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Kinder von Hiroshima: Japanische Kinder über den Tag des Atombombenabwurfs am 6. August 1945
English, Japanese (translation)
269 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1960
18 people are currently reading
297 people want to read
About the author
Arata Osada
4 books1 followerArata Osada (1887–1961) was a prominent educator known for his research on the educational reformer Pestalozzi. Born in Nagano Prefecture, Osada was in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb fell, an experience that moved him to become an ardent peace activist. In 1951 Iwanami Shoten published Genbaku no ko (translated as Children of the A-Bomb or Children of Hiroshima), his compilation of 105 personal accounts by young A-bomb survivors. He later served as the first president of the Japan Educational Research Association, and founded Save the Children Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 5, 2017
" 'Hava saldırısı' diye bir ses duyduk. Acele eve döndüm. Bu saldırıları kanıksamıştım artık. Sonra tehlike geçti işareti verildi, okula geri gittim. Öğretmen daha gelmediği için konuşmaya başladık. Çok geçmeden bir gürültü oldu. Gökyüzünde, güneydoğu yönünde bir uçak gördük. Düşman uçağı mı yoksa Japon uçağı mı bilmiyordum. Sonra birden beyaz paraşüt gibi bir şey düşmeye başladı. Beş altı saniye içinde her şey bir anda sarı oldu. Gözüm güneşten kamaşmış gibiydi. Bir iki saniye sonra da her yer karardı. Başımıza taş, kiremit yağmaya başladı."
"Ah o an! Sanki sırtıma balyozla vurmuşlar, sonra da fokur fokur kaynayan bir yağ kazanına atmışlar gibi oldum."
"Arkadaşlarımın bazıları kan, bazıları kıpkızıl yanıklar içindeydi. Başka zaman olsa bakamazdım. Ellerim simsiyah yanmıştı. Parçalanmış derimden ter gibi sarı bir sıvı sızıyordu. Tuhaf bir koku vardı."
Bu cümleler, 6 Ağustos 1945 tarihinde Hiroshima kentinde bulunan ve bir şekilde hayatta kalmayı başarmış çocukların anılarından parçacıklar. Hiroshima Üniversitesi rektörü olan Arata Osata, 1945'ten altı sene sonra; bu alanda bir çalışma yapmak için harekete geçer ve atom bombasına birebir maruz kalmalarına rağmen hayatta kalabilmiş çocuklardan, o günü kendisine bir mektup ile anlatmalarını ister. Bütün bu mektuplar sonunda bir de kitap çıkar. O kitapta Arata Osata mektuplardan yalnız altmış beşini ele alır. Ancak Türkçede basılan bu versiyonda ise mektup sayısı yirmi beştir.
Ne diyebilirim ki? Okurken zaman zaman gözlerim doldu. Farklı yaşlarda yirmi beş çocuğun anlattığı şeyler, beni aldı 6 Ağustos sabahı Hiroshima'sına bıraktı. Atom bombasının atıldığı esnada sanki oradaydım, etrafı izledim. O parlayan ışık, kömür haline gelmiş insanlar, bir anda yerle bir olan şehir, solunduğunda ciğerleri yakan hava, su diye yalvaran insanlar, nehirlerde akan birbiri üzerine binmiş cesetler, derileri kopmuş kavrulmuş erkekler, kadınlar, çocuklar, bebekler...
Çocukluğumdan beri Hiroshima ve Nagazaki felaketleri ilgimi çekmiştir. Bu alanda bir sürü belgesel izlemiş, araştırma metni okumuşumdur. Ancak hepsinin baktığı yer farklıydı. Hiçbiri beni o an içinde dolaşmaya çıkarmamıştı. O açıdan bu mektuplar tesir gücü çok yüksek belgeler.
Böyle bir şeyi notlandırmak anlamsız, o yüzden beş vereceğim. Çocukların yazdığı şeyleri içeriyor, ilkel bir dili var. O bakımdan edebi beklentilerle elinize almanızı tavsiye etmem.
