in spite of many interviews with the General & letters to Washington, I have still received no response to my urgent requests to follow up on the allegations of human experiments &, in particular, to locate & question Lt. Gen. Ishii (the top man in charge of the offensive Jap BW program in China).
But, as my father used to say, you have to beat the ground to startle the snakes & so I have been beating the ground very hard here in Tokyo. Very hard, indeed!
Earlier this month, I received a copy of George Merck’s personal report to Secretary of War Patterson on Allied BW activities during the war. Merck included in his report the following sentence: ‘There is no evidence that the enemy ever resorted to this (BW) means of warfare.’ But, in his conclusion, Merck stressed that continued efforts in BW research were vital to America’s security.
Having read this report, I realized I needed help. I called the one Jap journalist who has been helpful to me & I gave him everything I knew about Ishii & Unit 731. I told him he could run the story, but not to use my name. I then asked him for a favor in return. I asked him to call The Pacific Stars & Stripes newspaper & to give them everything I had given him. Of course, I asked him to leave out my name & to attribute all quotes to ‘Japanese Communist leaders’.
Two days later the article ran, quoting Japanese Communist leaders accusing ‘members of the Japanese Medical Corps’ of inoculating American & Chinese prisoners of war with bubonic plague virus. It went on (& I quote): ‘Dr Shim Ishii, former lieutenant general in the Japanese Surgeons’ Corps and former head of the Ishii Institute in Harbin, directed “human guinea pig” tests both at Mukden and Harbin.’
The article claimed that experiments at Canton had backfired & that plague had broken out in the city. It further stated that Ishii, despite having had a mock funeral staged, was alive & well & living in Japan. Well, as you can imagine, all hell broke loose & before I knew it I was back in the General’s office (though no one suspects it was me who so well & truly let the cat out of the bag)!
Anyway, Willoughby (who I do not trust) told me that Masaji Kitano, the commander of Unit 731 from 1942 to 1944, was already on a plane from China & I was to question him upon his arrival in Tokyo. But they saved the best for last – Ishii had also miraculously turned up in Chiba Prefecture & I was to interview him too.
So I am finally to meet the devil & talk with him.
Wish me luck & pray that I’ll be back home with you all very soon now. I cannot tell you how much I miss you all & am looking forward to seeing you, so kiss the children from me.
All my love, Murray.
*
Stamped TOP SECRET
APO 500-Advanced Echelon
February 25, 1946
To: Colonel Harlan Worthley, Office of the Chief Chemical Warfare Service, Special Project Division, Gravelly Point, Washington, D.C.
Dear Colonel Worthley,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your timely and continued support of my request to remain in charge of the Jap BW investigation. I am only too aware that not every one (particularly in G-2) felt I, or anyone from Camp Detrick, should even remain involved.
As you are no doubt aware, the International Prosecution Section for the Tokyo War Crimes Trial is now here in Tokyo and in full swing. I have a meeting scheduled (for March 8) with Lt. Col. Thomas H. Morrow of the IPS, whose brief is to prepare the prosecution’s case in relation to Japanese military aggression and war crimes in China. From my initial conversations with Lt. Col. Morrow it is clear that he wishes to bring BW matters before the Tokyo trial.
As you are also aware, I have just completed a series of interrogations with Lt. Gen. Ishii and Lt. Gen. Kitano and much of what was said will be of interest and relevance to Lt. Col. Morrow. However, before sharing any of our information with the IPS, I feel it is only proper to fully brief yourself and the Chemical Warfare Section. To that end, I will be sending – through proper channels – the stenographic transcripts of my interrogations with Lt. Gen. Ishii and Lt. Gen. Kitano. However, I feel it is my duty to