In the minds of most Chinese, the Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base at Harbin holds a place as significant and disturbing as Auschwitz does for European Jews. During the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in the 1930s and 1940s, Japanese Army Unit 731 opened a research centre outside of Harbin, with the apparent aim of testing the limits of the human body to destruction. Around 3000 prisoners of war captured in the battles raging in Northeast Asia at the time were killed for "scientific" purposes by means ranging from deliberate infection with fatal diseases, to freezing or live dissection. The majority of these prisoners were Chinese, but a significant number were from other countries including Russia, Korea, England and Mongolia.
The legacy of this horrific episode in Chinese-Japanese relations is palpable. Many Japanese scientists working at the base were apparently given immunity from prosecution by the Americans in return for access to their grisly research findings. This was an extremely bitter pill for many Chinese to swallow. As with holocaust denial in Europe, some Japanese are now questioning the accepted history of the Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base. As Soviet troops took Manchuria in 1945, the facility was destroyed, apparently by Unit 731 aiming to cover up a decade of macabre abuse: the full truth may never be known.
The museum now standing on the site of the base is small and has been criticized for its cautious handling of history, peppering exhibits with "apparently", "allegedly", "seemingly" and "possibly". It is perhaps more of a memorial than a museum and a visit to the excavated site of the original base is quietly moving.
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