Masataka, Şunnen, Sumiko, Etsuko, Susumu, Megumi, Yoşihiro, Atsuko ve daha bir sürü isimsizin yaşamak zorunda bırakıldığı, insanlık tarihinin en korkunç olaylarından birine bilinçli bir bakış yaratabilmeleri için, 'savaşın bir oyun olması', 'atom bombasının bir hamle olması' gibi salak saçma fikirlere kapılmalarının önüne geçmek adına genç arkadaşlarımıza kesinlikle okutulması gereken bir kitap olduğunu düşünüyorum. İçinde yaşadığımız simülasyon çağı, oyunlar-filmler-televizyon, gençleri daha acımasız olmaya itiyor. Gün geçmiyor ki nükleer silahlanmanın gerekliliğinden bahseden bir ergenle karşılaşmayayım. Bunu yaparken siyaset bilimi temelinde bir yaklaşım da sergilemiyorlar elbette. Sade ve sadece devletinin sonsuz erkliğe ulaşması arzusuyla konuşuyor da konuşuyor. Bunlar bende büyük üzüntü ve umutsuzluk yarattığı gibi bir yandan da nasıl çocuk yetiştirilmez örneğini güzel bir şekilde verdiklerinden ailelere karşı sinir de yaratıyor. O yüzden gençlere biraz gerçek kanaldan ulaşalım, bu ve benzeri kitapları armağan edelim ki empati özellikleri biraz gelişsin.
Neyse, iyi okumalar!
"Ah o an! Sanki sırtıma balyozla vurmuşlar, sonra da fokur fokur kaynayan bir yağ kazanına atmışlar gibi oldum."
"Arkadaşlarımın bazıları kan, bazıları kıpkızıl yanıklar içindeydi. Başka zaman olsa bakamazdım. Ellerim simsiyah yanmıştı. Parçalanmış derimden ter gibi sarı bir sıvı sızıyordu. Tuhaf bir koku vardı."
Bu cümleler, 6 Ağustos 1945 tarihinde Hiroshima kentinde bulunan ve bir şekilde hayatta kalmayı başarmış çocukların anılarından parçacıklar. Hiroshima Üniversitesi rektörü olan Arata Osata, 1945'ten altı sene sonra; bu alanda bir çalışma yapmak için harekete geçer ve atom bombasına birebir maruz kalmalarına rağmen hayatta kalabilmiş çocuklardan, o günü kendisine bir mektup ile anlatmalarını ister. Bütün bu mektuplar sonunda bir de kitap çıkar. O kitapta Arata Osata mektuplardan yalnız altmış beşini ele alır. Ancak Türkçede basılan bu versiyonda ise mektup sayısı yirmi beştir.
Ne diyebilirim ki? Okurken zaman zaman gözlerim doldu. Farklı yaşlarda yirmi beş çocuğun anlattığı şeyler, beni aldı 6 Ağustos sabahı Hiroshima'sına bıraktı. Atom bombasının atıldığı esnada sanki oradaydım, etrafı izledim. O parlayan ışık, kömür haline gelmiş insanlar, bir anda yerle bir olan şehir, solunduğunda ciğerleri yakan hava, su diye yalvaran insanlar, nehirlerde akan birbiri üzerine binmiş cesetler, derileri kopmuş kavrulmuş erkekler, kadınlar, çocuklar, bebekler...
Çocukluğumdan beri Hiroshima ve Nagazaki felaketleri ilgimi çekmiştir. Bu alanda bir sürü belgesel izlemiş, araştırma metni okumuşumdur. Ancak hepsinin baktığı yer farklıydı. Hiçbiri beni o an içinde dolaşmaya çıkarmamıştı. O açıdan bu mektuplar tesir gücü çok yüksek belgeler.
Böyle bir şeyi notlandırmak anlamsız, o yüzden beş vereceğim. Çocukların yazdığı şeyleri içeriyor, ilkel bir dili var. O bakımdan edebi beklentilerle elinize almanızı tavsiye etmem.
