by David Peace
I would also like to note for the record that it was a further source of regret that all interview sessions were conducted in the presence of Ishii’s daughter (Harumi). At the request of Lt. Col. D. S. Tait of Technical Intelligence and Lt. E. M. Ellis of the War Department Intelligence Section (who were also both present throughout each interview), and with the approval of GHQ (but against my own wishes), Ishii’s daughter also recorded each interview and then typed out the transcriptions which she then delivered on a daily basis to the GHQ building at the Ichigaya garrison in Tokyo (where the War Crimes Trials are to take place). Lt. Ellis also acted as interpreter and it was my personal impression that the answers to many of my questions had already been ‘rehearsed’ (and the same, in fact, can be said of all the Japs I have interviewed).
It is my opinion that Ishii therefore had ample opportunity to consult his former associates – several of whom we know to be present in Tokyo and the vicinity – since the interrogations were intermittent and much of his information was presented to me by charts and written in answer to our questionnaires.
Furthermore, many of the ‘interrogations’ were conducted in a far too casual and relaxed environment for my liking (particularly given the severity of the crimes I believe Ishii and Kitano to be guilty of). We were, for example, frequently served meals and invited to attend dinner parties in the company of geisha and hostesses etc. I, of course, refused such offers of hospitality as being inappropriate (but I know others did accept).
I would ask you to bear in mind that the transcripts (to follow) have been reported in the first and third person for purposes of simplification and so I would emphasize that, while the context has been accurately recorded, they are not a verbatim literal record as the interpreter (Lt. Ellis) acted as a channel in the interviews.
The particular points I would like to bring to your attention are as follows:
From the outset, I found Ishii’s answers to be guarded, concise and often evasive. Furthermore, I believe that Ishii’s repeated claim that all BW records were destroyed to be a pretense, not least because the technical information we did obtain from him (in response to our questionnaires) indicates an amazing familiarity with technical data. Such familiarity naturally leads one to question his contention that all records pertaining to BW research and development were destroyed. As stated above, it is my belief that, in all probability, much of the information Ishii did present was compiled with reference to documentation and with the assistance of his former associates at Pingfan and, no doubt, following much discussion as to what – and what not – to share with us.
Ishii also continues to maintain that no official directive existed for the prosecution of an offensive BW program and that it was conducted purely as a phase of military preventive medicine. He seeks to portray his BW research as being a local, small-scale, almost renegade operation, confined exclusively to Pingfan, and tested on only small animals (‘monkeys, rats, squirrels, and other small animals’). He denies any field tests whatsoever were ever conducted, and categorically denies that any experiments were conducted using human ‘guinea pigs’ (‘no humans at all were used in the tests’).
Ishii maintains that such allegations and rumors (of human experimentation) have been falsely and maliciously spread about himself and his unit (‘A lot of men in my unit, and others who know nothing about it, have been spreading rumors to the effect that some secret work has been carried on in BW … I want you to have a clear understanding that this is false’) and he claims to be the victim of an orchestrated campaign of blackmail and extortion by disaffected and destitute former subordinates. Tait and Ellis seem to believe him and claim to have seen the proof (in letters and telegrams), though they have yet to share this evidence with me (despite my repeated requests).
Ishii continually stated that all work done in BW was purely defensive and in anticipation of a Soviet BW attack. He claims to know that the Soviets have ‘tularemia, typhus fever, cholera, anthrax, and plague bacteria’ and that the Soviets had ‘completed their BW preparations’ and that such knowledge ‘frightened’ him.
While political analysis is not within the province of the present mission, I feel I would be negligent in my duty as an investigating officer if I did not point out that such diatribes against Russian intrigue stem from poorly informed as well as from thoughtful and responsible sources. The colossal effrontery against common sense is thoroughly demonstrated by such a statement as ‘Originally we had no intention of waging war against the United States. The Soviet Union has always been our future possible enemy.’ It has been my experience that confused thought and conflicting statements have permeated all my discussions with the highest Jap officers and Lt. Gen. Ishii is no exception. Of course, on the other hand, I do believe that claims about Russian BW activity can hardly be discounted without further evaluation, but it is also my belief that the Japs are also well aware that by making such claims they are telling us (or some of us) what we want to hear while, at the same time, skilfully exonerating themselves.
In regard to plague – of particular interest to me, as you are aware – Ishii made the following statements:
‘Due to the danger of it [plague], there were no field experiments with it. There were a great many field mice in Manchuria and it would have been dangerous to conduct field experiments with plague because the field mice would very easily carry the organisms and start an epidemic. We conducted experiments with plague only in the laboratory.’
I asked what kind of experiments.
Ishii stated: ‘We put rats in cages inside the room and sprayed the whole room with plague bacteria. This was to determine how the rats became infected, whether through the eyes, nose, mouth or through the skin. But the results were not too effective as we usually got only a 10 percent infection.’
‘By which route?’
‘Through the nose and also through an open wound; animals were shaved and it was found that they would become infected through the microscopic abrasions caused by the shaving. We found that the lymph nodes became inflamed and that was how we then knew if the animal had become infected.’
