Lesso

ns of
Hiros
hima
Grapple: What is
“Peace”?
July 1945

“War is Hell”
United States
● Successful “Island Hopping” campaign by Allies
● Large casualties at Battle of Okinawa (South Japan)
● Allies required “unconditional surrender” from Japan
korea
● Under the Japanese rule for 35 years (1910-1945)
○ Very harsh
○ Comfort women
○ Tense Japan-Korea relations to this day
Japan
● 70 Japanese Cities completely destroyed by Allies
● Food becoming scarce
● Weakening ability of Japan to defend itself
● “Shoot the messenger” = No negative messages passed up
● Emperor = God
○ Protect the Emperor at all cost
○ Refusal to accept “unconditional surrender”
March
10,
1945
Tokyo
was
destro
yed in
8
hours
today
March,
1945
Russia
● European theater has ended
● Russia turning attention to the east
● Russia able to intervene in Japan
○ But will want concessions after the war
What would
you do as
commander-
in-chief?
Would you advise
President Truman to drop
the bomb?
Would you advise
President
Pro:
Truman
Con:
to drop
the bomb?
● Quick end to war ● Civilian population
(Russia) target
● Psychologically ● Significant
effective casualties
● Prevent mainland ● Long-lasting
invasion (1 M lives) effects
● Minimal risk to allied ● Moral
American Secretary of war, henry
Stimson (february 1947)
“The two atomic bombs which we had dropped were the only ones we had ready, and our
rate of production at the time was very small. Had the war continued until the projected
invasion on November 1, additional fire raids of B-29s would have been more destructive of
life and property than the very limited number of atomic raids which we could have
executed in the same period. But the atomic bomb was more than a weapon of terrible
destruction; it was a psychological weapon.
In March 1945 our Air Force had launched its first great incendiary raid on the Tokyo area. In
this raid more damage was done and more casualties were inflicted than was the case at
Hiroshima. Hundreds of bombers took part and hundreds of tons of incendiaries were
dropped. Similar successive raids burned out a great part of the urban area of Japan, but the
Japanese fought on. On August 6 one B-29 dropped a single atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and the war was over.”
“While flying over Japan, I
saw many cannons lining
the coast. Later I traveled
by jeep between Sendai
and Tokyo to photograph
them. They were not
cannons. They were light
poles, concrete blocks, and
pieces of wood put together
to fool the invading U.S.
forces. The false bunkers
were nothing but sand
etched to look formidable. I
went from cannon to
cannon, covering many
miles. I didn’t find a single
real artillery piece, nor any
location from which one
might have been recently
removed.”
Potsdam Declaration July,
"We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the
1946
unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and
to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith
in such action.
The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.”
Take a stand
#1:
What should
pres truman
do?
August 5, 1945
9:15 AM August
6, 1945
After
Target:
Hiroshima
Mr. Horie Soh ● 5 years old
● Walking with 15 y/o sister
● Saw blast and felt heavy wind
● Sister laid over his body
● Father was naval officer
○ Killed shortly after blast
● Everyone poor and ate anything
○ Weeds, potato vines, etc
● House barely standing
○ Became shelter
○ Dead burned @ elem school
● Hibakusha 10x more likely to get
cancer
○ Thyroid Cancer at 55 y/o
○ Mother Breast cancer at 60 y/o
○ Sister Colon cancer at 55 y/o
 Mr. Lee

● Discriminated as Korean
○ Forced to change name
○ Ate kimchee, teacher
slapped him for eating
smelly food and threw
it out the window
○ Stranger peed on him
on street
● 16 y/o when bomb fell
Mr. Lee

● Had mother remove maggots

from neck with chopsticks
● Mother begged him to die to
be relieved from pain
● Remembers warmth of
mother’s tears on his skin as
she cried
● Old Japanese couple provided
vegetable oil for relief
First photo taken after
the bomb. Only two
hours had passed.
Shinichi Tetsutani (3 years old) was
riding this tricycle when the A-bomb
exploded. Suffering serious injuries
and severe burns all over his body,
he died that night groaning, “Water,
water…”.
His father, Nobuo, put this metal
helmet on Shinichi’s head and buried
this tricycle along with Shinichi’s
body in the back yard so he could
ride it even after his death.
Forty years later, Nobuo decided to
place Shinichi’s remains in the family
grave.
The day of the bombing,
Setsuko Ota (12 y/o), a
freshman, took this cloth
bag and small box with
her. She was at her
building demolition
worksite when the bomb
exploded. Her mother
searched for and found
her lying on a riverbank
with her classmates.
Responding to their cries
for water, her mother left
to look for some. By the
time she returned,
Setsuko and the others
had all died.
Hiroo Taoda (2) was wearing
these pants when the bomb
exploded. Carried on the back of
his mother, he was exposed to the
heat from behind and suffered
severe burns. At a relief station,
he begged, “Hot, I’m hot! Water!”
His mother felt she could not give
him any because she had heard
that drinking water would kill him.
Hiroo took his last breath at 11pm
that night.
 Osamu Nanko (12 y/o), was wearing this belt
when the bomb exploded. He was demolishing
buildings at the time. When Osamu was
brought home, most of his clothes were burned

