1. - Throughout time,
governments and the people
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2. who work for them have done
strange and even terrible
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3. things in the name
of national interest,
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4. including scientific
projects so shocking,
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5. they are kept secret
for decades.
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6. From experimenting
on orphans...
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7. - He'd force-feed the children,
stimulate the wrist.
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8. They'd start salivating.
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9. - To breeding super soldiers
using apes.
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10. - He ultimately
wanted to create
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11. a living war machine.
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12. - And even to weaponizing
incurable diseases.
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13. - These guys are
playing with fire.
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14. - What could possibly go wrong?
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15. - Just how far will nations go
to gain an edge?
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16. Now it's time to bring
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17. these dark experiments
into the light.
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18. During World War II,
the Nazis and the Allies
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19. are locked in a race
to develop a nuclear weapon.
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20. But little is known
about how radioactivity
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21. affects people exposed to it.
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22. To learn more,
one nation conducts
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23. covert experiments that are
covered up for decades.
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24. That nation is
the United States.
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25. Oak Ridge is the headquarters
of the Manhattan Project,
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26. the U.S. quest
to develop an atomic bomb.
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27. Scientists here are
facing a problem.
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28. They are working
with radioactive elements
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29. they know are dangerous.
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30. But they don't yet
fully understand
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31. the risks of exposure.
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32. - Workers must
protect themselves
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33. from the "hot stuff,"
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34. as they call
radioactive materials.
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35. - But the deadly radiation
from the "hot stuff" is
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36. invisible and hard to avoid.
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37. Sometimes workers even
inhale plutonium dust.
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38. - If this dust gets
into the lungs,
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39. it can get into the bloodstream
and travel throughout the body.
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40. So they need to determine,
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41. what is a safe exposure
limit for scientists?
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42. And what is going to be lethal?
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43. - So the Manhattan Project
scientists turned
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44. to testing, first on animals.
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45. It's reported that they used
25,000 mice, and even dogs.
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46. But they want
more information.
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47. - They felt that, you know,
the physiological reactions
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48. of mice and dogs
might be different
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49. in significant ways
from humans.
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50. - So to safeguard their staff,
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51. they need even more
reliable tests.
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52. - The Manhattan Project
Science Committee decides
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53. to go one step further.
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54. They will run radiation
exposure tests on humans.
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55. The only question is,
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56. where to begin?
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57. They decide to start
close to home.
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58. An ambulance speeds
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59. through Oak Ridge,
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60. rushing construction worker
Ebb Cade
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61. to the hospital
after a head-on collision
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62. with a dump truck.
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63. - Ebb Cade is in
a horrific car accident.
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64. He shatters his arm
and his leg.
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65. But when he goes
to the hospital,
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66. the doctors start
a course of treatment
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67. that really isn't consistent
for broken bones.
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68. - That's because Ebb Cade
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69. is about to become
the Manhattan Project's
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70. first human
radiation testing subject.
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71. - In the hospital,
Ebb Cade is being injected
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72. with a syringe that's only
marked with the number 49.
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73. In a few days, he starts
to feel absolutely terrible.
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74. - It turns out that 49,
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75. the substance that
Cade was injected with,
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76. was the code name
for plutonium.
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77. - Without his knowledge
or consent,
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78. scientists make Cade part
of their experiments.
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79. - Cade is injected
with 4.7 milligrams
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80. of plutonium,
five times what is deemed
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81. to be safe for human exposure.
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82. - They delay Cade's treatment
for his shattered arm and leg
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83. so that they can take
bone samples from him
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84. after a few days
of radiation exposure.
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85. - As if that's
not enough damage,
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86. the scientists pull out
15 of Cade's teeth.
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87. It's like they don't give
a damn about this guy.
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88. They send the teeth,
along with bone samples,
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89. to the labs at Los Alamos.
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90. - As soon as he can move,
Ebb Cade gets
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91. out of the facility
where he's being treated.
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92. But by that point,
it's kind of too late.
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93. He's already been exposed
to plutonium.
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94. He's already been irradiated.
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95. - A few years after this
incident, he's gone blind.
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96. And he eventually dies in 1953.
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97. Cade never knew
what had happened to him.
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98. - Ebb Cade is not
the only victim
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99. of the secret radiation
exposure testing.
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100. Between 1945 and 1947,
Manhattan Project scientists
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101. used 18 other
unsuspecting civilians
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102. as human Guinea pigs.
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103. - They injected these people
with plutonium
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104. and other radioactive compounds
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105. and just waited to see
what would happen.
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106. - These experiments stay
secret for decades...
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107. Until 1987,
when a junior reporter
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108. in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, stumbles
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109. across something strange.
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110. - Eileen Welsome is a new
neighborhoods reporter
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111. at "The Albuquerque Tribune."
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112. - One day, Welsome is flicking
through declassified documents
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113. from Kirtland Air Force base
about radioactive waste.
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114. - There's a footnote
in one of the reports
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115. that she's looking at
that makes reference
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116. to plutonium
exposure experiments.
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117. - And that sets off
alarm bells right there.
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118. Plutonium is one
of the most dangerous
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119. elements in the world.
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120. - So Welsome sets off on
an investigative deep-dive.
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121. - Over a period of five years,
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122. Welsome tracks down
retired government scientists
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123. and historians.
