Until December 7, 1941, there was not a single military conflict with the Asian army in American history. There were only a few minor clashes in the Philippines during the war with Spain. This led to an underestimation of the enemy by American soldiers and sailors.
The US Army has heard of stories of the brutality with which the Japanese invaders treated the Chinese population in the 40s of the twentieth century. But before the clashes with the Japanese, the Americans had no idea what their opponents were capable of.
The usual beatings were so widespread that it is not even worth mentioning. However, in addition, the captive Americans, British, Greeks, Australians and Chinese had to face slave labor, forced marches, brutal and unusual torture and even dismemberment.
Below are some of the most shocking atrocities of the Japanese army during World War II. You might be interested in Article 10 Little Known Facts About Japan.
15. Cannibalism
The fact that during hunger people begin to eat their own kind is no secret to anyone. Cannibalism took place on the expedition led by Donner, and even on the Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes, about which the movie “Alive". But this has always only happened in extreme circumstances. But it is impossible not to shudder when hearing stories about eating the remains of dead soldiers or cutting off parts from living people.
The Japanese camps were deeply isolated, surrounded by impenetrable jungle, and the soldiers guarding the camp often starved as much as the prisoners, resorting to horrendous means to satisfy the hunger. But for the most part, cannibalism occurred due to mockery of the enemy. A report from the University of Melbourne states:
«According to the Australian lieutenant, he saw many bodies that were missing parts, even a scalped head without a torso. He claims that the state of the remains clearly indicated that they had been dismembered for cooking.».
14. Inhuman experiments on pregnant women
Dr. Josef Mengele was a renowned Nazi scientist who experimented with Jews, twins, dwarfs and other concentration camp prisoners for whom he was wanted by the international community after the war to be tried for numerous war crimes. Check out the article 10 of the most evil fascists you've never heard of. But the Japanese had their own scientific institutions, where no less terrible experiments were performed on people.
The so-called Detachment 731 conducted experiments on Chinese women who were raped and impregnated. They were deliberately infected with syphilis so that they could find out if the disease would be inherited. Often the condition of the fetus was studied directly in the womb without the use of anesthesia, since these women were considered nothing more than animals to study.
13. Castration and stitching of the genitals in the mouth
In 1944, on the volcanic island of Peleliu, a Marine soldier, while dining with a friend, saw the figure of a man heading towards them across the open terrain of the battlefield. As the man approached, it became clear that he was also a Marine Corps soldier. The man walked bent and hardly moved his legs. He was covered in blood. The sergeant decided that this was just a wounded man who had not been taken from the battlefield, and he and several colleagues rushed to meet him.
What they saw made them shudder. His mouth was sutured, and the front of his trousers were cut open. The face was contorted with pain and horror. Having delivered him to the doctors, they later learned from them what really happened. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese, where he was beaten and brutally tortured. Japanese Army soldiers cut off his genitals and stuffed them into his mouth and stitched him up..
It is unknown whether the soldier was able to survive after such a horrific abuse. But the fact is that instead of intimidation, this event had the opposite effect, filling the hearts of the soldiers with hatred and giving them additional strength to fight for the island.
12. Satisfying the curiosity of doctors
People who practice medicine in Japan did not always work to alleviate the plight of the sick. During World War II, Japanese "the doctorsOften carried out brutal procedures on enemy soldiers or ordinary people in the name of science or simply to satisfy curiosity. Somehow they were interested in what would happen to the human body if it was turned for a long time.
To do this, they put people in centrifuges and sometimes twisted them for hours. People were thrown onto the walls of the cylinder, and the faster it spun, the more pressure was exerted on the internal organs. Many died in a few hours and their bodies were removed from the centrifuge, but some were twisted until they literally exploded or fell apart.
11. Amputation
If a person was suspected of espionage, then for this he was punished with all cruelty. Not only were the soldiers of the enemy Japanese armies tortured, but also the residents of the Philippines, who were suspected of intelligence data for the Americans and the British. His favorite punishment was simply to cut them alive. First one hand, then perhaps a leg and fingers.
Ears usually followed. But all this did not lead to a quick death, but was done so that the victim would suffer for a long time. There was also the practice of stopping bleeding after cutting off the hand, when they were given several days to recover to continue the torture. Men, women and children were amputated, no one was spared the atrocities of the Japanese soldiers.
10. Torture by drowning
Many believe that drowning torture was first used by US soldiers in Iraq. Such torture is contrary to the country's constitution and looks unusual and cruel. This measure may be considered torture, but it may not be so. It is definitely an ordeal for the prisoner, but it does not put his life at risk. The Japanese used water torture not only for interrogation, but also tied prisoners at an angle and inserted tubes into their nostrils.
Thus, the water flowed directly into the lungs. It didn’t just create the feeling of drowning, as in drowning torture, the victim did seem to be drowning if the torture continued for too long.
He could try to spit out enough water so as not to suffocate, but this was not always possible. Drowning torture was the second most common cause of death in prisoners, after beating. You might be interested in article 15 of the terrifying torture devices that are hard to believe exist.
