06/02/2002   English German
  Edition # 40  
San Francisco, 06-02-2002

Hiroshima

Angelika Almost everyone in the world knows the story of the Japanese city "Hiroshima." During World War II, Americans dropped the first atomic bomb there, killing hundreds of thousands of people in an instant.
Figure [1]: The clock that stopped at 8:15 when the bomb fell.

Michael kept insisting to me that Hiroshima still has radiation. However, I was determined to see the memorials for the victims of the first atomic bombing. At first glance, Hiroshima resembles many other larger Japanese cities: modern, colorful, with ugly concrete buildings reminiscent of the German architectural style in the 1960s.

Figure [2]: Hiroshima -- a completely normal city?

Skyscrapers, stylish department stores. If it weren't for the Peace Park, which commemorates the dropping of the atomic bomb with a museum and various memorials, visitors would not guess that this city lay in ruins in 1945. In the Peace Park, the so-called A-Dome is the first thing to catch the eye. This is the ruin of the only building that remained standing at the center of the bomb drop.

Figure [3]: Hiroshima -- Memorial site. In the background, the "Industrial Promotion Hall," which was miraculously preserved and stood almost at the center of the atomic bomb explosion.

Throughout the park, there are various memorials, including one for the children and the Korean forced laborers who were killed by the atomic bomb. The memorial for the Korean forced laborers was only erected in 1970, as the Japanese had diligently suppressed and ignored what they had done to the Korean forced laborers until then. At the memorial for the children, entire school classes lay down folded cranes in memory of a girl named Sadako. I have already recounted the story of Sadako, who fell ill with leukemia in 1955 as a result of the atomic bombing and began folding cranes to wish for health, and how cranes are now considered a symbol of peace. The laying down of the cranes, strung on threads, is often very solemn and accompanied by a small ceremony.

Figure [4]: Hiroshima -- Memorial Site

We observed schoolchildren singing, performing, and playing the flute. There are many chains of paper cranes, and behind the children's memorial, there are small transparent tent-like structures where the chains are hung. The peace flame is also impressive; it will burn until there are no more nuclear weapons on Earth. When you consider the consequences of Hiroshima, it is incomprehensible to me why nuclear weapons still exist at all. The leaders in Pakistan and India have probably never been to Hiroshima. Unfortunately!

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