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124. - In 1993, Welsome publishes
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125. a series of articles
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126. exposing
the Manhattan Project's
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127. radiation testing
on unsuspecting citizens.
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128. - Welsome's investigation
quickly becomes public.
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129. She's going to win
the Pulitzer Prize
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130. for her reporting
on this issue.
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131. President Clinton is
going to wind up ordering
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132. a deeper investigation
into the allegations
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133. that Welsome has
brought to light.
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134. - They plowed through
a lot of evidence that
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135. had been previously suppressed,
kept at arm's distance
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136. from reporters like
this assiduous member
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137. of "The Albuquerque Tribune."
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138. - And what they find is
the U.S. government
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139. really did inject
American citizens
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140. with radioactive materials
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141. to see what
the effects would be.
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142. - Whether in war or at peace,
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143. this is one
of the most appalling
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144. abuses of government power
in U.S. history.
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145. - Finally there was
an acknowledgment that
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146. this had actually happened.
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147. - So the government is
forced to apologize
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148. and give a payout
of $400,000 apiece
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149. to the surviving families
of 12 of the victims.
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150. - In 1997, the U.S. Congress
passes a law
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151. that prohibits
the use of unknowing subjects
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152. in medical research.
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153. - As experts
from the Manhattan Project
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154. experiment on Americans
without their consent,
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155. some researchers
in the Soviet Union
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156. are also pursuing dark science.
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157. They want to create
a new kind of life,
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158. a cross between human and ape.
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159. Seven years after
the Russian Revolution,
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160. the Soviet government
cements its power.
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161. Now its leaders look
to stamp out religion,
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162. seeing it as a hindrance
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163. in a socialist society.
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164. - Lenin and Stalin
are both convinced,
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165. they have to absolutely
eradicate religion
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166. if they're going to bring about
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167. the glorious
Communist revolution.
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168. Following the ideas of Marx,
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169. they think it's the opium
of the people.
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170. And it's got to go.
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171. - To further that cause,
Stalin turns
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172. to a scientist named
Ilya Ivanov,
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173. who has an unusual interest
in human genetics.
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174. - To show off the potential
of this new science,
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175. Ivanov has already
produced crossbreeds.
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176. - But in 1924, he decides
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177. to try something far beyond
merging two animals together.
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178. - What Ivanov is proposing
is to crossbreed
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179. humans and chimpanzees
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180. to create what he'll call
a humanzee.
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181. - It's a project
that's just so perverse,
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182. it boggles the mind.
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183. But Ivanov is staking
his reputation
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184. and his life on its success.
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185. - Ivanov is convinced that
if his experiments work
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186. and apes and humans
can successfully interbreed,
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187. that this means they share
a common ancestor.
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188. And therefore,
the Bible and the notion
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189. of unique creation is false.
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190. - Once Stalin gives
Ivanov funding,
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191. the pressure is on to deliver.
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192. Ivanov travels to Guinea,
French West Africa,
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193. and gets to work.
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194. - Ivanov artificially
inseminates
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195. three female chimpanzees
with human sperm.
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196. Shocker, it doesn't take.
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197. - So he decides to flip
the experiment—
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198. use chimp sperm
in a human woman.
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199. - This is just so dark
and perverted that
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200. it proves to be too much
for the authorities in Guinea.
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201. They've had enough of Ivanov.
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202. And they just expel him
from the country.
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203. "You are not welcome here."
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204. - Ivanov is terrified
at the prospect
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205. of not being able to succeed.
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206. - He received serious funding
from the USSR.
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207. And this is not a government
to disappoint.
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208. So you can imagine,
the pressure is on.
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209. - Let's be honest.
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210. Stalin kills anybody
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211. who makes a promise
and can't fulfill it.
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212. - Coming up...
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213. when Ivanov returns to Russia,
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214. he tries to recruit new
subjects for his experiments.
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215. - He wants to entice
Soviet women in
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216. and artificially inseminate
them with chimpanzee sperm.
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217. - Then the real purpose behind
Ivanov's perverse experiments
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218. is exposed.
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219. - What Stalin wants
is regiments
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220. - What Stalin wants
is regiments
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221. of completely obedient,
super capable super soldiers.
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222. - In the 1920s,
a Russian scientist
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223. named Ilya Ivanov engages
in a shocking experiment
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224. with Stalin's support.
Copy !req
225. He tries to create
a hybrid creature
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226. by crossbreeding
humans and apes.
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227. His alleged goal?
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228. Challenge the belief
that God created man.
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229. After his experiments
in Africa fail,
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230. Ivanov returns home
with four chimpanzees.
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231. - He wants to entice
Soviet women in
Copy !req
232. and artificially inseminate
them with chimpanzee sperm.
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233. - But the chimp that he has
earmarked to donate samples,
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234. a 26-year-old named Tarzan,
dies of a brain hemorrhage
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235. before he can get a sample.
Copy !req
236. - Ivanov is
officially a failure.
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237. And Stalin does what he does
with those who disappoint him.
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238. Ivanov is off to the gulag.
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239. - Ivanov's notes and research
disappear for decades,
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240. lost in the labyrinths
of the Soviet archives.
Copy !req
241. When they're
finally uncovered,
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242. they reveal something new.
