On August 18, 1998, a construction site in Nanjing accidentally exhumed 41 human skulls and a large number of limb bones, and the scene emitted a pungent smell. Zhu Chengshan, then director of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall of the Japanese invasion of China, immediately rushed to the scene after receiving the call.
Are the bones of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre dug up here?
Pictured: The "Head of a Victim of a Bacteriological Test of Unit 1644 of the Japanese Army Invading China" unearthed on December 17, 1998
After rushing to the scene to inspect, Zhu Chengshan felt that these bones did not meet the characteristics of the Nanjing Massacre.
What nature are human remains?
In order to solve the doubts, the construction site of the building was subsequently closed and covered. The experts entered the scene, extracted physical evidence such as soil, water and bones, and examined the wooden boxes, bags, leather, and gold teeth in the mouth of the remains found at the scene.
Identified as an abnormal death remains, buried about 60 years ago; medical sampling test results showed that they contained microorganisms; chemical tests showed the presence of Vibrio cholerae enterotoxin genes; leather-like hat belts attached to the skull at the scene were relics of Chinese soldiers, and the burial site was located at the headquarters of Unit 1644...
As more and more evidence surfaced, experts came to a startling conclusion: this is the remains of a group of human experiments of the "Rongzi 1644th Unit" of the Japanese army invading China.
Zhu Chengshan said, "This is the first time that the mainland has found physical evidence of human experiments by Japanese germ warfare troops. Until then, we knew very little about Unit 1644 in Nanjing. ”
The "Death Factory" in the invisible downtown area
Today, on the East Beijing Road under the Jiuhua Mountain in Nanjing, the traffic is endless, a busy scene. However, few people know that more than 80 years ago, a bacteriological weapons production factory was lurking here.
Pictured: The former site of the Japanese army unit 1644
The "Eiji 1644th Unit" was created by Shiro Ishii in April 1939 and is generally referred to as the "Tama Unit", and its official name is "Central China Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department".
Who is Shiro Ishii? Why did he create this team in Nanjing?
Shiro Ishii, who was a medical doctor, was a fanatic of germ warfare and the first commander of Unit 731. During the Japanese invasion of China, as the minister of epidemic prevention and water supply of the Kwantung Army, he carried out years-long biochemical experiments such as bacterial infections, frostbite experiments, and vivisection in Harbin and other places on the mainland, resulting in a large number of military and civilian infections and deaths on the mainland.
Although Unit 1644 is not as notorious as Unit 731, it has committed no heinous crimes at all.
Unit 1644 is an epidemic prevention unit externally, but a bacteriological unit on the inside, and cultivating deadly bacteria such as cholera, typhoid fever and plague is the "specialty" of Unit 1644 and supports Unit 731. Before Japan's defeat and surrender, the 1644 unit set up a total of 12 branches in The Soviet Union, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Hubei, Gansu, Anhui and other places, with about 1500 people.
Living people are tortured and killed like animals
Pictured: Aerial view of the main building of the Central Hospital used by the 1644 unit of The Rongzi Unit as the headquarters. Photographed in the 1930s. Image taken from "Nanjing Republic of China Architecture"
The main building of the Central Hospital, which was used as the headquarters of unit 1644, has a total of four floors, the first floor is a variety of laboratories engaged in cholera, typhoid fever, and plague research; the second floor is home to lice, fleas, various rats and other experimental animals; the third floor is used for human experiments; the fourth floor is a place where subjects are held, usually holding twenty or thirty people, more than 100 people when there are more than 100 people.
What happened on the four floors of the building was gruesome: someone was bitten by fleas and tortured by the plague until they died.
Someone was injected with cyanosconvulsic acid or snake venom, and under the observation of japanese testers, they convulsed, trembled, convulsed, and died in just a few tens of seconds.
Someone is put in a gas chamber, goes through pain and struggle and eventually dies...
Ishida served three years in Unit 1644, where he was responsible for holding experimental prisoners of war. In 1993, before Ishida died, he called back his niece, Naoko Mizutani, who was studying in China, to tell her the truth about Unit 1644 and asked her to publish it.
According to Ishida Shotaro's recollection, the 1644 unit was divided into three sections, one of which was responsible for the research and production of biochemical weapons and bacteriological weapons, which was the heart of the troops; the second section was responsible for the management of weapons materials and the operation of the canteen; and the task of the third section was epidemic prevention, mainly the manufacture of vaccines.
Ishida records the daily activities of the troops every morning, and in the afternoon, he gives portraits of the body parts of the "road big", sketches for picking out organs, and charts and inserts for making research papers.
Photo: Surgical scissors used by Ishida Shotaro, keys to the data room, badges that must be worn when entering and leaving a section, and locks on the door of the information room Provided by the Memorial Hall of the Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese Army invading China
The "big road" here refers to the living people used for experimentation, most of whom are Chinese — captured Chinese prisoners of war and anti-Japanese elements, innocent women, children, and a few people of other nationalities. They are abused and tortured, and are not treated as human beings at all. Once these poor people entered here, they could not get out alive. The local residents of Nanjing knew almost nothing about this.
In the 6 years that the 1644 unit was in Nanjing, how many people died here? Since the original archives were destroyed, this has become an eternal mystery.
Guilty and guilty, wage germ warfare
The 1644 unit was full of crimes and atrocities, which can be described as overwhelming. Even more heinous was that they also assisted Kwantung Army Unit 731 in conducting germ warfare in central China. The plague war against eastern Zhejiang in October 1940, the plague war against Changde, Hunan in November 1941, and the various bacteriological warfare against the Zhejiang-Gansu railway line from May to September 1942 were all led by Unit 731 and coordinated by Unit 1644.
Image source: Quzhou Exhibition Hall of the Japanese Invasion of China
Regarding the production capacity of Unit 1644, the fourth unit commander, Shunji Sato, confessed at the former Soviet court that Unit 1644 had manufactured a large number of bacteriological weapons, "up to 10 kilograms per production cycle (concentrated live bacterial pulp)." ”
Immediately after Japan's surrender, Unit 1644 began destroying archives and destroying facilities, while all the living who were used as test objects were massacred. In this magic cave, there was not a single survivor. What is even more indignant is that these inhuman war criminals have almost completely retreated under the cover and use of the United States.
However, the truth of history will not be forgotten and will not be changed by the changes of the times, and the heinous crimes against humanity, humanity and peace committed by Japanese militarism are full of evidence!
Source: CCTV National Memory