War is hell, but sometimes, things get way more hellish than most human minds can deal with. Case in point: during World War II, the Japanese Kwantung Army established a secret unit that was euphemistically known as the Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department. Unbeknownst to most of the world, though, this unit, later called Unit 731, was formed in order to do research into biological weapons, and some of this horrific research included unimaginable experimentation on human subjects, most of them Chinese villagers, all of whom were referred to as “maruta,” or “logs.” Men, women, and children were raped, vivisected, deliberately given diseases, exposed to sub-freezing temperatures for prolonged periods of time, and countless other tortures that remained largely under the radar of the global community until long after the war. Strap in for a grim and gruesome ride on a soul-crushing episode 266.

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Channel art and audio & video editing by Jenny Ashford. Music & sound effects courtesy of freesound.org users jamespotterboy, corsica-s, enjoypa, capturedlv, luffy, kiddpark, and justkiddink. Video clips courtesy of Videezy & Videvo.