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Peace Memorial Hall Special Exhibition
"Memoirs of the Atomic Bombing:
The Earliest Accounts of the Hiroshima A-bomb"
Period: January 1 (Fri.) ～ December 28 (Wed.), 2016
Place: Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims B1F
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The Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims holds a special exhibition every year on a specific theme, to introduce people to atomic bombing memoirs and other materials.
The theme this year is Memoirs of the Atomic Bombing, which were collected through an invitation for submissions by the City of Hiroshima in 1950.
At the time only five years had passed since the bombing, and wounds had still not healed, and many people responded to the invitation by the City, the purpose of which was to build a peaceful world.
Japan was still occupied at the time, and with the outbreak of the Korean War, the Cold War between the East and the West also intensified.
In light of this situation, the Peace Festival, which had been scheduled for August 6, was cancelled by GHQ at the last minute.
The plan had been to compile the 18 memoirs and 16 excerpts that had been selected from those submitted into a book which would then be widely distributed in Japan and overseas.
However because of this turn of events the documents stayed in the warehouse for a long period of time.
Reading through the documents now, which were recorded just five years after the bombing at a time when vivid memories of the disaster still clearly remained, the memoirs provide a direct depiction of the tragedy of the disaster and the situation at the time.
At the exhibition venue will be film versions of atomic bombing memoirs by three people, shown on a three-part screen.
Visitors will also be able to read the full text of 17 people's memoirs in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean.
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Memoirs of the Atomic Bombing
(1950, Hiroshima Peace
Memorial Service Committee)
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Original Memoirs collected by the City of Hiroshima
(Collection of Hiroshima Municipal Archives)
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Below are excerpts from two of the memoirs on display, those of Ms. Taeko Nakamae and Mr. Koichi Toda.
Ms. Nakamae was 15 years old at the time.
She experienced the atomic bombing as a mobilized student working at the Hiroshima Central Telephone Exchange.
…But fire still kept drawing closer, making it unsafe for us to linger.
Everyone started moving, desperate to reach Hijiyama Hill on the other side of the river.
But Tsurumi Bridge, the only way across, started to burn.……There was no time to lose.
Everyone scrambled to get into the river in an attempt to swim across.
Those around me advised against going into the water, saying my wounds were too bad, but there was no room for hesitation.
I started to swim, clutching Ms. Wakita by the hand.
Although I was normally never afraid of water, in this instance I ran out of breath after only a short distance;
my limbs felt stiff, and it became more and more difficult to keep going.
Perhaps I would be better off dead, that would cut short the pain, I started to think, but Ms. Wakita encouraged me each time I began to nod off.
Thanks to her help, I was able to reach the middle of the river, where I was picked up by a boat, which took us to an aid station on Hijiyama Hill.…
Mr. Toda was 33 years old at the time of the bombing, and was a dentist working in charge of aid in Kabe Town in Asa District.
…On the third day, however, approximately two dozen physicians and dentists came to the town to support us.
Although this made the situation slightly better, there was still a shortage of physicians, hygiene products, and drugs.
We tore kimonos and used them as bandages, and procured cooking oil.……There were no heart stimulant and Ringer's solution.
Accordingly, we made an injection solution of caffeine and sodium benzoate or isotonic sodium chloride, and began to use the solution on the fifth day.
This attempt was better than nothing.
It had a profound psychological impact on patients, compared with when they were treated with only cooking oil and Mercurochrome.
We did not even have enough time to eat.
When a blackout was ordered, we had extreme difficulty treating patients when we did the rounds at night.
As the proverb goes, "Man turns to God only in trouble."
Physicians were like Jesus Christ for patients at that time.
I had never been more satisfied with my mission as a physician than I was then.
That motivated me to do my best to treat my patients.…
The rest of the memoirs may be read at the exhibition venue and the Library in the Memorial Hall.
Three people's memoirs are also viewable on the Memorial Hall's home page.
In addition to the memoirs, at the venue are also displays of A-bomb materials related to the writers, newspapers articles that indicate what kind of era it was at that time around 1950 when the atomic bombing memoirs were collected, and more.
Videos will also be available for rental as DVDs as peace study materials.
Please contact the Memorial Hall if you are interested.
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| (Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims) |
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