A team of archaeologists from the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in China has discovered a subway laboratory in the city of Anda that is believed to have been used by the infamous Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. Unit 731, created by Japanese microbiologist Shiro Ishii in 1936, conducted cruel experiments on humans and conducted chemical and biological warfare research during the Japanese occupation of China.
The newly discovered subway laboratory was detected by geophysical prospecting, drilling, and excavation techniques. A series of bunkers were found at a depth of 1.5 meters, including a partially unearthed U-shaped structure measuring 33 meters long and 21 meters wide. Although the subway site has not yet been entered, there is speculation that it may contain laboratories, observation, and dissection rooms, as well as holding cells, barracks, pits, and toilets.
During its existence, Unit 731 conducted horrific experiments in which they deliberately inoculated pathogens into Chinese citizens and prisoners of war, as well as using bacterial bombs to spread diseases such as bubonic plague, anthrax, cholera, and typhoid fever. It is estimated that about 3,000 people were used as test subjects and that more than 300,000 people died in China due to these Japanese biological weapons.
This archaeological discovery may provide new evidence of war crimes committed by Japan during that period. Archaeologists will continue to excavate at the site to gather more information about the structure and how the different rooms of the bunker were connected.
It is important to note that after Japan’s surrender in 1945, the US government concealed evidence of the experiments and granted immunity to many of Unit 731’s senior commanders, including Shiro Ishii, in exchange for information about their research. Much of the information gathered by Unit 731 was transferred to the United States and used in its biological weapons program at Fort Detrick, Maryland, between 1943 and 1969.