Hiroshima Memories: 70 years, still burning

Father Dr. Péter Nemeshegyi, a 93 year old Hungarian Jesuit priest who lived and worked in Japan for 37 years, knew some of the surviving priests who were close to the bombing sites in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On the 70th anniversary of the first nuclear attack in history, he recalls what they told him of their experiences.

“These were German Jesuits. Yes, I used to know them. When I was working in Japan we lived in the same monastery. They were in their monastery at the time of the explosion. If you look at pictures taken after the explosion at Hiroshima, you see that everything is flattened except their church. The church still stood. Later, following some further bombings that caused fires, this building also burn down. But the fathers who were there all lived for many more decades.

I also met Father Pedro a Spanish Jesuit who was at Nagasaki at the time of that attack. He told me that on the morning of 9 August 1945 when the air raid alerts started, everybody looked up but saw only one aircraft in the sky, so they thought it was a false alarm and nothing serious would happen. A few seconds later he saw an enormous flash, heard a deafening bang, then some indescribable power just threw him across the room and roof tiles, and plaster started showering down.

Their monastery was not far from where the bomb dropped but it was behind a small hill that lessened the force of the explosion. He ran outside the building. Wherever he looked he saw only devastation, desolation, dead, horribly burnt bodies. Before he became a Jesuit he studied medicine. He wanted to help. So he carried back some 150 survivors to the monastery where he nursed them for days."

On 15 August, 1945, just days after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced its surrender to the Allies ... the Emperor avoiding the words "surrender" and "defeat".

The role of the bombings in Japan's surrender and their ethical justification are still debated.

By 1945, in an attempt to break Japanese resistance before a land invasion became necessary, the Allies consistently bombarded Japan from air and sea, dropping some 100,000 tons of explosives on more than 60 Japanese cities and towns between March and July 1945 alone. By August 1945, the Allied Manhattan Project had successfully detonated an atomic device in the New Mexico desert and subsequently produced atomic weapons based on two alternate designs.

On the morning of 6 August 1945 an American B-29 bomber, the 'Enola Gay', dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb was dropped by parachute and exploded 580 m above the ground. Between 60,000 and 80,000 people were killed instantly. The heat from the bomb was so intense that some people simply vanished in the explosion. Many more died of the long-term effects of radiation sickness. The final death toll was calculated at 135,000. Victims includedas residents of Hiroshima, the victims included Koreans who were in Japan as forced laborers, and American prisoners-of-war who were imprisoned in Hiroshima.

The blast destroyed more than ten square kilometers of the city. The intense heat of the explosion created many fires, which consumed Hiroshima and lasted for three days, trapping and killing many of the survivors of the initial blast. Thousands of people were made homeless and fled the devastated city.

Hiroshima was chosen because it had not been targeted during the US Air Force's conventional bombing raids on Japan, and was therefore regarded as a suitable place to test the effects of an atomic bomb. It was also an important military base. The Allies feared that any conventional attempt to invade the Japanese home islands would result in enormous casualties, and the bomb was seen as a way of bringing the war against Japan to a swift conclusion. In addition, it may also have been a way of demonstrating American military superiority over the Soviet Union.

On the morning of 9 August, the Americans dropped a second, bigger atomic bomb. The original target was Kokura, but this was obscured by cloud coverage so the bomb was dropped on nearby Nagasaki, an important port. About 40,000 people were killed instantly and a third of the city was destroyed. The final death toll was calculated to be at least 50,000.

Roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, and other injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians.

Addressing the Japanese nation

Surprising most of Japan, Emperor Showa of Japan announced his intention to surrender to the Allies unconditionally over public radio on 15 August 1945. It was the first time Japanese commoners heard an Emperor's voice, and most of them did not understand his Imperial court dialect, adding to his mysteriousness. His message, however defeated, did not once include the word "defeat", perhaps reflecting his refusal to face the reality that Japan had lost the war. Extracts of the Emperor’s radio address follow:

“After pondering deeply the general trends of the world and the actual conditions obtaining in our Empire today, we have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation by resorting to an extraordinary measure. We have ordered our Government to communicate to the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union that our Empire accepts the provisions of their joint declaration.

Indeed, we declared war on America and Britain out of our sincere desire to ensure Japan's self- preservation and the stabilization of East Asia, it being far from our thought either to infringe on the sovereignty of other nations or to embark on territorial aggrandizement.

But now the war has lasted for nearly four years. Despite the best that has been done by everyone-- the gallant fighting of the military and naval forces, the diligence and assiduity of our servants of the state and the devoted service of our 100 million people--the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest. Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives.

Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. Therefore, how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed spirits of our Imperial Ancestors? This is why we have ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the joint declaration of the powers. All you, our subjects, we command you to act in accordance with our wishes.”