Copy !req
243. - The real hidden purpose
of Ivanov's experiments
Copy !req
244. doesn't become known
until 2005,
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245. when a revelatory story
is published
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246. in "The Scotsman" newspaper.
Copy !req
247. - The paper reveals
that this was never
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248. about undermining religion.
Copy !req
249. It was about developing
a new breed
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250. of half-human,
half-ape super soldiers.
Copy !req
251. - It sounds like something
you would read in a comic book
Copy !req
252. when you were a kid.
Copy !req
253. But according to the paper,
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254. Stalin ordered Ivanov
to create
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255. a living war machine
for the Red Army.
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256. - Consider the physical
characteristics
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257. of chimpanzees.
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258. Incredibly strong.
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259. They would ignore pain.
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260. They wouldn't care what type
of food they were being fed.
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261. They would accept any abuse
in service of the state.
Copy !req
262. - What Stalin wants
is regiments
Copy !req
263. of completely obedient,
super capable super soldiers.
Copy !req
264. - Stalin's hybrid human-ape
army never comes to pass.
Copy !req
265. But just a few years after
Ivanov is carrying out
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266. his research,
Japanese scientists are
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267. working on their own
dark experiments,
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268. experiments that lead
to the largest
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269. biological warfare attack
in human history.
Copy !req
270. Imperial Japanese troops
invade Manchuria
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271. in Northeast China
and begin a brutal occupation.
Copy !req
272. - Japan's top microbiologist
in the 1930s
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273. is a man named Shiro Ishii.
Copy !req
274. And he is posted to Manchuria
during the Japanese invasion
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275. of mainland China.
Copy !req
276. - Ishii's mission is to develop
hideous biological weapons
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277. for the Japanese army.
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278. - In 1935, with the backing
of the Japanese military,
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279. Ishii creates a huge
bio-warfare laboratory.
Copy !req
280. - The Imperial Japanese
bulldoze a set
Copy !req
281. of villages at Pingfang.
Copy !req
282. - In their place,
they construct
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283. a massive new headquarters
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284. for Ishii's covert division,
Unit 731.
Copy !req
285. - It's set to become
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286. one of the most
notorious divisions
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287. in the entire
Japanese military.
Copy !req
288. - They are creating at Pingfang
an Eastern Auschwitz.
Copy !req
289. They're creating a place where
Copy !req
290. they will perfect
the mechanisms
Copy !req
291. for the extermination
of human life.
Copy !req
292. - He creates a cover story
Copy !req
293. to explain the construction.
Copy !req
294. He says it's a lumber mill.
Copy !req
295. And the scientists there refer
to their victims as logs.
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296. - The Japanese, over and over
again at Special Unit 731,
Copy !req
297. treat Chinese people
as if they are animals,
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298. as if they have no feelings,
as if they have no families,
Copy !req
299. as if they don't deserve
to live on the planet.
Copy !req
300. - The new facility soon grows
Copy !req
301. to the size of a small town.
Copy !req
302. Ishii and his team round up
Chinese citizens
Copy !req
303. and imprison them there.
Copy !req
304. What happens next is shocking.
Copy !req
305. - These monsters,
these butchers in Unit 731,
Copy !req
306. they deliberately infect
male prisoners
Copy !req
307. with venereal diseases
like syphilis.
Copy !req
308. And then those same men
are forced
Copy !req
309. to rape female prisoners,
Copy !req
310. just so Ishii can test
disease transmission.
Copy !req
311. - They would inject them
with plague and anthrax
Copy !req
312. and then watch them die.
Copy !req
313. Sometimes it was
even worse than that.
Copy !req
314. As the disease was advancing,
Copy !req
315. they would conduct
a "living dissection,"
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316. a vivisection
of the test subject.
Copy !req
317. - They were going
to take your organs out
Copy !req
318. and examine them to see
the progression of disease.
Copy !req
319. You're still alive
while this is happening.
Copy !req
320. You're awake.
Copy !req
321. You're not under anesthesia.
Copy !req
322. They are holding you down
Copy !req
323. and taking out your organs.
Copy !req
324. You are going to die,
Copy !req
325. and you're going
to watch it happen.
Copy !req
326. - By 1942, Ishii reaches
Copy !req
327. the culmination
of his experiments.
Copy !req
328. He unleashes biological
warfare on entire cities.
Copy !req
329. - What the Japanese do
is they essentially
Copy !req
330. breed fleas and make sure
that they are plague carriers.
Copy !req
331. And then they use
aerial bombardment
Copy !req
332. to drop those fleas
on Chinese urban areas,
Copy !req
333. in the hopes of touching off
a plague epidemic.
Copy !req
334. - Nobody knows
for sure how many
Copy !req
335. people are actually killed.
Copy !req
336. But estimates have
given us numbers
Copy !req
337. as high as 50,000 people,
possibly even more.
Copy !req
338. This is the largest
biological weapons attack
Copy !req
339. on people in the whole
war-torn 20th century.
Copy !req
340. - In 1945, the Russians
invade Manchuria,
Copy !req
341. ending Japan's
occupation of China.
Copy !req
342. Ishii's reign of terror
is over.
Copy !req
343. - Ishii and their team
slaughter
Copy !req
344. their remaining prisoners.
Copy !req
345. And then they just run
back to Japan,
Copy !req
346. taking all of this blood-soaked
experimental data with them.