Masataka, Şunnen, Sumiko, Etsuko, Susumu, Megumi, Yoşihiro, Atsuko ve daha bir sürü isimsizin yaşamak zorunda bırakıldığı, insanlık tarihinin en korkunç olaylarından birine bilinçli bir bakış yaratabilmeleri için, 'savaşın bir oyun olması', 'atom bombasının bir hamle olması' gibi salak saçma fikirlere kapılmalarının önüne geçmek adına genç arkadaşlarımıza kesinlikle okutulması gereken bir kitap olduğunu düşünüyorum. İçinde yaşadığımız simülasyon çağı, oyunlar-filmler-televizyon, gençleri daha acımasız olmaya itiyor. Gün geçmiyor ki nükleer silahlanmanın gerekliliğinden bahseden bir ergenle karşılaşmayayım. Bunu yaparken siyaset bilimi temelinde bir yaklaşım da sergilemiyorlar elbette. Sade ve sadece devletinin sonsuz erkliğe ulaşması arzusuyla konuşuyor da konuşuyor. Bunlar bende büyük üzüntü ve umutsuzluk yarattığı gibi bir yandan da nasıl çocuk yetiştirilmez örneğini güzel bir şekilde verdiklerinden ailelere karşı sinir de yaratıyor. O yüzden gençlere biraz gerçek kanaldan ulaşalım, bu ve benzeri kitapları armağan edelim ki empati özellikleri biraz gelişsin.
Neyse, iyi okumalar!
December 2, 2017
Bu kitap, 6 Ağustos 1945 sabahı saat 8:15'te Hiroşima'ya atom bombası atıldığında orada bulunan çocukların mektuplarından oluşuyor.
Yakın zamanda bizler Marmara depreminde ailelerimizi, arkadaşlarımızı nasıl kaybettiysek Hiroşima'da da atom bombası nedeniyle insanlar ailelerini ve arkadaşlarını kaybetti. Okurken hiç aklımdan çıkmadı bunlar.
Vücudu yanmış/kararmış, her tarafına camlar, çiviler batmış insanlar, göçük altında kalanlar, kendi yaralarını ve acılarını dakikalar sonra fark edenler, günlerce ailelerini arayanlar, tüm ailesini kaybedenler... Tüm bu acıları okumak gerçekten çok zor.
Yakın zamanda bizler Marmara depreminde ailelerimizi, arkadaşlarımızı nasıl kaybettiysek Hiroşima'da da atom bombası nedeniyle insanlar ailelerini ve arkadaşlarını kaybetti. Okurken hiç aklımdan çıkmadı bunlar.
Vücudu yanmış/kararmış, her tarafına camlar, çiviler batmış insanlar, göçük altında kalanlar, kendi yaralarını ve acılarını dakikalar sonra fark edenler, günlerce ailelerini arayanlar, tüm ailesini kaybedenler... Tüm bu acıları okumak gerçekten çok zor.
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May 8, 2016Bomba ve çocuk sözcükleri yan yana gelmemeliyken, 4, 5, 8, 18 yaşındaki çocukların atom bombası hikayelerini okuyoruz.
Nasıl yanmışlardı?
Kardeşine kağıttan gemi yaparken beyaz ışık nasıl yayılmıştı?
Et yanınca nereden sarkar?
İnsan yanınca suda acıları geçecek sanır.
Bazen karını canlı canlı yangının ortasında bırakmak zorunda kalırsın.
Atom bombası insanın yüzünü şişirir, dilini beyaz yapar.
Nasıl yanmışlardı?
Kardeşine kağıttan gemi yaparken beyaz ışık nasıl yayılmıştı?
Et yanınca nereden sarkar?
İnsan yanınca suda acıları geçecek sanır.
Bazen karını canlı canlı yangının ortasında bırakmak zorunda kalırsın.
Atom bombası insanın yüzünü şişirir, dilini beyaz yapar.
September 15, 2010
Don't read this unless you intend on being bedridden with sorrow for a full week.
July 22, 2016
The memoir equivalent of a punch on the mouth. By a trained martial artist. When you least expect it.
May 31, 2024
Das unfassbare Leid des 6. August 1945 immer wieder durch Kinderaugen zu sehen ist eine unerträgliche Aufgabe. Wir müssen sie ertragen, weil die Menschen grausam sind und machtbesessen und weil wir nicht lernen
July 23, 2014
Honestly, I was traumatized by this book when I read it as a 14 year old kid. Six years later, the letters that struck me the most still haunt me to this day. I can recite them verbatim.
