It might be assumed that most of the terrible crimes committed during World War II took place in dark underground prisons, but some of them happened in bright university rooms where doctors wore white coats. On May 5, 1945, an American bomber plane crashed in Japan, and the airmen from the plane were captured and taken to Kyushu Imperial University, where a group of scientists wanted to examine human organs
On May 17, 1945, the eight American soldiers were brought to the professors’ medical lab, tied to a metal table, and kept conscious. The reason was that the doctors wanted to observe how the human body would react to extreme pain and trauma. They surgically opened their chests and removed pieces of lung, liver and brain tissue to study the changes that happened in the human body during such trauma and to see how long a person could survive. In other experiments, they injected saline solution into the veins to test it as artificial blood.
Unfortunately, all eight airmen died from severe trauma and shock. Afterward, their bodies were cremated and buried on the hospital grounds to hide the evidence of the atrocities committed there.
After the war, the documents were discovered, and many physicians were brought to justice. In 1948, 30 of them were accused, and five were sentenced to death. Other doctors who were punished had to spend many years in prison.
Thus, the experiment shows how far the pursuit of science can go and how cruel minds can misuse the scientific achievements of other people.
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