Hiroshima: 68 years later

By Pramod De Silva

August 6, 1945. The time was 8.15 a.m. The people of Hiroshima were going about their daily business, quite oblivious to their impending fate. The Second World War was still on and they barely heard an aircraft passing by.

Just 645 metres above their city, a huge fireball erupted, evaporating everything - and everyone - in its devastating path.

The city became a heap of ruins in a split second, devoid of life. Although the bomb was nicknamed Little Boy, it caused immeasurable damage to the city and traumatised those who were lucky enough to escape death from the immense heat (4,000 Celsius) and radiation wave. Nearly 166,000 people were not so lucky.

Walking along the gardens and paths of the beautiful city of Hiroshima, one almost tends to forget the unspeakable horror faced by the peace-loving denizens of Hiroshima on that fateful day. On Tuesday, exactly 68 years after the Enola Gay aircraft dropped its deadly cargo - the world's first nuclear bomb used on a 'living' city - the city of Hiroshima will once again prove its reputation as the most fierce defender of peace on the planet with a ceremony that honours those who perished and urges the international community to give up nuclear weapons.

You cannot visit Hiroshima without thinking of - and coming across - stark reminders of that bleak day.

I was fortunate to visit Hiroshima on a working day, so my guide and I were free to stroll around without hordes of tourists blocking my view at a sight that never fails to move even the most hardened individuals - the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Over one million foreign tourists and large numbers of domestic tourists visit Hiroshima every year.

Sentinel

Although some citizens and officials wanted the building demolished, saner counsel prevailed in the end and the Atomic Bomb Dome will forever stand sentinel against the futility of nuclear war. Now a part of the Hiroshima Memorial Park, the Atomic Bomb Dome has almost become an object of pilgrimage to thousands of people from all over the world.

You can only gaze at it from the outside perimeter fence, which is more than enough to give you a clear idea of the vast scale of the destruction. At the same time, when viewed with the nearby modern buildings, one can appreciate the tenacity of the people of Hiroshima, who have moved on from that terrible event and completely rebuilt their city in six decades.

While the Atomic Bomb Dome is the main attraction in the area, you must not miss the rest of the park, which as a whole, isa tribute to all those who perished in the nuclear explosion.

If the Atomic Dome gives an idea of the vast scale of the destruction of physical buildings, the nearby Hiroshima Museum educates visitors on the human suffering caused by the bombing. A watch that had stopped exactly at 8.15 a.m; A burnt-out shell of a kid's tricycle; burnt and tattered school shorts, shirts and frocks (it was a school day); A pair of binoculars through which someone may have seen the Enola Gay up close; household utensils warped by the heat wave; photographs of nuclear bomb victims who survived and most importantly (and controversially) a wax rendition that depicts the scene in Hiroshima exactly a minute after the bomb exploded. This particular exhibit has become a subject of controversy because of the very graphic and lifelike nature of the people depicted in it and moves are afoot to remove it from the museum.

The museum also gives an overall picture of the events of August 6, 1945 through the use of graphs and models and contains every single letter sent by the Mayor of Hiroshima to the leaders of a number of countries whenever they conducted a nuclear test.

The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (the only other city that suffered a similar fate, on August 9, 1945) are leading a consortium of mayors opposed to nuclear war which has gained widespread recognition around the world.

Monument

The memorial cenotaph is also unmissable. The concrete saddle-shaped monument covers a cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims. The monument is aligned to frame the Peace Flame (which has been lit continuously since 1964 and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed) and the A-Bomb Dome.

The Memorial Cenotaph was one of the first memorial monuments built on the bomb site.

The inscription on the front panel in Japanese and English offers a prayer for the peaceful repose of the victims and a pledge on behalf of all humanity never to repeat the evil of war. It expresses the spirit of Hiroshima - enduring grief, transcending hatred, pursuing harmony and prosperity for all, and yearning for genuine, lasting world peace. Among the other attractions at the Park are three Peace Bells, a Memorial Mound containing the ashes of 70,000 victims, the cenotaph for Korean victims of the bombing, the six Gates of Peace, Pond of Peace (encircling the Cenotaph), the Pond of Peace, Mobilised University Students Monument and the Peace Watch Tower, which indicates the number of days since August 6, 1945.

Indeed, so many days and years may have passed since Hiroshima was razed to the ground, but the impact of that event has not faded still. Hiroshima will forever be a sign that the world needs peace, not war.

(The writer's trip to Hiroshima was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the Japanese Embassy in Colombo)