Quote pic
away, and he was wearing only underpants.
Severly burned over much of his body, his skin
peeled and was dangling, but he was holding
this belt tightly. He died that evening with his

1596 mother and older brother at his side.

Or Barefoot Gen
“Workers rolled this boy of 14 years
onto his side to encourage drainage
from his terrible burns. I was almost
glad he lay in a coma, considering the
excruciating pain the wounds must
have caused. Flies and maggots
feasted on his oozing sores. I waved
the flies away with a handkerchief,
then carefully brushed out the
maggots, careful not to touch the
boy’s skin with my hand. The smell
made me sick and my heart ached for
his suffering, particularly because he
was so young. I decided then that I
would not take other pictures of
burned victims unless ordered to do
so. He survived these terrible burns.
I can express my surprise and
pleasure at meeting him 48 years
later.”
Lessons of
Hiroshima
Lessons of
Hiroshima
Lessons of
Hiroshima
Lessons of
Hiroshima
 August
15, 1945

Signed
Septemb
er 2
“As I approached the
outskirts of Ground Zero,
I came upon these three
children. The oldest child
was pushing the younger
ones in this makeshift
cart. They stopped and
looked at me, uncertain
as to what I might do. I
gave the oldest one an
apple; he bit into it, then
passed it to the next
child. At once, a swarm
of flies descended on the
apple, but the children
shared the apple in
solemn silence, oblivious
to the flies flying in and
out of their mouths.”
August 6,
“I had never before witnessed
the obvious military influence
on the young until I watched

2019 this boy bring his dead brother

to a cremation site. He stood
at attention, only the biting of
Facts his lower lip betraying his
emotions. I wanted to go to
him to comfort him, but I was
afraid that if I did so, his
strength would crumble.”
“While taking pictures
of cremations along
the river bank, I saw
these three young
women walking down
the road towards me.
The stench of burning
flesh and hair coming
from the site was
enough to make me
sick, and I
sympathized with their
attempts to keep out
the smell by covering
their noses and
mouths with scarves.”
Lessons of
Hiroshima
“While visiting some air fields
before the marines burned all
of the Japanese airplanes, I
talked to a former Kamikaze
pilot instructor. In
surprisingly good English, he
told me that the Kamikazes
did not want to fly towards
the end of the war. He spoke
about his 19 y/o brother, one
of his students, who flew his
suicide mission just days
before the war ended. He
offered the opinion that the
Emperor was dishonored
because the war was lost.
Every Kamikaze pilot
decorated his plane with a
special picture. This pilot
chose a depiction of his
plane destroying a ship.”
“Outside the window
was a grim scene of
what had once been
a playground. Not
one child even
glanced at me, all
keeping their
complete attention
on the instructor,
who also ignored
me and simply
continued his
lecture. Feeling
very out of place, I
quickly took my
photographs and
left.”
Children from
the Hiroshima
War Orphans
Foster Home

October 1947
The Story
of Sadako
Paper
cranes
Paper cranes
vid 1687
 new meaning to war. The
suffering of hiroshima serves as a
warning to all people
everywhere. That is to say, a
warning that the ability to
harness the power of nature for
war will quickly develop until we
have the power to annihilate
humankind and destroy all its
structures. Please god, do not
let us ignore this warning.”
 Take a stand #2:
Should Complete nuclear
proliferation be a world goal?
Barefoot Gen Class
Discussion
*You read select portions of this series before class.

*What struck you as you read Gen’s story?

*Does Gen’s story cause you to reconsider either of your “Take a Stand”
opinions?

*Should targeted civilian death ever be justifiable?

*What is the legacy of Hiroshima? What have the people of Hiroshima

given to the world?