24. The Abyss of Biological Warfare Research
Shiro Ishii killed thousands of prisoners with a host of deadly pathogens, ranging from the bubonic plague to botulism, to which inmates were exposed in a variety of ways. Prisoners were injected with bacteria, had it added to their food and drink, or smeared on their clothes. To test the effectiveness of aerial dispersal of diseases, bombs full of gangrene or other deadly bacteria were exploded over prisoners.
Ishii and Unit 731 subjected their captives to other atrocities as well, including starving them, exposing them to extremes of temperatures, bombarding them with X-rays, killing them in giant centrifuges, boiling them alive, or even dissecting them while they were still living. Thanks to the thousands of test subjects killed by Unit 731, plus hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians outside who were exposed to the plague, Ishii brought biological warfare to new heights – or depths.