Plague Upon Humanity The Hidden History Of Japan's Biological Warfare Program Book

Trigger warnings: war, violence, medical experimentation on humans including children, rape, vivisection, biological warfare, death, mentions of cannibalism.

This was very important reading because so much of what we hear about the atrocities of WWII is focused on the Holocaust. Which, like, FAIR. But also, there's this shit and h.o.l.y. y.i.k.e.s.

Basically, Japan was performing a whole lot of incredibly horrifying things on civilians and POWs in China from like 1937 through until the end of the war. People were infected with all manner of infectious diseases just to see what would happen. Male prisoners were forced to rape female prisoners so that the doctors could track the progress of venereal diseases. Any children born as a result were experimented on too.

Highly infectious diseases like bubonic plague, cholera, anthrax, typhoid and typhus were experimented with. Bombs full of infected insects were released over civilian towns just to see what would happen. Plague-ridden fleas were released over entire communities. Estimates state that between the medical experimentation in death camps and the biological warfare, nearly 600,000 people died in China. And, unlike Europe, only a handful of people survived the camps.

It's a fascinating but stomach-churning read. Barenblatt has clearly done extensive research and presents things in a somewhat clinical but utterly compelling fashion. So I honestly can't say that I enjoyed this book, I can't say that this 4 star rating fits with the "really liked it" that Goodreads suggests. But it was a very educational and eye-opening read. So. There's that. (Seriously though: don't read if you're at all squeamish)