Copy !req
347. - Between 1945 and 1947,
U.S. war crimes investigators
Copy !req
348. question Ishii
and the Unit 731 team.
Copy !req
349. - Through that interrogation,
it was learned
Copy !req
350. what had been done
at Special Unit 731.
Copy !req
351. They not only kill about
14,000 Chinese test subjects—
Copy !req
352. living, breathing
human beings that are
Copy !req
353. treated like test animals—
Copy !req
354. they kill off about
50,000 Chinese people
Copy !req
355. through actual
weaponization of the flea.
Copy !req
356. - Despite having clear proof
of Ishii's guilt,
Copy !req
357. investigators decide not to
charge him with any war crimes.
Copy !req
358. - Why doesn't
the U.S. prosecute
Copy !req
359. this known war criminal?
Copy !req
360. The answer is simple.
Copy !req
361. The military wants his data.
Copy !req
362. In exchange for his research,
Ishii gets off scot-free.
Copy !req
363. The facts are revealed
in a 1998 letter
Copy !req
364. from the Department
of Justice.
Copy !req
365. - The U.S. government was
prohibited from conducting
Copy !req
366. actual ghoulish testing
against human test subjects
Copy !req
367. that had been an everyday
matter of business
Copy !req
368. at Special Unit 731.
Copy !req
369. And so we wanted to benefit
from it by having access
Copy !req
370. to the details of all
of the technical information
Copy !req
371. that his institute
had developed.
Copy !req
372. - Sometimes American
authorities made compromises
Copy !req
373. with horrible people
as part of its pursuit
Copy !req
374. of advantage against
the Soviet Union.
Copy !req
375. - The leader of Unit 731
lives in peace
Copy !req
376. until his death
from throat cancer in 1959.
Copy !req
377. - During the Cold War,
the Soviets carry out
Copy !req
378. covert science experiments
in remote locations.
Copy !req
379. One place will become known
as Plague Island.
Copy !req
380. But it only becomes a priority
for U.S. spy agencies
Copy !req
381. when a boat strays
too close to shore.
Copy !req
382. The Aral Sea,
Copy !req
383. deep inside the Soviet Union,
Copy !req
384. 1971.
Copy !req
385. The research vessel "Lev Berg"
Copy !req
386. is working in waters
near a remote island there.
Copy !req
387. - It's a normal day on board,
when suddenly,
Copy !req
388. the ship runs into
something strange.
Copy !req
389. - It's a brown cloud of haze
hovering just above the water,
Copy !req
390. and it's too late to avoid it.
Copy !req
391. The ship sails
right through it.
Copy !req
392. - On board the ship,
a young researcher
Copy !req
393. comes down with
a mysterious illness,
Copy !req
394. and a terrible rash breaks out
all over her body.
Copy !req
395. When she gets back to her home
village, her illness spreads.
Copy !req
396. - It's a severe contagion.
Copy !req
397. Within weeks,
three people in the town
Copy !req
398. are dead, including
two newborn children.
Copy !req
399. - Doctors find out that
what she was infected with
Copy !req
400. was one of the most
deadly diseases
Copy !req
401. that humans have ever
encountered, smallpox.
Copy !req
402. - Smallpox is terrifying.
Copy !req
403. It killed more people
in the 20th century
Copy !req
404. than all of the wars
in that century combined.
Copy !req
405. - But the researcher is
vaccinated against smallpox.
Copy !req
406. She should have been
immune to it.
Copy !req
407. - One year later,
a fishing boat is found
Copy !req
408. washed up
near the same island.
Copy !req
409. - Inside the boat are two
fishermen, stone-cold dead.
Copy !req
410. Meanwhile nearby,
other fishermen are
Copy !req
411. bringing in catches filled
with dead and dying fish.
Copy !req
412. - When villagers
examine the bodies
Copy !req
413. of the dead fishermen,
Copy !req
414. they find them covered
in pustulous swellings.
Copy !req
415. - The lesions
on these fishermen
Copy !req
416. are consistent
with bubonic plague,
Copy !req
417. one of the deadliest diseases
that confronts humankind,
Copy !req
418. with a fatality rate
of about 50%.
Copy !req
419. - When U.S.
intelligence agencies
Copy !req
420. get wind of these strange
deaths, they have questions.
Copy !req
421. What's happening
on this remote island?
Copy !req
422. - The island is located
Copy !req
423. 1,500 miles from Moscow.
Copy !req
424. Access is restricted
Copy !req
425. by the Soviet government.
Copy !req
426. - American spies
have been trying
Copy !req
427. to study the island for years.
Copy !req
428. Photos of the island snapped
from spy planes and satellites
Copy !req
429. show that it's
far from ordinary.
Copy !req
430. - Other settlements
nearby have
Copy !req
431. fishing piers
and fish packing sheds.
Copy !req
432. The secret island appears
to instead have
Copy !req
433. things like barracks
and rifle ranges,
Copy !req
434. as well as animal pens,
research buildings,
Copy !req
435. and what appears to be
an open air testing site.
Copy !req
436. - The images confirm
the CIA's worst fears.
Copy !req
437. The island is clearly
a military
Copy !req
438. scientific research base.
Copy !req
439. - But the question remains,
what kind of horrifying weapons
Copy !req
440. are being dreamed up
and tested there?
