curupira
04-09-2015, 02:14 AM
A university museum in Japan has broken a seven-decade taboo on discussing the dissection of live US prisoners of war by medical personnel towards the end of the Second World War.
The museum opened on Saturday in the grounds of Kyushu University, in the city of Fukuoka, and details more than a century of innovation at one of Japan's foremost medical schools. But one small section provides details of a darker chapter in the university's history, according to Kyodo News.
A B-29 Superfortress that had taken off from the Pacific island of Guam and completed a bombing run against an airfield near Fukuoka was rammed by a Japanese fighter on May 5, 1945. Local records indicate that 12 of the crew bailed out, but one died when his parachute cords were severed by another fighter and two others were stabbed to death by local people when they landed.
Nine of the crew were taken into custody, with Capt. Marvin Watkins separated from his men and sent to Tokyo for interrogation. The remainder were handed over to a military physician and transported to Kyoto Imperial University's College of Medicine, the predecessor of the modern-day institution.
In testimony against 30 doctors and university personnel presented to a hearing of the Allied War Crimes tribunal in Yokohama in 1948, it was claimed that doctors gave the POWs intravenous injections of seawater to test if it could serve as a substitute for sterile saline solution. Others had parts of their livers removed to determine if they could survive. Another experiment was to determine whether epilepsy could be controlled through the removal of part of the brain.
None of the crew of the aircraft survived and their remains were preserved in formaldehyde until the end of the war, when the doctors attempted to cover their tracks by destroying the evidence.
One doctor committed suicide in prison before the trial and charges of cannibalism were dropped due to a lack of evidence, but 23 people were found guilty of carrying out vivisection or the wrongful removal of body parts.
Five were sentenced to death, four received life prison terms and the rest received shorter sentences.
Two years later, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the military governor of Japan, commuted all the death sentences and reduced most of the prison terms. By 1958, every one of the people involved in the case had been released.
The university has for seven decades been keen to avoid discussing the incident, but it came up at a meeting of professors in March and it was agreed to include the details of the case in the display.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11517759/American-POWs-used-for-live-experiments-in-Japan-according-to-new-museum.html
An exhibit in a new medical history museum in Japan sheds light on an infamous chapter in the history of Kyushu University’s med school — the live dissections of US prisoners in World War II. The museum, which opened Saturday in the city of Fukuoka, details the accomplishments of the pre-eminent medical school over the past century, the Telegraph reported, citing Kyodo News. But the exhibit about the dark and taboo footnote from World War II is getting the most attention. The grisly experiments came about as a result of a bombing run by a US B-29 Superfortress that took off from Guam in the Pacific and was shot down near Fukuoka on May 5, 1945. Its 12 crewmen bailed out, but one died after being shot at while parachuting and two others were later killed by local residents. The remaining nine were taken into custody. Capt. Marvin Watkins was sent for interrogation in Tokyo and the rest were transferred to Kyoto Imperial University’s College of Medicine, the predecessor of the present-day institution. In 1948, a hearing of the Allied War Crimes tribunal in Yokohama heard testimony that doctors injected some POWs with seawater as a test if it could replace sterile saline solution. Doctors removed parts of the livers of other captives to see if they’d survive. In another gruesome experiment about epilepsy, part of a POW’s brain was removed. The remains of all the crewmen were preserved in formaldehyde until the war’s end, when the evidence was destroyed. Twenty-three people were convicted of carrying out vivisection or the wrongful removal of body parts. Five were sentenced to death, four received life sentences and the rest got shorter sentences. One doctor committed suicide. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the military governor of Japan, commuted the death sentences two years later and reduced most of the prison terms. By 1958, every person convicted in the case had been released.
http://nypost.com/2015/04/07/new-exhibit-in-japan-sheds-light-on-live-dissection-of-american-wwii-soldiers/
The museum opened on Saturday in the grounds of Kyushu University, in the city of Fukuoka, and details more than a century of innovation at one of Japan's foremost medical schools. But one small section provides details of a darker chapter in the university's history, according to Kyodo News.
A B-29 Superfortress that had taken off from the Pacific island of Guam and completed a bombing run against an airfield near Fukuoka was rammed by a Japanese fighter on May 5, 1945. Local records indicate that 12 of the crew bailed out, but one died when his parachute cords were severed by another fighter and two others were stabbed to death by local people when they landed.
Nine of the crew were taken into custody, with Capt. Marvin Watkins separated from his men and sent to Tokyo for interrogation. The remainder were handed over to a military physician and transported to Kyoto Imperial University's College of Medicine, the predecessor of the modern-day institution.
In testimony against 30 doctors and university personnel presented to a hearing of the Allied War Crimes tribunal in Yokohama in 1948, it was claimed that doctors gave the POWs intravenous injections of seawater to test if it could serve as a substitute for sterile saline solution. Others had parts of their livers removed to determine if they could survive. Another experiment was to determine whether epilepsy could be controlled through the removal of part of the brain.
None of the crew of the aircraft survived and their remains were preserved in formaldehyde until the end of the war, when the doctors attempted to cover their tracks by destroying the evidence.
One doctor committed suicide in prison before the trial and charges of cannibalism were dropped due to a lack of evidence, but 23 people were found guilty of carrying out vivisection or the wrongful removal of body parts.
Five were sentenced to death, four received life prison terms and the rest received shorter sentences.
Two years later, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the military governor of Japan, commuted all the death sentences and reduced most of the prison terms. By 1958, every one of the people involved in the case had been released.
The university has for seven decades been keen to avoid discussing the incident, but it came up at a meeting of professors in March and it was agreed to include the details of the case in the display.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11517759/American-POWs-used-for-live-experiments-in-Japan-according-to-new-museum.html
An exhibit in a new medical history museum in Japan sheds light on an infamous chapter in the history of Kyushu University’s med school — the live dissections of US prisoners in World War II. The museum, which opened Saturday in the city of Fukuoka, details the accomplishments of the pre-eminent medical school over the past century, the Telegraph reported, citing Kyodo News. But the exhibit about the dark and taboo footnote from World War II is getting the most attention. The grisly experiments came about as a result of a bombing run by a US B-29 Superfortress that took off from Guam in the Pacific and was shot down near Fukuoka on May 5, 1945. Its 12 crewmen bailed out, but one died after being shot at while parachuting and two others were later killed by local residents. The remaining nine were taken into custody. Capt. Marvin Watkins was sent for interrogation in Tokyo and the rest were transferred to Kyoto Imperial University’s College of Medicine, the predecessor of the present-day institution. In 1948, a hearing of the Allied War Crimes tribunal in Yokohama heard testimony that doctors injected some POWs with seawater as a test if it could replace sterile saline solution. Doctors removed parts of the livers of other captives to see if they’d survive. In another gruesome experiment about epilepsy, part of a POW’s brain was removed. The remains of all the crewmen were preserved in formaldehyde until the war’s end, when the evidence was destroyed. Twenty-three people were convicted of carrying out vivisection or the wrongful removal of body parts. Five were sentenced to death, four received life sentences and the rest got shorter sentences. One doctor committed suicide. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the military governor of Japan, commuted the death sentences two years later and reduced most of the prison terms. By 1958, every person convicted in the case had been released.
http://nypost.com/2015/04/07/new-exhibit-in-japan-sheds-light-on-live-dissection-of-american-wwii-soldiers/