

 
by Haddie Beckham
Header graphic featuring photo of Unit 731 building.
Unit 731, led by the infamous Japanese scientist, Ishii Shiro, was a covert laboratory tasked with preparing Japan for chemical and biological war against belligerents. Masscarading as the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department” in Harbin, China, Unit 731 was in fact a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army, conducting barbaric human experimentation on prisoners. Prisoners of war (mainly Chinese, but also Mongolian and Russian) and local alleged criminals were routinely subjected to inhumane testing for biological weapons. Within the prison walls, no less than 3,000 people were murdered annually within the period from 1937–1945 for the sake of developing weapons not only meant for war but also for the destruction of populations. The numbers of humans killed were unknown since they were known as logs or marutas, and were incinerated right after they were experimented on. Additionally, Unit 731 tested biological weapons in the surrounding areas of Manchurian, China, killing an estimated half a million people. 
Right before the end of the war in the Pacific, following the Soviet Union’s declaration of war against Japan, Unit 731 was liquidized between August 9 –13, 1945. Ordered to leave no traces, everything was destroyed and all prisoners were killed (either by poisoning or shooting) and their bodies were burned.
This poem, in the style of a haiku, was written by one of the former workers at Unit 731 more than twenty years after the end of the war in 1969 after the evacuation of the unit from a place near Pingfan. ​
The seventeen stanzas given here are written in the Japanese national form of a haiku. In this case, however, the author wrote 17 different haikus and combined them into an epic. The poem was composed by a former worker at Unit 731 more than twenty years after the liquidation of the unit in 1945 and evacuation of workers from Ping-Fan, China.
The stanzas capture the inhumane experiments and torture that prisoners experienced at Unit 731, the liquidation of the unit, and the aftermath.
The first and second stanzas speak of inhuman frostbite experiments being carried out by the Yoshimura group. After these experiments, the arms of the prisoners would often fall off.
The fourth stanza tells of prisoners who were handcuffed and shackled, often under the scorching sun, delivered to Unit 731.
This stanza also mentions inscriptions made with blood on the walls of the cells of the special prison: “Down with imperialism!” On August 9, 1945, right before the ordered destruction of the Unit, this phrase was discovered on the walls.
Of the seventeen stanzas, the fifth deserves special attention, which refers to an escape from prison. The words "let’s run" or “jailbreak” give reason to believe that we are talking about an event that occurred in a special prison unit.
Unit 731 was a special, strictly guarded prison, from where no one came out alive. The “logs” inside it were brutally exterminated by an average of three people every two days. This does not mean, however, that they did not fight for their freedom.
The biggest manifestation of this struggle was the “logs” riot that broke out in early June 1945. None of the prisoners managed to escape, but they fought valiantly for their lives.
The seventh stanza tells about the burning of corpses of "logs", brutally murdered during the liquidation of the Unit. News of the Soviet Union’s declaration of war against Japan on August 9, 1945, and entrance into Manchuria, forced the Japanese Army to destroy all evidence and remains of testing facilities. 
The eighth stanza speaks of the countless experiments carried out at a special training ground near Anda Station to infect logs with plague using fleas.
The ninth stanza refers to the “Devil is in the appearance of the doctor” - the head of the detachment, Lieutenant General of the Medical Service Shiro Ishii. Ishi was the creator, head, and most important figure of Unit 731 
The tenth stanza tells of the work that began on August 9, 1945 on the evacuation of the detachment and the destruction of detachment structures.
Stanzas eleventh to sixteenth depict the evacuation from Pingfang, crossing the border of China, Korea and toward Japan. This is a story about the flight to Japan of members of Detachment 731, who learned about the end of the war and trembling with fear for their lives at the thought of the crimes they had committed.
The last stanza - about the pagoda monument at the Tama Tokyo cemetery - is very significant.
With the end of the war, the Unit was disbanded, but its members did not lose sight of each other. They organized “societies of fighting friends”, once a year they organize an all-Japanese gathering and maintain “old ties”. In 1958, a pagoda monument was erected at the Tama Cemetery in honor of the souls of the dead members of Detachment 731. Only a few Sanskrit characters are carved on black granite and there are no more inscriptions. It was secretly erected in a cemetery, and the reason for its existence is hidden from people.
A poem about the crucified 
(fragment)
Frozen bodies…
Somebody should draw them.
From fear shakes the hand of the artist
Here is the hand of a criminal,
Turning black, it freezes,
Falling off in a puddle of blood
A dissected living body
The scalpel is sharp,
And the blood on it is becoming cold and caked
Scorching summer heat,
A column of prisoners
The clink of shackles is ominous, moans, weeps.
“Let’s run!” – a call to action,
But a bullet is released
And the only freedom from suffering is death
“Down with imperialism!” –
About such prisoners wrote 
Their blood is on the prison’s walls
In the flaming bonfire
Burn the corpses of prisoners
Еverything is passed to the fire to leave no trace
Crucified on the cross,
Тest subjects of the Unit
 Plague fleas of suffering bring death
The bloodthirsty Devil
Is seen in the appearance of the doctor
Who committed such cruel deeds

​
Picture
Огонь и взрывы.
Пала цитадель,        
Где ненасытный дьявол зло творил
В поту и грязи         
Лица беглецов        
Составы мчатся по степи бескрайней
Тоннели, перегоны    
Копоть, дым
И теснота товарного вагона    
Одно стремленье     
Скрыться, убежать    
Война проиграна. Стенанья, слезы
Пересекли границу!    
Облегченья вздох.    
Усталые, утерли пот с лица    
Усевшись на земле,    
В Пусане ночь,        
В тревожных разговорах провели    
И вот уже видна    
Родная сторона     
Залив Сэндзаки, зелень берегов
На Кладбище Тама    
Безмолвный, безымянный
Гранитный памятник таинственно стоит.
    
