Japanese’s germ warfare in the Second World War destroyed my family

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you. I come from Quzhou, in the Zhejiang Province of China. I am 71 years old, born in Quzhou in 1932. It is a city with 1,800 years of history, the second hometown of the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius. I was brought up with the education of Confucius, with emphasis on trustworthiness, to treat other people in the same way you treat yourself, to treasure peace, and to work hard to build your home, etc.

On Sep 26, 1937, the Japanese warplanes started bombing Quzhou. The train station and a hundred houses were burnt to the ground. 165 people died in this air raid. Even worst, in Oct 1940, a Japanese warplane dropped germ-carrying fleas, food, cotton, rags, paper packages, etc., containing plague, typhoid, malaria, dysentery, and anthrax on Quzhou’s densely populated area. In less than half a month, the western part of Quzhou experienced the first outbreak of plague in its long history, affecting Yunzi Street, Chaija Alley and Lohanjin Street, etc. The Japanese twice occupied Quzhou, in 1942 and 1944 respectively. According to the statistics of the local government, 11,450 people was bombed or murdered, 106,784 houses were bombed or burnt, 5,250 people went missing after being arrested, 3,200 women were raped, 5,623 tons of food was loot from the national warehouses, and an unaccountable amount of property was plundered. As a result, 200,000 people became homeless. The Japanese devils did not stop at these atrocities. When they were retreating, they deployed plain-cloth agents to secretly spread contagious diseases such as anthrax, plague, malaria, dysentery and scabies along the Ganzhou rail line and in the areas of Jiangzshan, Changfa, Kaifa, and Youlong. Subsequently, Quzhou and the surrounding area experienced wide spread attack of infectious diseases. The diseases control agencies of Quzhou estimated that between 1940 and 1948, a total of 300,000 people were infected in the area, causing 50,000 fatalities. These crimes committed by the Japanese invaders were immeasurable and unforgivable. This is a debt in blood that they owe to the people of Quzhou. The people of Quzhou, in generations, cannot forget and will not forget.

Here are the photo of my father, the photo of my family, and the clipping of a report from the Quzhou Daily on April 4^th, 1941 about the death of my father caused by the plague.

Let me tell you how my family was destroyed by the germ warfare of the Japanese military!

In March 1941, plague killed my father, Yang Huifeng. He was a victim of the Japanese germ warfare.

At that time, my family of eight consisted of my parents, two elder brothers, two younger sisters, our grandma and me. My father was 39 years old, strong and healthy, running a clock and watch shop in his own name - Huifeng. The shop was located on South Avenue in Quzhou, less than 300 meters away from the plague quarantine area in Zhunxi Street.

My parents and I lived in the shop; others lived on the closed-by Qifong Alley. My father’s business was very good. My uncle was also helping out there. My father was strong and I never saw him get ill. I was nine at that time, just starting elementary school. Those were happy days for me, seeing my father working busily in the shop, enjoying his affection over me.

In late March, 1941, my father began to suffer from a serious fever and could not get out of bed. Even though we sought help from the doctor right away, his illness continued to deteriorate. The fever did not recede at all and my father moaned in pain all day. My mother ran around getting advices from other doctors and collecting traditional remedies. But my father never recovered and left us in less than a week. I was a child and could not believe that my father had left us behind just like that. My mother and I was crying non-stop. After all these years, I still cannot forget the way my father looking at my mother before he died. His eyes were telling us he did not want to die. He wanted to live.

After father’s death, his body was wrapped in white cloth and taken away by the diseases control agents to be deeply buried somewhere in the Xishan Fayuengong. To add to our pain, up till today, we have never found out the exact location of his burial. After father’s death, his watch shop had to be locked up. My mother and I were taken to a ship in Qu River for quarantine, and only allowed to return home on Qigong Alley half a month later. Unfortunately, my grandma also passed away shortly after. She could not endure the pain caused by the death of my father. We also got the news that my uncle, who had earlier left for the countryside, also passed away. My 15-year-old brother, who had been attending junior high school at that time, decided to join the Nationalist army with my uncle, so as to reduce the burden on our family and to resist the invasion of the Japanese. This was how my happy family shattered by the germ warfare of the Japanese devils.

In 1998, my brother and uncle returned from Taiwan to visit us. This was the first reunion of the siblings in 47 years. My mother who had to work extra hard to bring us up died in 1952. She never got a chance to see her son who left the family during the war.

I am a survivor of this tragic event. I was not infected with plague. My second elder brother and I however contracted scabies while hiding in the countryside because of the war. There was skin ulcer all over my lower body, so serious that I could not even take off my pants! Fortunately, I did not need to go through the 61 years of suffering like some other victims such as Mr. Xu who attended the conference today. His festering feet were caused by anthrax. Many people have suffered even more than Mr. Xu and are in much worst situation. Some of these old people shared with me the following thoughts. The Japanese devils not only committed such atrocity as the germ warfare, but also keep denying and covering up the facts until today. The current Japanese Government is refusing to apologize and to compensate. The current Japanese Prime Minister keeps honoring the war criminals at the Yasukuni Shrine. That is seriously hurting the feeling of the Chinese people and shaking the foundation for long lasting friendship between the two nations.

In the last six years, I went to Japan three times to take part in the lawsuit as one of the class action plaintiffs. We have all the evidence and witnesses. History cannot be rewritten and covered up. The Japanese government should show the courage in accepting the responsibility of the germ warfare, the Nanjing massacre, and the damages to the comfort women. Germany has admitted the fascist atrocities and made compensation. Only when Japan learns from history and opposes militarism can Japan earn the praise and trust from the people of the world and make real contribution to world peace. I would like to repeat a statement I made in my first testimony in the Japanese court: “There is an old Chinese saying, ‘You cannot live under the same sky with those who killed your father’” The Japanese Unit 731 Germ Warfare in China is an undeniable fact. Until this horrific atrocity is admitted and settled, the victims of the germ warfare will never forgive Japan. I am prepared to fight to the end, until justice overcomes evil and conscience overcomes brutality!

Thank you.

Yang Dafang,

Representative of Victims of Germ warfare in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province.

March 2003