History is probably one of the most boring subjects known to man. I guess the main cause for this is having to memorize the endless list of dates. But its only when one goes into the depth of the subject, that one realizes the tremendous impact the history of a place has on its people.
Peace, as defined in the Oxford dictionary, is an abstract noun representing a state of harmony between people. It's a five letter word, so small yet possessing profound meaning. The details, given below, are with respect to peace and humanity and consideration for human life.
Last year, on an educational excursion to the Japanese Cultural Centre we were shown an animated Japanese movie Barefoot Gen. It was about a simple family who touched the hearts of all who watched the film. In this article I have made an attempt to show the readers what the A-bombing of 1945 really was like and how the recollection of that particular episode in history makes us ponder over the importantance of human life.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were two small but culturally rich cities of Japan. Hiroshima was significant as a military and educational city, too. The people of these cities were living a normal peaceful life. But little did they know that their fate and that of their coming generations was not as bright as they had thought it to be. Little did they know that they would be the hapless victims of a web of political arguments.
Background
The United States of America was dragged into World War II when Japan, on December 7, 1941, attacked Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, the main US naval base in the Pacific. Japan was a very strong fighting power at that time. They bombed the US base as a reaction to America's imposing serious embargoes on them. America would have been unable to answer the attack had the Japanese aircraft destroyed all of their equipment. But as it turned out, they missed destroying three US aircarft carriers, which were already at sea. Other than this the damage done was repairable and this was what enabled the US navy to rapidly rebuild. It all ended four years later with the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan was totally defeated and demoralised after this and they surrendered immediately bringing an end to World War II.
The target
Hiroshima before the war was the seventh largest city in Japan, with a population of over 340,000, and was the principal administrative and commercial centre of the southwestern part of the country. As the headquarters of the Second Army and of the Chugoku Regional Army, it was one of the most important military command stations in Japan, the site of one of the largest military supply depots, and the foremost military shipping point for both troops and supplies. During the war new military plants were built in Hiroshima that increased its significance.
The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6. It followed with a second on Nagasaki on August 9.
The building in Hiroshima, which is now known as the A-bomb Dome was built in 1915. To the west of the building was a unique T-shaped bridge, the Aioi Bridge, which is said to have been the actual target. The ground directly below the point where the bomb exploded is referred to as the Hypocenter.
The bombs
When the atomic nuclei in the centre of an atomic bomb is split, an enormous amount of energy is released; the process is called fission. During fission, a large amount of heat energy and radiation is released, which destroys and kills places and people. An atomic bomb is a devasting weapon. The energy released from the Hiroshima A-bomb was thought to be equal to the destructive power of 20,000 tons of TNT, whereas that of the Nagasaki bomb was estimated to be equal to 22,000 tons of TNT.
The temperature of the air at the point of explosion reached several million degrees Celsius (the maximum temperature of conventional bombs is approximately 5000 degrees Celsius). An immense amount of energy was released of which 35 per cent was heat rays, 50 per cent was blast wind and 15 per cent was radiation.
Damages
As many as 100,000 people were killed by the Hiroshima uranium device, called Little Boy, and some 40,000 by the Nagasaki plutonium bomb, called Fat Man.
Other physical harm caused by the A-bomb included a complex combination of burns, broken bones, damage to skin and internal organs caused by piercing radiation. Radiation further complicated these disorders, slowed the healing process and introduced innumerable after-effects.
Temperatures after the explosions are believed to have reached 3000 to 4000 degrees Celsius. All sorts of clothes combusted, railroads ignited and burned, thatched roofs caught fire and many old trees were burnt to the ground.
The force of the blast was enough to knock over the Miyuki Bridge, 2.3 km away. Wooden structures were destroyed, glass cracked and shattered, and concrete structures were gruesomely damaged.
Beyond the immediate damage to human beings and property, the atomic bomb destroyed an entire community. In a single, fateful instant, the city lost almost everything. There was also the loss of family, friends and relatives. Many felt it was impossible to recover. A rumor spread that no plants would grow in the two cities for 75 years. The devastation failed to heal even with the painful passage of time; the horrors of radiation growing all the more conspicuous. The zenith of the tragedy is the fact that the now-aging survivors of that calamity still suffer from gruesome after effects serving as a bitter reminder of that horrific time, ensuring that the tragedy should never be forgotten.
Steps towards peace
The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki thrust our world into the nuclear age. The development of nuclear weapons has brought the humans on the brink of extinction. The unspeakable horror of the atomic bomb convinced the people of Hiroshima that human beings cannot coexist with nuclear weapons. This gave rise to the Spirit of Hiroshima that set Hiroshima on its quest. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima was an inhumane weapon that caused inestimable suffering. The anguish was not only restricted to that particular time but has lingered strongly to continue to cause mental and physical suffering even today. We must reflect critically and truthfully not just on the A-bomb but also on war and the processes that lead to war. Despite the pain, still some survivors have devoted their lives to the task of describing their experience. They put themselves through memories time and again to convince the world to never allow the use of a nuclear weapon.
Through such activities they manifest the spirit of Hiroshima and try to convince all the people of the world to join hands to make peace a reality. Hiroshima has several memorials to the name of all the victims of this destruction, namely The Memorial Cenotaph, The Children's Peace Monument and The A-bomb Dome.
