Shadows of War: Unit 731's Biological Warfare in Changteh

by Jenny Chan

In the annals of wartime atrocities, few incidents are as chilling and controversial as the actions attributed to Imperial Japan's Unit 731 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Among the many accusations leveled against this covert biological and chemical warfare unit, one of the most harrowing is their alleged role in the outbreak of bubonic plague in Changteh (now Changde), China, in 1941. Central to this narrative is the claim that Unit 731 deliberately dropped infected wheat and rice grains over the city, sparking an epidemic that claimed numerous lives. [1]

The Bubonic Plague in Changteh
​Bubonic plague, a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, has been a harbinger of death throughout history. In 1941, Changteh experienced a sudden and severe outbreak of this disease, leading to a high mortality rate and widespread panic. The timing and severity of the outbreak raised suspicions, given the ongoing conflict and the presence of Japanese military forces in the region. [2]
Unit 731 and Biological Warfare
Unit 731, led by Lieutenant General Shiro Ishii, was a secret research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that specialized in biological and chemical warfare. This unit conducted experiments on human subjects and developed methods for weaponizing diseases, including the plague.
Historical accounts suggest that Unit 731 developed techniques for dispersing pathogens over large populations. One method allegedly involved contaminating grains, such as wheat and rice, with plague bacteria and then distributing these grains from the air, targeting areas like Changteh. This method would not only spread the disease but also remain covert, masking the act of biological warfare as a natural outbreak. [3]
The Controversy and Evidence
The direct link between Unit 731's activities and the Changteh plague outbreak remains a subject of debate among historians. While there is substantial evidence of Unit 731's existence and their biological warfare research, conclusive proof of their responsibility for the Changteh epidemic is harder to establish. The secretive nature of the unit and the destruction of many records at the end of the war have obscured the full extent of their operations.
Wartime documents provide a circumstantial case that Unit 731 had both the means and motive to carry out such an attack. The unit's known experiments with plague-infected fleas and their aerial dissemination techniques lend credence to the theory that they could have orchestrated the Changteh outbreak.
According to the Correspondence on Report on Bacteriological Warfare by Emergency Medical Service Training School, "On November 4th, 1941, at about 5a.m. a single enemy plane appeared over Changteh, flying very low, the morning being rather misty. Instead of bombs, wheat and rice grains, pieces of paper, cotton wadding and some unidentified particles were dropped." Seven days after the incident, the first suspicious case of plague came to notice. [4] In another letter to Colonel William Mayer of the United States' Military Attache, "A Presbyterian missionary in Changteh saw the Japanese plane which dropped several loads of rice and other material. Either days later the first case of plague appeared. Bateria, which morphologically resemble the plague bacillus were recovered from the material dropped."[5] On December 20th, 1941, a letter to the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China by Dr. R.K.S. Lim in Central Emergency Medical Service Training School confirmed that "the enemy is waging bacterial warfare against us is established beyond any doubt."[6]
Legacy and Remembrance
​The potential involvement of Unit 731 in the Changteh plague outbreak serves as a grim reminder of the horrors of biological warfare and the depths of human cruelty. The tragedy of Changteh highlights the urgent need for ethical standards in both warfare and scientific research. The legacy of these events underscores the necessity of international cooperation in preventing the use of biological weapons and ensuring that the horrors of the past are not repeated in the future.
References
[1] Harris, Sheldon H. Factories of Death: Japanese Biological Warfare, 1932-45, and the American Cover-Up. Routledge, 1994.
[2] Williams, Peter, and Wallace, David. Unit 731: Japan's Secret Biological Warfare in World War II. Free Press, 1989.
[3] Gold, Hal. Unit 731 Testimony. Charles E Tuttle Co., 1996.
[4] Emergency Medical Service Training School, “Correspondence on Report on Bacteriological Warfare,” Pacific Asia War Archive, accessed April 1, 2024, https://pacificatrocitiesedu.reclaim.hosting/items/show/281.
These references provide a starting point for further research and verification of the events related to Unit 731 and the Changteh plague outbreak.
[5] Christian and Missionary Alliance, “Letter on Bubonic Plague,” Pacific Asia War Archive, accessed April 1, 2024, https://pacificatrocitiesedu.reclaim.hosting/items/show/279.
[6] Yale-In-China, “Letter on reports of Plague,” Pacific Asia War Archive, accessed April 1, 2024, https://pacificatrocitiesedu.reclaim.hosting/items/show/280.

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