In response to further questioning, Ishii then went on to say: ‘The spray test was not conducted in a special chamber. However, the windows in the room were double-plated and paper was put all over the walls. The room was made as air-tight as possible and human beings did not enter the room. They conducted the test from an outside corridor. After the experiment, we sprayed formalin in the room and did not enter it for one day. We also wore protective clothing, masks, and rubber shoes. Before we touched the animals, we put the cages, the animals, and all, into a solution of creosol.’
I asked had there been any accidents.
‘Yes. One person who handled the animals after the experiment got infected and died.’
‘How about outside?’
Ishii said, ‘No.’
I then stated: ‘We have heard from Chinese sources that plague was started in Changteh, in 1941, by airplanes flying over and dropping plague material and a plague resulted. Do you know anything about this?’
Ishii said, ‘No, and anyway, it is impossible from a scientific point of view, as I thought you would have known, to drop plague organisms from airplanes.’
‘But what if rats, rags, and bits of cotton infected with plague were dropped and later picked up by the Chinese and that is then how it was to have started?’
‘If you drop rats from airplanes they will die,’ laughed Ishii. ‘There is no chance of a human being catching plague as a result of dropping organisms from an airplane.’
‘How about balloons?’
‘I would imagine balloons might be rather hard to control and navigate, wouldn’t you, Dr Thompson?’
As you can see from the above exchange, Lt. Gen. Ishii is an extremely confident man. However, Ishii – in my impression of the man – is also prone to boast about his achievements (for example, about his invention of a porcelain bomb for plague dissemination, about his wate
r filters for field use, and an anti-dysentery pill he claims to have developed) and I believe this egotism and vanity will be his undoing.
In conclusion, and regardless of Ishii’s contention, it is evident to me from the progress that was made that BW research and development in all its phases was conducted on a large scale, and was officially sanctioned and supported by the highest military authority.
It is also evident that BW research was not confined to Pingfan and mainland China, as we have been led to believe. It is my belief that work in this field was also carried on in the Army Medical College in Tokyo. Therefore, it is impossible that the military leadership here in Tokyo was unaware of the program and that it was almost certainly conducted with the support and sanction of the highest military authority.
This leads, of course, to the inevitable (and political) question of exactly how high that sanction extended and I am aware that this is also the question uppermost in the minds (and worries) of both SCAP and Washington. In response to my direct questioning as to whether the Emperor himself was informed of BW research, Ishii replied that the Emperor was ‘a lover of humanity and never would have consented to such a thing.’
However, I strongly believe we have only scratched the surface of Ishii and his work. I am convinced that sometime soon, if we continue to question Ishii and his associates, we will be able to break him. Ishii is a proud, determined, almost ruthless individual and no one, in my experience, with such personal characteristics can fail to have made enemies. As you are aware, GHQ has received, and continues to receive, literally thousands of correspondences from disaffected Japs containing allegations of war crimes. Among these many telegrams and letters there are sure to be some which will refer to BW experiments in China and also in Japan. However, it is a slow and time-consuming process verifying each individual allegation and we simply do not have the necessary manpower at our disposal.
Finally, there are also some additional, highly important and extremely CONFIDENTIAL remarks I would like to make to you.
I took the liberty of showing the notes I had made of my interviews with Ishii and Kitano to my tame informant (the former BW engineer). As you know, it has been my experience that these Japs are simply not to be trusted (they are all good actors and accomplished liars). It was my intention therefore to verify the information I had received from Ishii and Kitano with my informant.
However, my informant gave me a startling and unexpected piece of information. He claims to have recently met with one of his acquaintances, who himself was a member of Unit 731. This acquaintance told my informant that he had personally met with Lt. Gen. Kitano, who told him that ‘just prior to the American Army inquiry [that is to say, my own interrogation of Kitano and Ishii], GHQ gave Ishii and myself [Kitano] a hearing and granted us permission to consult with each other in order that we could arrange not to contradict each other over items which were to be kept secret.’
My informant also claims that ‘the Americans knew all along that Ishii, Kitano, etc., had secretly fled back to Japan after the end of the war and they planned to make secret contact with them. Between the end of last year and the early months of this year, the Americans held secret meetings with Ishii and other ranking officers [a total of five persons] in a restaurant in Kamakura [just south of Tokyo]. During these meetings, which are known as the “Kamakura Conference,” Ishii revealed all about the experimentation and the bacteriological weapons. In return for providing the data that he had brought back from Manchuria, he asked that none of the unit members would be indicted for war crimes. The Americans accepted this condition and a secret contract was made between them.’
My informant refuses to name the ‘acquaintance’ who gave him this information but states that the acquaintance is a ‘former military physician, a Lt. Col (born in 1902), in Osaka, who had been a member of Unit 731.’ This former Lt. Col. also stated that he had recently met with Lt. Gen. Ishii, who boasted, ‘It is I who helped all you guys out and saved your skin!’
Of course, I have (for now) no way of knowing whether or not this information is true. However, if it is true, and I am aware it is a ‘big if’, it would certainly explain a lot.