9. Freezing and burning
Another type of inhuman study of the human body was the study of the effects of cold on the body. Often, as a result of the freezing, the skin came off the bones of the victim. Of course, the experiments were carried out on living, breathing people who had to live with limbs from which the skin had come off until the end of their lives.
But not only the effect of low temperatures on the body was studied, but also high ones. They burned the skin on a man's hand over a torch, and the prisoner ended his life in terrible agony.
8. Radiation
X-rays were still poorly understood at the time, and their usefulness and effectiveness in diagnosing disease or as a weapon were questionable. The irradiation of prisoners was especially often used by Detachment 731. The prisoners were gathered under a canopy and exposed to radiation.
At some intervals they were taken out to study the physical and psychological effects of the radiation. With especially high doses of radiation, part of the body burned and the skin literally fell off. The victims died in agony, as in Hiroshima and Nagasaki later, but much more slowly.
7. Burning alive
Japanese soldiers from small islands in the South Pacific were callous, cruel people who lived in caves where there was not enough food, there was nothing to do, but there was a lot of time to cultivate hatred of enemies in their hearts. Therefore, when they were captured by American soldiers, they were absolutely ruthless to them.
Most often, American sailors were burned alive or partially buried. Many of them were found under rocks where they were thrown to decompose. The prisoners were tied hand and foot, then thrown into a dug hole, which was then slowly buried. Perhaps the worst part was that the head of the victim was left outside, which was then urinated or eaten by animals.
6. Decapitation
ISIS members take particular pleasure in beheading Christians and their other adversaries. In Japan, it was considered an honor to die from the blow of the sword. If the Japanese wanted to dishonor the enemy, they brutally tortured him. Therefore, it was good luck for the captured to die from beheading. It was much worse to be subjected to the torture listed above.
If the battle ran out of ammunition, the Americans used a rifle with a bayonet, while the Japanese always carried a long blade and a long curved sword. The soldiers were fortunate enough to die from decapitation, not a blow to the shoulder or chest. If the enemy was on the ground, then he was hacked to death, and not chopped off his head.
5. Death by high tide
Since Japan and its surrounding islands are surrounded by ocean waters, this type of torture was common among the inhabitants. Drowning is a terrible kind of death. Even worse was the expectation of imminent death from the tide for several hours. Prisoners were often tortured for several days in order to learn military secrets. Some could not stand the torture, but there were those who only called their name, rank and serial number.
A special kind of death was being prepared for such stubborn people. The soldier was left on the shore, where he had to watch for several hours how the water came closer and closer. Then, the water covered the prisoner with his head and within a few minutes of coughing, filled the lungs, after which death occurred.
4. Impalement
Bamboo grows in hot tropical areas and grows noticeably faster than other plants, a few centimeters per day. And when the devilish mind of man invented the most terrible way to die, then impalement became it.
The victims were planted on bamboo, which slowly grew into their bodies. The unfortunate ones suffered from inhuman pain when their muscles and organs were pierced by the plant. Death occurred as a result of organ damage or blood loss.
3. Cooking alive
Another activity of Detachment 731 was the exposure of victims to small doses of electricity. With little exposure, it caused severe pain. If it was prolonged, then the internal organs of the prisoners were cooked and burned. An interesting fact about the intestines and gallbladder is that they have no nerve endings.
Therefore, when exposed to them, the brain sends pain signals to other organs. It's like boiling the body from the inside out. Imagine that you swallowed a red-hot piece of iron to understand what the unfortunate victims felt. The whole body will feel pain until the soul leaves it.
2. Forced labor and marches
Thousands of prisoners of war were sent to Japanese concentration camps, where they led the life of slaves. The large number of prisoners was a serious problem for the army, since it was impossible to supply them with sufficient food and medicine. In concentration camps, prisoners were starved, beaten, and forced to work to death.
The life of the prisoners meant nothing to the guards and officers watching over them. In addition, if labor was needed on an island or other part of the country, then prisoners of war had to march there in the unbearable heat for hundreds of kilometers. Countless soldiers died along the way. Their bodies were thrown into ditches or left in the same place.
1. Compulsion to kill comrades and allies
Beatings of prisoners were most often used during interrogations. The documents state that at first the prisoner was spoken in an amicable way. Then, if the officer conducting the interrogation understood the uselessness of such a conversation, was bored or simply angry, then the prisoner of war was beaten with fists, sticks or other objects. The beating continued until the torturers got tired.
In order to make the interrogation more interesting, another prisoner was brought in and forced to continue on pain of his own death from decapitation. Often he had to beat the prisoner to death. Few things in war were more difficult for a soldier than causing suffering to a comrade. These stories filled the Allied troops with even greater determination in the fight against the Japanese.
We recommend watching:
A few years ago, a documentary was filmed about the inhuman experiments of the Japanese army on people, in which historians, journalists and former members of Unit 731 talked about what happened in Japan in the 30s and 40s of the last century.