Copy !req
441. - What's going on
on this island
Copy !req
442. remains a mystery until
Copy !req
443. after the end of the Cold War.
Copy !req
444. - In 1992,
a year after the USSR fails,
Copy !req
445. Soviet military microbiologist
Colonel Ken Alibek
Copy !req
446. flees to America
and brings with him
Copy !req
447. the truth about Plague Island.
Copy !req
448. - The former insider reveals
that the island
Copy !req
449. is more than just
a military scientific base.
Copy !req
450. It's devoted to transforming
natural diseases
Copy !req
451. into deadly weapons—
bio-warfare,
Copy !req
452. which is illegal
under international law.
Copy !req
453. - For decades,
the Soviets have been
Copy !req
454. experimenting here
with some of the deadliest
Copy !req
455. diseases known to man.
Copy !req
456. - Beginning in the 1930s,
they're attempting
Copy !req
457. to weaponize everything,
from smallpox and plague
Copy !req
458. to these monstrous
viral diseases
Copy !req
459. which have no known cure.
Copy !req
460. - They were trying to make
bacterial pathogens
Copy !req
461. resistant to antibiotics,
make viruses
Copy !req
462. more difficult
to detect and treat.
Copy !req
463. - What they hoped to create
were unstoppable plagues,
Copy !req
464. which they could launch
at their enemy:
Copy !req
465. the United States
and her allies.
Copy !req
466. - Things that were developed
on that island still,
Copy !req
467. to this day, have no cure.
Copy !req
468. - Safety protocols are tight,
Copy !req
469. but these guys are
playing with fire.
Copy !req
470. And sure enough,
things go wrong, very wrong.
Copy !req
471. - Just a little leak
or the smallest spill
Copy !req
472. can have deadly consequences.
Copy !req
473. - We have no idea
how many people
Copy !req
474. were killed in the process
of developing these weapons.
Copy !req
475. were killed in the process
of developing these weapons.
Copy !req
476. - To this day,
Plague Island is
Copy !req
477. one of the most poisonous
places on the planet.
Copy !req
478. - Many U.S. soldiers
returning from World War II
Copy !req
479. carry battle scars,
both physical and mental.
Copy !req
480. When they seek help,
some receive treatment
Copy !req
481. that can only be called
shocking.
Copy !req
482. The U.S. Army's bombardment
group are flying B-17s
Copy !req
483. on dangerous daytime raids.
Copy !req
484. - Flying combat missions
over Europe
Copy !req
485. is one of the most
dangerous aspects
Copy !req
486. of World War II for
American service personnel.
Copy !req
487. - On every mission, these men
were dancing with death.
Copy !req
488. - 22-year-old Roman Tritz is
Copy !req
489. one of those American aviators
Copy !req
490. flying 34 combat missions
over Europe.
Copy !req
491. - Tritz sees many
of his comrades,
Copy !req
492. his friends,
being shot out of the sky.
Copy !req
493. - B-17 out of control
at 3 o'clock.
Copy !req
494. - The unit loses
more than 100 planes
Copy !req
495. over the course of the war.
Copy !req
496. - Come on, you guys.
Get out of that plane.
Copy !req
497. Bail out!
Copy !req
498. - There's one.
He's come out of the bomb bay.
Copy !req
499. - Yeah, I see him.
Copy !req
500. - It's an experience
he'll never forget,
Copy !req
501. and it'll haunt him
for the rest of his life.
Copy !req
502. - When the war ends in 1945,
Roman Tritz comes home
Copy !req
503. to ticker tape parades
and public adulation.
Copy !req
504. - After being discharged,
Tritz is given
Copy !req
505. a clean bill of health
by the Army medics.
Copy !req
506. But for the young
bomber pilot,
Copy !req
507. the wartime trauma
just won't go away.
Copy !req
508. - When Tritz comes home,
Copy !req
509. his life effectively starts
to fall apart.
Copy !req
510. He can't sleep.
Copy !req
511. He starts to have
hallucinations and delusions.
Copy !req
512. - Tritz is probably
suffering from a form
Copy !req
513. of Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder, or PTSD,
Copy !req
514. something people don't
understand at the time.
Copy !req
515. - PTSD as a diagnosis
doesn't exist yet.
Copy !req
516. So doctors call someone
with these symptoms
Copy !req
517. either shell-shocked or say
that they have battle fatigue.
Copy !req
518. - His parents, who are not
psychiatric professionals,
Copy !req
519. they don't know
what to do with him.
Copy !req
520. They gave this kid
to the U.S. Army.
Copy !req
521. The U.S. Army gave him back,
and he was a complete mess.
Copy !req
522. They couldn't do
anything for him.
Copy !req
523. And so they have him committed.
Copy !req
524. - Training footage released
in 1944 by the U.S. military
Copy !req
525. suggests what veterans like
Tritz might have experienced.
Copy !req
526. - In the psychiatric facility,
he is given
Copy !req
527. 66 rounds of the so-called
"needle shower."
Copy !req
528. He is exposed
to intensely hot water,
Copy !req
529. followed by
intensely cold water.
Copy !req
530. And it was thought
that this would somehow
Copy !req
531. help him get over
this condition.
Copy !req
532. - The doctors try
insulin shock therapy,
Copy !req
533. which puts Tritz
into a medically-induced coma.
