The Legacy of Unit 731
Most of what occurred in the halls of Unit 731 has been forgotten and covered up. The research was burned, the surviving prisoners killed, and the doctors sworn to secrecy. In the pages of history, the human rights violations of Unit 731 are small and insignificant compared to larger events that happened during WWII. It is for this reason that what happened should never be forgotten.
For something this horrible to happen is one thing, for people to be ignorant about it is entirely another. We need to know what happened and why it happened. For Japan to cast aside the past and pretend it didn't happen is an injustice just as awful as the event. It is important because if we do not know about what happened in the past, what is to stop us from doing it again in the future? It is imperative that Japan and the rest of the world acknowledge what happened so that the same mistakes can be avoided in the future.
It is unjust that the hundreds of thousands affected by such a tragedy should die without recognition. Without proper acknowledgement, it is as if the evil men who committed the atrocities have won. Shiro Ishii died in 1959 as a medical doctor in Japan. He had been granted immunity and was never punished for war crimes. He treated citizens and children in Japan every day; the people under his care did not know about the vivisection on live patients and the deadly experiments with horrible disease. They lived in ignorance of his evil and he went to his death unpunished and prosperous.
This is unacceptable. The people who were tortured endured horrific pain and anguish. Innocent men, women, and children died by the thousands under the watchful eye of Ishii and he lived out a happy life, receiving no consequences for his actions. Thousands died for nothing and were not even given enough respect to have retribution for their murders and tortures.
That is why we must remember. For the dead and the families of the dead we must remember. It is the very least we can do to understand what they went through and feel sympathy and remorse for what happened. It is not enough to dedicate a sentence or paragraph in a history textbook. It is not fair to those who suffered to let the facts remain hidden. We must understand, we must sympathize, and we must make sure that it will never happen again.
Most of what occurred in the halls of Unit 731 has been forgotten and covered up. The research was burned, the surviving prisoners killed, and the doctors sworn to secrecy. In the pages of history, the human rights violations of Unit 731 are small and insignificant compared to larger events that happened during WWII. It is for this reason that what happened should never be forgotten.
For something this horrible to happen is one thing, for people to be ignorant about it is entirely another. We need to know what happened and why it happened. For Japan to cast aside the past and pretend it didn't happen is an injustice just as awful as the event. It is important because if we do not know about what happened in the past, what is to stop us from doing it again in the future? It is imperative that Japan and the rest of the world acknowledge what happened so that the same mistakes can be avoided in the future.
It is unjust that the hundreds of thousands affected by such a tragedy should die without recognition. Without proper acknowledgement, it is as if the evil men who committed the atrocities have won. Shiro Ishii died in 1959 as a medical doctor in Japan. He had been granted immunity and was never punished for war crimes. He treated citizens and children in Japan every day; the people under his care did not know about the vivisection on live patients and the deadly experiments with horrible disease. They lived in ignorance of his evil and he went to his death unpunished and prosperous.
This is unacceptable. The people who were tortured endured horrific pain and anguish. Innocent men, women, and children died by the thousands under the watchful eye of Ishii and he lived out a happy life, receiving no consequences for his actions. Thousands died for nothing and were not even given enough respect to have retribution for their murders and tortures.
That is why we must remember. For the dead and the families of the dead we must remember. It is the very least we can do to understand what they went through and feel sympathy and remorse for what happened. It is not enough to dedicate a sentence or paragraph in a history textbook. It is not fair to those who suffered to let the facts remain hidden. We must understand, we must sympathize, and we must make sure that it will never happen again.
Documentaries on Unit 731:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgtIyNRv3g8
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hRSZMgLI6Y
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LfMNX3TsT0
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgtIyNRv3g8
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hRSZMgLI6Y
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LfMNX3TsT0