Help needed with Khabarovsk research

[Meredith Clason]

Dear All,

I am posting this message for a student at the University of Chicago, 
hoping that some of you might have some ideas for her.

Thanks very much!
Meredith Clason
--------------------------------------------------

To whom it may concern,
     My name is Suzy Wang and I am a graduate student at the
University of Chicago.  My field is in International History
focusing on the Asian Pacific region and my dissertation
research is on Japan’s WWII bacteriological warfare program. 
I had two summers of Russian language training but it was over
4 years ago – leaving me at the beginner’s level. 
      The main Russia connection to my research is the 1949
Khabarovsk Trial – the only trial that convicted Japanese
soldiers for implementing bacteriological warfare during the
war.   After much searching – mostly through the internet in
Russian – I got in contact with V.V. Bogach, the Director of
the Khabarovsk Research Institute of Epidemiology and
Microbiology.  Professor Bogach had written the book, Outlaw
Weapon, which deals with my topic – better known as “Unit
731”.  We were in our early stages of communication and he had
kindly agreed to help me with the documents relating to the
Khabarovsk Trial.  He suggested that two weeks would be enough
for me to conduct my research there. 
      At the same time, I received an invitation to go to
China for a conference and wanted to combine both trips to
save both time and money.   However, when I wrote Professor
Bogach to let him know of the tentative dates (early December
2006), I received notice of his sudden passing.
      With limited Russian language skills, I am again left
without contact or information on the materials at the
archives in Khabarovsk.  I have never traveled to Khabarovsk
and would very much like to be put in touch with either
someone who lives there or someone familiar with the archival
situation there. 
       Any information you can offer me on the following will
be greatly appreciated:

1.)	[ARCHIVE RELATED] What is the archival situation in
Khabarovsk?  How can I find out where the documents from the
Khabarovsk Trial of 1949 is currently located?  Is it even
available to me?  Professor Bogach was the student of an
attorney who was part of the 1949 trial so he may have had
special access.  I’m not sure. How does the archival system
work? Will a letter from my department be enough to grant me
access to the archives?  
2.)	[TRAVEL and HOUSING RELATED] I’m not sure where the
archive is located but an initial search online showed the
cheapest hotel at $80/night.  If I need to be there for two
weeks, it would be quite expensive.  Are there other options,
such as university dorms?  What is the public transportation
situation like in Khabarovsk? Will it be easy for me to travel
on my own?
3.)	[CONTACTS]  If anyone can introduce me to either archival
contacts or university contacts in Khabarovsk, that would be
wonderful.  I really wish to find out soon whether the
materials can be made available to me if I visit Khabarovsk. 
I understand that it makes things difficult due to my limited
Russian language skills, but if it helps any, I do speak
Chinese, Japanese and some Korean.

I am holding off the purchasing of my mid-November tickets to
China until I find out more about the Russian leg of my trip.
 As you can imagine, I am unfortunately pressed for time.  
Please email me any information you have that may be of help
to my research at suzywang at uchicago.edu.
Thank you in advance. 
 Sincerely,
 Suzy

Suzy Wang
Phd candidate, International History
University of Chicago
suzywang at uchicago.edu

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------