Copy !req
534. The treatment is
intended to break
Copy !req
535. the cycle of mental illness.
Copy !req
536. - They later hit him with 28
rounds of electroshock therapy,
Copy !req
537. in the hopes that
this will improve
Copy !req
538. Tritz's brain chemistry.
Copy !req
539. - When this doesn't work,
Copy !req
540. medics turn to a new form
of psycho-surgery: lobotomy.
Copy !req
541. - A lobotomy is
a surgical procedure
Copy !req
542. that was developed in 1935
Copy !req
543. by Portuguese neurologist
Antonio Moniz.
Copy !req
544. - Surgeons use a device called
a leucotome to physically sever
Copy !req
545. the connection
between the frontal lobe
Copy !req
546. and the thalamus in the brain.
Copy !req
547. - The operation is
supposed to work
Copy !req
548. by eliminating
excessive emotions
Copy !req
549. and stabilizing
wild mood swings.
Copy !req
550. - Lobotomy is
permanently damaging,
Copy !req
551. and the VA doctors know it.
Copy !req
552. - As far back as 1941,
Copy !req
553. the American
Medical Association
Copy !req
554. warns of "severe
negative effects."
Copy !req
555. They report that
some 10,000 lobotomies
Copy !req
556. had already been performed
in the United States.
Copy !req
557. - Some patients don't
survive the procedure.
Copy !req
558. But those that do,
some of them end up
Copy !req
559. just living out
the rest of their lives
Copy !req
560. almost like
just a drooling zombie.
Copy !req
561. - Tritz's parents
don't know that,
Copy !req
562. and they give their consent.
Copy !req
563. - In Tomah Veterans Hospital
in Wisconsin,
Copy !req
564. on the 1st of July, 1953,
Tritz is taken into surgery.
Copy !req
565. At 11:05 a.m.,
a surgeon peels back
Copy !req
566. the flesh from his skull
Copy !req
567. and drills two holes
right into it.
Copy !req
568. - Tritz survives
the operation,
Copy !req
569. but he doesn't improve.
Copy !req
570. - After the surgery,
Tritz experiences
Copy !req
571. crippling seizures,
which the doctors
Copy !req
572. do attribute to the lobotomy.
Copy !req
573. - He lapses into catatonia
Copy !req
574. and is plagued
by paranoid delusions.
Copy !req
575. - In 2013,
more than 50 years after
Copy !req
576. Roman Tritz is lobotomized,
a journalist unearths
Copy !req
577. evidence deep
in the National Archives.
Copy !req
578. - Against all odds,
journalist Michael Phillips
Copy !req
579. actually uses this information
to track down Roman Tritz,
Copy !req
580. who is still alive seven
decades after World War II,
Copy !req
581. in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Copy !req
582. - Years later,
even into his old age,
Copy !req
583. Roman is still suffering
from the after-effects
Copy !req
584. of his brutal lobotomy.
Copy !req
585. - He still has
paranoid delusions
Copy !req
586. about being pursued
by the FBI.
Copy !req
587. He also makes references
Copy !req
588. to what he calls
his "magnetic brain."
Copy !req
589. - Phillips discovers
that Tritz is not alone.
Copy !req
590. - Michael Phillips finds
a memorandum
Copy !req
591. that mentions how
lobotomies are being used
Copy !req
592. to treat veterans
for psychiatric conditions.
Copy !req
593. - The memo shows they are
being performed at
Copy !req
594. some 50 hospitals
across America.
Copy !req
595. - Between 1947 and 1950,
the VA had carried out
Copy !req
596. lobotomies in
1,500 American veterans.
Copy !req
597. And hundreds more are
lobotomized later.
Copy !req
598. - Roman Tritz lives
Copy !req
599. to see his story made public.
Copy !req
600. He dies at age 97,
Copy !req
601. He dies at age 97,
Copy !req
602. still blaming the government
for his brutal surgery.
Copy !req
603. - At the beginning
of the Cold War,
Copy !req
604. Washington is on edge
about the threat
Copy !req
605. of Communist infiltration.
Copy !req
606. In 1956,
a book by Edward Hunter
Copy !req
607. is published that confirms
the public's worst fears.
Copy !req
608. Its subject—
the Soviets are developing
Copy !req
609. brainwashing as a weapon.
Copy !req
610. - When Edward Hunter comes out
with his book,
Copy !req
611. it really just throws
a lot of kerosene
Copy !req
612. on a fire that was
ready to explode.
Copy !req
613. - Hunter claims that Soviet
brainwashing science is
Copy !req
614. now so advanced,
it can create a kind of
Copy !req
615. mass hypnosis
across the country
Copy !req
616. that would rob Americans
of their free will entirely.
Copy !req
617. - He suggests that
the Soviets could do this
Copy !req
618. at such a wide scale
to create an army of puppets
Copy !req
619. under Soviet control.
Copy !req
620. - Hunter bases his claims
on the idea
Copy !req
621. that Americans captured
during the Korean War
Copy !req
622. were brainwashed into
making false confessions.
Copy !req
623. - I came over here and dropped
germ bombs on people.
Copy !req
624. - Hunter traces Soviet
brainwashing experiments
Copy !req
625. back decades to before
the Russian Revolution,
Copy !req
626. to Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov.