Fire and explosions.
The fallen citadel, 
Where the insatiable Devil created evil
In sweat and filth 
The faces of fugitives 
Trains race across the endless steppe 
Tunnels, stages
Soot, smoke 
And the tightness of the freight car 
Only one aspiration 
To vanish, to flee
The war is lost. Moaning, tears
We’ve crossed the border!

A sigh of relief. 

Tired, they wipe the sweat from their faces

Sitting on the ground

Night in Busan 

In anxious conversations

And there it is already visible

The homeland

Senzaki Bay, green coast

In the cemetery Tama

The silent, the nameless 

A granite monument stands mysteriously 

Related Books

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

Pacific Atrocities Education
730 Commercial Street
San Francisco, CA 94108 
​415-988-9889
About
Contact
​Internship
Write for us
​​​
Donate


Topics & Issues
Listen
Read  
Teach
​Archive
Copyright © 2021 Pacific Atrocities Education.
​We are a registered 501 (c)(3) charity. ​
  • Home
    • About >
      • FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
    • Support Us >
      • Projects you can support! >
        • Distributing Books
        • Presenting at 112th Annual Meeting of Pacific Coast Branch
        • Summer Research Relocation Fund
    • Contact
  • Stories
    • Videos >
      • Black Hearts (2021)
    • Blog
    • Podcast: Forgotten History
  • Internship
    • Summer 2023 Internship
    • Fall 2022 Internship
    • Summer 2022 Internship
    • Summer 2021 Internship
    • Fall 2020- Spring 2021 Internship
    • Summer 2020 Internship
    • Fall 2019 Internship
    • Summer 2019 Internship >
      • Public History Night
    • School Year 2018-2019 Internship
    • Summer 2018 Internship >
      • 2018 Summer Showcase + Fundraiser
    • Fall 2017 Internship
    • Summer 2017 Internship >
      • 2017 Summer Showcase & Fundraiser
  • Books
  • Archives
  • Resource Page
    • Supplementary Research Guides >
      • Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
        • Map of Unit 731
        • Personnel of Unit 731
        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
      • Rising Sun Flag - Guide >
        • History of the Rising Sun Flag
        • Atrocities Committed Under the Flag
        • Rising Sun Flag in Pop Culture
      • Pinay Guerrilleras - Guide >
        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
        • Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
        • The Legacy of the Asian Women Soldier
      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
        • Singapore World War II Timeline
        • History of World War II in the Pacific
        • History of Singapore
        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
        • Japan's Invasion of the Malay Peninsula
        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
        • Buildup to World War 2
        • The Battle of Hong Kong
        • Life during 3 Years and 8 Months
        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
        • Prisoners of War Camps
        • End of Japanese Occupation
        • War Crimes Trials
      • Siamese Sovereignty - Guide >
        • The Land of Smiles
        • The Thai-Japanese Relationship
        • Phibun’s Domestic and International Policies
        • The Free Thai Resistance Movement
        • Post WW2 Aftermath of Thailand
      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
        • Defendants of Khabarovsk War Crime
        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
        • Experiences at the Human Experimentation Complex
        • Vivisection at the Unit 731
        • Anta Testing Grounds
        • Overall Advance from the Laboratory Creations
        • The End of the War
      • Prince Konoe Memoir - Guide >
        • Who is Prince Konoe?
        • Preparation to Tripartite Pact
        • Emperor Hirohito and Prince Konoe
        • The End of Prince Konoe
      • Competing Empires in Burma - Guide >
        • What was the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • When did the China-Burma-India Theater Happen?
        • Who Fought in the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • The Second Sino Japanese War
        • Japan in the South
        • Operation U-Go
      • Battle of Shanghai - Guide >
        • The Battle of Shanghai. Background
        • Shanghai Before War
        • The First Battle of Shanghai 1932
        • Battle of Shanghai 1937
        • Aftermath of Battle for Shanghai
      • Ishi Shiro - Guide >
        • History of Biological Weapons and The Young Ishii Shiro
        • Establishment in Manchuria
        • Pingfang District - Harbin
        • Failures and Corruption
        • Post War
      • Taiwan The Israel of the East - Guide >
        • Background of Formosa
        • Industrialization of Japan
        • China During WWII
        • Taiwan under Kuomintang
        • New Taiwanese National Identity
      • Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Introduction of Wang Xuan
        • Colonel Memorandum
        • The Beginning of Biological Warfare
        • The Bacteriological Warfare on China
        • Victims in Zhejiang’s Testimonies
        • After the War
      • Rice and Revolution - Guide >
        • The French Colonial Period
        • Anti-Colonial Resistance
        • The Rise of the Communist Movement
        • Imperial Japan’s Entry into Indochina
        • The Portents of Famine
        • The Famine (1944-45)
        • Legacy of the 1944-45 Vietnam Famine
      • Clash of Empires - Guide >
        • Japan’s Imperialist Origins
        • Japan’s Competition against the West: Nanshin-ron and Hokushin-ron
        • Japanese Imperialism Through the Lens of French Indochina
        • The U.S.-Japan Relations and the Pearl Harbor Attack
      • Hunger for Power and Self-SufficiencyI - Guide >
        • The Influence of War Rations on Post-War Culinary Transformations
        • How World War II Complicated Food Scarcity and Invention
        • American Military Innovations
        • Government-Sponsored Food Inventions in Europe during World War II
        • Feeding the Army: The Adaptation of Japanese Military Cuisine and Its Impact on the Philippines
        • Mixed Dishes: Culinary Innovations Driven by Necessity and Food Scarcity
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
Contribute