To be very candid, sir, the politics of all this is beginning to weigh on me and I would be most grateful if you would tell me frankly and honestly (and in the utmost confidence) whether another section – G-2 or Scientific Intelligence, for example – are, to your knowledge, also engaged in any Jap BW investigation of their own and, if that is the case, whether they might have cut some kind of deal with the top Jap BW men (to the exclusion of the rest of us).
However, and whatever the truth of the matter, I remain very hopeful that my second report on Jap BW activities will be much more comprehensive than my first and that it will be completed and with you by the end of May, at the latest, as previously discussed.
Sincerely, Lt. Col. Murray Thompson.
*
Marked PERSONAL
St Luke’s International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
September 9, 1946
My dearest Peggy,
I am sorry I have worried you by my silence & lack of communication. However, I truly hope this letter finds you & the children all well (despite the worry I have no doubt put you through).
As (I hope) you were informed, I collapsed with a severe hemorrhage on March 10 & was diagnosed with TB. Since then I have been hospitalized here at St Luke’s International Hospital, Tokyo. It is embarrassing for a doctor to admit, but I realize now that I had ignored the warning signs as for some time I had been feeling very weak. However, I put this down to the stress of the job. I should not, however, have been so reckless in ignoring the fevers & coughs that had plagued me on & off since last September.
I do now feel that I am on the mend (& the doctors agree), so please do not worry. I am resting & taking things easy (I have little choice in the matter as the nurses are very strict!).
I must admit, though, that I have been following the progress of the War Crimes Trial & it has done nothing for my mood!
A couple of days before my collapse I actually met with Morrow (who is one of our investigators in our prosecution) & I gave him all I had. I also told him in no uncertain terms that I believed that Ishii & his gang were guilty of serious war crimes (Ishii’s rank of lieutenant general also means he could be prosecuted as a Class ‘A’ war criminal). For starters, BW is outlawed by every civilized nation & furthermore Ishii carried out human experiments on both prisoners of war & civilians. The rest of his gang also committed enough crimes to be considered as ‘B’ & ‘C’ class war criminals. In our meeting, Morrow seemed very keen to go after Ishii & his subordinates & promised he would.
Imagine my surprise & disappointment then to find that nowhere in the lists of the accused is there any mention of Ishii or any of his subordinates. As far as I am aware, the sole mention of BW to date occurred last week during the prosecution’s case about what the Japs did in Nanking. One of the assistant prosecutors (Sutton, I think his name was) suddenly stated in court that the Tama Detachment (which was the name for Ishii’s unit at Nanking) had taken Chinese civilians & American prisoners of war & used them for experiments (which we all know to be true). He said that the Japs had injected them with toxic bacteria to see how their bodies reacted. Of course, this caused uproar in court & he was asked by the judges for more evidence, at which point Sutton said he did not anticipate introducing any additional evidence on the matter!
I refuse to believe that this will be all that is said on the matter, so I keep reading the newspapers every day in hope.
Anyway, as you can imagine, I have had plenty of time to think & reflect on my many shortcomings, both professionally & personally, as a doctor & a soldier, & as a husband & a father. I realize now that I have failed every one & it is my sole aim now to put things right as soon as I am discharged from here.
I can only apologize for all the anxiety & worry I have caused you but, hopefully, I am now on the road to recovery
& will soon be well enough to travel & finally return home to you all.
Until then, with all my love, Murray.
*
Stamped TOP SECRET
St Luke’s International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
January 9, 1947
To: Colonel Harlan Worthley, Office of the Chief Chemical Warfare Service, Special Project Division, Gravelly Point, Washington, D.C.
Dear Colonel Worthley,
Sir, as you are no doubt aware, soon after my last letter to you (of February 25, 1946) I suffered a severe hemorrhage and was diagnosed with tuberculosis. As a result, I have been forced to remain here in Tokyo, hospitalized under doctor’s orders (and only doctor’s orders?) for the past year. My health has somewhat recovered now, but I am still unable to leave hospital and return either to my work or home to my family.
To the best of my ability, and it has not been easy, I have tried to keep abreast of developments in the BW investigation, through the occasional report in newspapers and the (even more) occasional visit from colleagues. However, and I hope you will forgive the abrupt and rude comments of a sick man, I cannot help but feel a strong sense of disappointment and frustration.
It would seem to me (from here, at least) that none of the information I gathered and passed on to you in my last letter, nor any of the information I gave to Lt. Col. Thomas H. Morrow and the IPS, has been acted upon, particularly in regard to Lt. Gen. Ishii. I would go so far as to say that (from Day One) no one seems to have taken me seriously (or anyone from Camp Detrick, for that matter). I know we are the new kids on the block, so to speak, but they have no respect for us or our work. I cannot help but feel that this is because we are essentially civilians and are in no way connected with the old-line Chemical Corps (and its old-boy network).
If one was prone to paranoia – and this city and this Occupation, these Japs and our own men, certainly do nothing to discourage such feelings – then one might even think that my sudden illness and enforced removal from the investigation are viewed in the Dai-Ichi Building as providential intervention. There are days when, I admit, I feel very much like a pawn that has simply been swept off the board when the game was not going the way some people upstairs might have desired it to go.