Asia
Unit 731
Purpose: This activity introduces students to the causes and effects of the Unit 731 program. It shows the immorality, illegality, and cruelty of the medical experiments and explores how doctors were able to conduct them by dehumanizing the people they tested on.
Objective: Students will read a newspaper article about Unit 731 that includes accounts from former participants in the program. They will brainstorm ideas about how such an event could have taken place and discuss if another similar event could occur (and if so- what can be done to prevent it).
California History-Social Science Content Standard: 10.8 Causes and Consequences of WWII - Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II. (Part of addressing that standard in the New HSS Curriculum Framework includes, “‘Comfort women’ is a euphemism that describes women who were forced into sexual service by the Japanese Army…”)
Suggested Time: 1 class day (approximately one hour)
Procedure:
Materials/Handouts:
Objective: Students will read a newspaper article about Unit 731 that includes accounts from former participants in the program. They will brainstorm ideas about how such an event could have taken place and discuss if another similar event could occur (and if so- what can be done to prevent it).
California History-Social Science Content Standard: 10.8 Causes and Consequences of WWII - Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II. (Part of addressing that standard in the New HSS Curriculum Framework includes, “‘Comfort women’ is a euphemism that describes women who were forced into sexual service by the Japanese Army…”)
Suggested Time: 1 class day (approximately one hour)
Procedure:
- Teachers should prepare the class prior to this activity. Warn the class ahead of time that they will read about graphic details about medical experiments. If students are triggered, bothered, or simply uncomfortable, appropriate accommodations should be made. Let students know they can step away from the readings if it becomes too much.
- Teachers should photocopy “Unmasking Horror—A Special Report,; Japan Confronting Gruesome War Atrocity” by Nicholas D. Kristof in The New York Times on March 17, 1995.
- Have students read the article individually, in pairs, in groups, or as a whole class.
- Teachers should lead a class discussion about the article.
- They can prepare formal questions to have students complete as they read the profiles and then share their answer in small groups or with the class.
- The teacher can lead a whole class discussion about the biographies by posing questions to the class.
- Some sample questions to use for both suggestions are:
- What are some feelings/reactions you had while reading the article?
- What was the thing that most shocked/surprised you?
- Why did Japan begin conducting the experiments?
- How did the doctors and scientists in Unit 731 justify what they had done?
- Who did they conduct the experiments on?
- What are some examples of the experiments that were conducted on people?
- What role did war play in Unit 731?
- What role did imperialism play in Unit 731?
- What consequences did the doctors in Unit 731 face after WWII? Why?
- Do you agree with the old man when he said, “There is a possibility this could happen again, because in a war, you have to win.”? Why or why not?
- What can be done to prevent another atrocity like Unit 731 from happening?
- Due to the nature of the heavy topic, it may be beneficial to have students do a quick write or journal entry about the topic as a concluding activity.
Materials/Handouts:
- “Unmasking Horror—A Special Report: Japan Confronting Gruesome War Atrocity” by Nicholas D. Kristof in The New York Times on March 17, 1995.