Khabarovsk War Crime Trials were hearings held between December 25 - 31st, 1949 in the Soviet Union's industrial city of Khabarovsk (Хабáровск) situated on the Russian Far East (Дáльний Востóк). There, twelve members of the Japanese Kwantung Army were tried as war criminals for manufacturing and using biological weapons during World War II.
During the trials, the accused, such as Major General Kiyashi Kawashima, testified that, as early as 1941, some 40 members of Unit 731 air-dropped plague-contaminated fleas on Changde. These operations caused epidemic plague outbreaks.
All twelve accused war criminals were found guilty, and sentenced to terms ranging between two and twenty-five years in a labour camp. All were repatriated to Japan in 1956.
Read more about Khabarovsk War Crime Trials: Accused and Their Sentences
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