Chinese archaeologists uncover World War II ‘horror bunker’ where Japanese scientists conducted lethal human experiments and shared data with US

Discovery of notorious Japanese army Unit 731 underground biological weapons laboratory at Anda ‘could lead’ to new evidence of war crimes

The unit’s leaders were granted immunity by Washington in exchange for the data from some of the most brutal experiments in history

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An aerial view of the Anda test site where archaeologists have located an underground biological weapons research facility used by the Japanese military in WWII. Photo: Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

Published: 11:00am, 25 May 2023Updated: 11:44pm, 25 May 2023

Archaeologists have located an underground research facility where Japanese military scientists conducted “horrific biological weapon experiments” on human subjects during World War II in northeast China.

The facility, near the city of Anda in Heilongjiang province, was the largest and most frequently used test site for the Japanese Imperial Army’s notorious Unit 731 that carried out some of the most brutal human experiments in history between 1935 and 1945.

Historical records show Unit 731’s experiments at the Anda site included infecting prisoners with deadly diseases and testing new biological weapons. Some of the most gruesome studies were conducted in underground bunkers designed to contain and control the spread of infectious agents.

Declassified documents later revealed the data was shared with US authorities in exchange for war crimes immunity and transferred to the US Army research centre at Fort Detrick, where it was used to develop biological weapons during the Cold War.

The discovery of the underground laboratory could lead to new evidence about war crimes, according to an official report on the survey published in China’s leading archaeological journal Northern Cultural Relics in May.

“It also highlights the ongoing legacy of Unit 731’s atrocities and their impact on global efforts to prevent biological warfare,” said the researchers, from the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

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Chinese archaeologists uncover World War II ‘horror bunker’ where Japanese scientists conducted lethal human experiments and shared data with US

Discovery of notorious Japanese army Unit 731 underground biological weapons laboratory at Anda ‘could lead’ to new evidence of war crimes The unit’s leaders were granted immunity by Washington in exchange for the data from some of the most brutal experiments in history

Discovery of notorious Japanese army Unit 731 underground biological weapons laboratory at Anda ‘could lead’ to new evidence of war crimes

The unit’s leaders were granted immunity by Washington in exchange for the data from some of the most brutal experiments in history