We've long heard or read about man's inhumanity to man, how humans can treat each other in a manner that is, well, inhuman. During the years Japan occupied China's Dongbei region, what used to be Manchuria, starting in the 1930s and continuing until Japan left China after losing World War II, Unit 731 was for China what the concentration camps in Europe were for the Jews. The Japanese conducted horrific chemical warfare experiments on Chinese people and on animals.
The Unit 731 Museum, located in the southern part of Harbin, tells some of the story about what the Japanese did during its occupation of Manchuria. The Exhibition Hall was closed on the day I went to visit, but the parts that I wanted to see, the buildings where these horrors took place, were easily accessible behind the hall. On their way out, the Japanese destroyed many of the buildings as they attempted to hide the evidence of their war crimes, but the remains still serve as a reminder of man's inhumanity to man.
Despite the signage, there is no "Peace Monument for Apology and Non-Belligerency". What remains are the underground gas storage, the poisonous gas lab, and the headquarters building. You can also see ruins of the bacteria lab, tubercule bacillus lab, and the special prison, as well as various other labs and rooms. Much of the Japanese war crimes in this area occurred underground.
The Unit 731 Museum is one of the must-see places in Harbin and I made it a point to spend part of my week-long May Day holiday there. To get there, it's best just to hire a car and driver to take you, but don't go on Mondays because that's when the Exhibition Hall is closed.
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