The Cover-Up
The war was lost swiftly after the destruction of evidence in Unit 731. General Douglas McArthur of the United States became Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and under his actions and authority, another grave error was made.
Although the research papers were burned, the prisoners killed, and the buildings destroyed, an American investigation was able to unearth the beginning of the truth behind the horrors of Unit 731. Several doctors plagued by guilt confessed to their crimes and some research papers survived. With the knowledge of what happened, rather than punishing the offenders, McArthur secretly granted them immunity in exchange for their research on biological warfare and their notes on the results of their human experimentation. [2]The United States of America was no better than Japan in this moment. Any rational person would think that a swift and harsh punishment for such horrible atrocities would be the only plausible reaction. McArthur did no such thing; he granted them immunity. He believed that the research data was valuable and wanted to make sure it was kept out of the hands of potential rivals such as the Soviet Union. Even after coming out of a horrible and deadly war, we were preparing for another, willing to let one of the greatest human violations in history go unnoticed and unpunished.
The war was lost swiftly after the destruction of evidence in Unit 731. General Douglas McArthur of the United States became Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and under his actions and authority, another grave error was made.
Although the research papers were burned, the prisoners killed, and the buildings destroyed, an American investigation was able to unearth the beginning of the truth behind the horrors of Unit 731. Several doctors plagued by guilt confessed to their crimes and some research papers survived. With the knowledge of what happened, rather than punishing the offenders, McArthur secretly granted them immunity in exchange for their research on biological warfare and their notes on the results of their human experimentation. [2]The United States of America was no better than Japan in this moment. Any rational person would think that a swift and harsh punishment for such horrible atrocities would be the only plausible reaction. McArthur did no such thing; he granted them immunity. He believed that the research data was valuable and wanted to make sure it was kept out of the hands of potential rivals such as the Soviet Union. Even after coming out of a horrible and deadly war, we were preparing for another, willing to let one of the greatest human violations in history go unnoticed and unpunished.
The history surrounding this strange and terrible event grows foggy at this point. The United Stated did a very good job covering it up and the lack of tangible evidence makes it very difficult to know what really happened. Today there are no surviving documents from Unit 731. All of the knowledge we have on the matter comes from the testimonies of personnel. It was not until the 1980s that the activities of Unit 731 were widely accepted throughout the world. Although Japan recognizes the atrocities and has formally apologized, they tread carefully around the subject. Textbooks only briefly mention the event and the apologies are vague and inconsistent. There is one small memorial museum at the site in Manchuria; when compared to the international reaction to the holocaust, this recognition is insignificant. Still today new evidence is being uncovered about the violations of Unit 731. Perhaps some day this dark secret of WWII will receive the attention and reaction it deserves. For now, it will remain a side note in the pages of history.