Copy !req
627. - Pavlov is world famous
for his pioneering
Copy !req
628. research into the brain.
Copy !req
629. A film produced
in Russia in 1926
Copy !req
630. illustrates his work
with dogs.
Copy !req
631. - Pavlov is most known
for his conditioning dogs.
Copy !req
632. He trained dogs
to react to a sound.
Copy !req
633. Every time
they heard the sound,
Copy !req
634. they would get a treat,
to the point where,
Copy !req
635. every time
they heard the sound,
Copy !req
636. they would start salivating
in anticipation of that treat.
Copy !req
637. - Pavlov calls this behavior
"conditioned response."
Copy !req
638. - What he's proved is that,
essentially,
Copy !req
639. the dogs' brains
can be hijacked.
Copy !req
640. - Hunter gets a lead
that Pavlov's experiments
Copy !req
641. went far further
than most realize.
Copy !req
642. - Hunter learns from a source
that Pavlov's experiments
Copy !req
643. didn't end with dogs.
Copy !req
644. He hears that there is
hidden secret footage
Copy !req
645. of other experiments.
Copy !req
646. And he sets out to find it.
Copy !req
647. - After months of digging,
he manages to trace a copy.
Copy !req
648. But his book keeps
the source under wraps.
Copy !req
649. When he sits down
to watch the secret film,
Copy !req
650. he discovers
something terrifying.
Copy !req
651. - The footage from 1926
proves that
Copy !req
652. Pavlov's work extends
into much darker experiments
Copy !req
653. than his famous
animal research.
Copy !req
654. - What Hunter finds
is footage of Pavlov
Copy !req
655. running the same experiments,
but with human children.
Copy !req
656. He conditions
young orphaned boys
Copy !req
657. to have the same salivating
response to a sound
Copy !req
658. that he did with dogs.
Copy !req
659. - He'd force-feed the children,
stimulate the wrist,
Copy !req
660. force-feed the children,
stimulate the wrist.
Copy !req
661. They'd start salivating.
Copy !req
662. - Pavlov's proving
that humans can be
Copy !req
663. conditioned, just like dogs.
Copy !req
664. - Hunter wonders if
the Soviets aren't using
Copy !req
665. this kind of conditioning
brainwashing tactic
Copy !req
666. on prisoners of war.
Copy !req
667. - If a human can be
conditioned,
Copy !req
668. then how far could
that conditioning go?
Copy !req
669. - Two years after
his book comes out,
Copy !req
670. Edward Hunter testifies
before the House Committee
Copy !req
671. on un-American Activities.
Copy !req
672. - Hunter warns that the U.S.
is losing the Cold War
Copy !req
673. because the Soviets have
such a massive head start
Copy !req
674. when it comes
to psychological warfare
Copy !req
675. and mind control techniques.
Copy !req
676. - He wonders if the Soviets
haven't honed this research
Copy !req
677. and have been doing mass
brainwashing for decades.
Copy !req
678. - In a country
that's already on edge
Copy !req
679. about the Communist menace,
Hunter's report
Copy !req
680. about the advances
in brainwashing science
Copy !req
681. by the Soviets just
ratchets up that fear
Copy !req
682. to a pitch of utter hysteria.
Copy !req
683. - There's a final twist
in the tale
Copy !req
684. of "journalist" Edward Hunter.
Copy !req
685. - So a number of years later,
it was discovered that
Copy !req
686. Edward Hunter actually wasn't
who he purported to be.
Copy !req
687. - He's an agent of the CIA,
Copy !req
688. operating in their
propaganda wing.
Copy !req
689. - Pavlov's experiments
on children were real.
Copy !req
690. But the link Hunter makes
to Soviet mind control
Copy !req
691. is entirely fictitious.
Copy !req
692. - His writing
about brainwashing
Copy !req
693. is, in effect, a black op,
Copy !req
694. designed to spread mistrust
and hatred of the Communists
Copy !req
695. during the Cold War.
Copy !req
696. - Once you have
a negative thought or feeling
Copy !req
697. about an individual or a group
or an organization,
Copy !req
698. it doesn't take much
to continue
Copy !req
699. to build that confirmation bias
that they are bad,
Copy !req
700. that they're trying to do
nefarious things against us.
Copy !req
701. And so that's what
he was doing by spreading
Copy !req
702. And so that's what
he was doing by spreading
Copy !req
703. this disinformation.
Copy !req
704. - When citizens tear down
the Berlin Wall in 1989,
Copy !req
705. investigators discover
the crimes
Copy !req
706. of East German scientists.
Copy !req
707. They've doped their athletes
and used psychological warfare
Copy !req
708. on their own citizens.
Copy !req
709. They also uncover
stranger experiments.
Copy !req
710. - For decades after
the Second World War,
Copy !req
711. East Germans lived in terror
Copy !req
712. of their notorious
secret police, the Stasi.
Copy !req
713. - At the head of the Stasi,
we have Erich Mielke.
Copy !req
714. He's a Stalinist enforcer,
and has no problem
Copy !req
715. doing that enforcing
in his own homeland.
Copy !req
716. - He's in charge
of the most pervasive
Copy !req
717. police state in modern history.
Copy !req
718. - And frankly, he's terrifying.
Copy !req
719. The West German press
dubbed him The Master of Fear.
Copy !req
720. - As the regime collapses,
East German citizens
Copy !req
721. storm the Stasi headquarters.
Copy !req
722. - Inside they find agents
frantically
Copy !req
723. shredding documents,
desperately
Copy !req
724. trying to cover their tracks.
Copy !req
725. But there's simply
too much evidence to hide.
Copy !req
726. - There are literally
68 miles of shelving,
Copy !req
727. just chock full of spy agency
files on their own citizens.
Copy !req
728. There's photos,
tape recordings—
Copy !req
729. all kinds of invasions
of citizen privacy.
Copy !req
730. But there's also
something more puzzling.
Copy !req
731. - As they continue through
Copy !req
732. these endless miles
of shelves,
Copy !req
733. they come to what are
effectively Mason jars,
Copy !req
734. sealed shut,
inside of which, typically,
Copy !req
735. are little bits
of yellow cloth.
Copy !req
736. - The citizens are
left wondering,
Copy !req
737. what exactly are these for?
Copy !req
738. What is the purpose
of these sealed containers?
Copy !req
739. - Shortly after, newspaper
articles expose the answer.
Copy !req
740. - The jars have actual
people's scent inside them.
Copy !req
741. They're smell jars.
Copy !req
742. These are jars full of
people's actual body odors.
Copy !req
743. He has been collecting
body odors.
Copy !req
744. - Mielke believes
that a person's scent
Copy !req
745. is every bit as individual
as their fingerprints are.
Copy !req
746. - So just as police
around the world
Copy !req
747. keep files on fingerprints
of suspects,
Copy !req
748. that's what Mielke is doing
with body odor.
Copy !req
749. - This is actually
good science.
Copy !req
750. Modern researchers find
that by analyzing
Copy !req
751. some 15 volatile
organic compounds,
Copy !req
752. they can identify gender
and ethnicity
Copy !req
753. with up to 80% accuracy.
Copy !req
754. - In order to satisfy
his paranoia,
Copy !req
755. Mielke orders the creation
of a library of body odor.
Copy !req
756. - The Stasi take
the collection of odors
Copy !req
757. very seriously.
Copy !req
758. They go about the country
Copy !req
759. stealing articles of clothing.
Copy !req
760. So, sorry about your
favorite sweater.
Copy !req
761. They'll go into a home
when no one's there,
Copy !req
762. leave a little vial
that will collect
Copy !req
763. the odors in the house.
Copy !req
764. No constitutional issues
in East Germany.
Copy !req
765. And they'll come back again
and collect that.
Copy !req
766. - What agents actually do is,
Copy !req
767. they wipe some
of their suspects
Copy !req
768. in their sensitive areas
Copy !req
769. with a special cloth
to collect their scent.
Copy !req
770. Another method involves
Copy !req
771. calling suspects in
for interrogation.
Copy !req
772. And when they go in,
they're forced
Copy !req
773. to sit in a special chair.
Copy !req
774. - The suspect,
this local German,
Copy !req
775. is brought in, interrogated,
Copy !req
776. intentionally pushed
to a point
Copy !req
777. of great nervousness
so that they will sweat.
Copy !req
778. And as that sweat then seeps
down into the fabric,
Copy !req
779. it's being absorbed
by this bit of cloth
Copy !req
780. underneath the upholstery.
Copy !req
781. - But Mielke has a problem.
Copy !req
782. Humans can't track
these smells.
Copy !req
783. So he turns to dogs.
Copy !req
784. - Compared to humans,
dogs have an incredibly
Copy !req
785. refined sense of smell.
Copy !req
786. They have up to 300 million
olfactory receptors
Copy !req
787. in their noses.
Copy !req
788. And this means
their noses are up to
Copy !req
789. 100,000 times more sensitive
than those of humans.
Copy !req
790. - So the Stasi trained
dozens of specialized dogs
Copy !req
791. to smell the odor
within a jar, and then go
Copy !req
792. track that out and about
in the city to find
Copy !req
793. their potential suspects.
Copy !req
794. - Mielke's strange experiment
causes real harm.
Copy !req
795. It's used to track down
and imprison unknown numbers
Copy !req
796. of enemies of the state.
Copy !req
797. - About one in six
East Germans were,
Copy !req
798. in fact, somehow answering to,
working on, serving, the Stasi.
Copy !req
799. So everywhere you go in life,
imagine this.
Copy !req
800. Whether you're at school,
work, perhaps even at home,
Copy !req
801. you never know just
who might be collecting
Copy !req
802. this vast catalog of odors,
scents, and smells
Copy !req
803. from the citizenry,
with the expectation
Copy !req
804. that this will enable them
to identify a criminal
Copy !req
805. or enemy of the state
in the future.
Copy !req
806. - Mielke keeps collecting
Copy !req
807. his sinister smell samples...
Copy !req
808. Until East German communism is
finally overthrown in 1989.
Copy !req
809. From treatments given
to American citizens
Copy !req
810. without consent
Copy !req
811. to attempts to weaponize
deadly diseases,
Copy !req
812. dark experiments all too often
Copy !req
813. take place in the shadows.
Copy !req
814. But with luck and hard work,
Copy !req
815. these secrets can be revealed.
Copy !req
816. I'm David Duchovny.
Copy !req
817. Thanks for watching
Copy !req
818. "Secrets Declassified."
Copy !req