April 5, 2025
"War! In its shadow there are always written these tales of sadness." [Kazuko Furumae]
Children of the A-Bomb: Testament of the boys and girls of Hiroshima is a collection of memories published in 1959, after the lifting of the American occupation of Japan--and its censorship laws, which often censored (or outright banned) literature about the atomic bombings.
In this collection, Osada has gathered the memories of dozens of Hiroshima survivors who were children (ranging from around 4 or 5 years old to 16-17) when the bomb was dropped. Most of these memories also include thoughts on the writer's current view of the development of atomic and nuclear weaponry, along with their thoughts on war and how the atomic bombing impacted them years later.
The end result of these varied sources, freed from censorship, is not only a primary source historical document but a rather interesting look into the history of memory itself.
Those who were youngest when the bombs were dropped are often admittedly telling the story given to them by others. "My mother told me that..." "As I've been told..." Their memories are sometimes fragmented and supplemented with what people have filled in later on.
Yet as the book goes on, and the age of those who survived grows older, the memories become more detailed and varied--not just vague recollections or what someone was told happened to them. Although it feels a bit unfair to say, the accounts of those who were older are more compelling to read.
The memories are not simply documenting what happened to them during the bombing, but the aftermath as well. How the trauma impacted them, how they are dealing with it now, just a few short years later.
Hisayo Yaguchi recalled, after losing 7 members of her family--her grandmother, mother, sister, two brothers, uncle and cousin--that: "...The pain of going on living, and my destiny, make me weep. I got so I couldn't stand my own existence. For a while I was troubled by the impulse to throw away my own body. I felt only the meanness of human beings, their weakness, and the distress of human life..." She noted that, 5 years later, that she feels more composed--"We must keep on walking until we are able to scoop up the clear spring water with our own hands. That is what it means to live."
While her sentiment is echoed by some survivors, others state rather starkly that they have become bitter people, and they see no way to change themselves. These contrasting opinions can be found throughout the book.
For instance, some survivors embrace the existence of the various events and memorials erected to memorialize the victims, while others call them out for being tourist attractions: "Is it all right if Hiroshima, the City of Peace, is just another tourist resort? Is it right that those pathetic human beings covered with keloid scars should be exhibits in a booth? ... That is not a side-show you are looking at!"
One survivor brought up the publication of war crimes committed by the Japanese army and government, and denied them as nonsense, saying that "all sides" did such things. Yet another survivor recalled, perhaps bitterly, that the "only consolation" his fellow students had as they burned to death were "our Imperial Military Mandate and 'Banzai to the Emperor'..."
He continued: " wonder whether our friends, burned to death after receiving this gift from the militarists who didn't know true human affection, were really consoled. I wonder about those men of the Special Attack Force who of their own will 'for the sake of the Emperor' were they really satisfied--did they smile from the depths of their souls as they died?"
The raw accounts--documenting pain, questioning the American and Japanese governments, criticizing what they view as commodification of tragedy, lamenting poverty and current affairs--make this an important collection of primary sources.
Children of the A-Bomb: Testament of the boys and girls of Hiroshima is a collection of memories published in 1959, after the lifting of the American occupation of Japan--and its censorship laws, which often censored (or outright banned) literature about the atomic bombings.
In this collection, Osada has gathered the memories of dozens of Hiroshima survivors who were children (ranging from around 4 or 5 years old to 16-17) when the bomb was dropped. Most of these memories also include thoughts on the writer's current view of the development of atomic and nuclear weaponry, along with their thoughts on war and how the atomic bombing impacted them years later.
The end result of these varied sources, freed from censorship, is not only a primary source historical document but a rather interesting look into the history of memory itself.
Those who were youngest when the bombs were dropped are often admittedly telling the story given to them by others. "My mother told me that..." "As I've been told..." Their memories are sometimes fragmented and supplemented with what people have filled in later on.
Yet as the book goes on, and the age of those who survived grows older, the memories become more detailed and varied--not just vague recollections or what someone was told happened to them. Although it feels a bit unfair to say, the accounts of those who were older are more compelling to read.
The memories are not simply documenting what happened to them during the bombing, but the aftermath as well. How the trauma impacted them, how they are dealing with it now, just a few short years later.
Hisayo Yaguchi recalled, after losing 7 members of her family--her grandmother, mother, sister, two brothers, uncle and cousin--that: "...The pain of going on living, and my destiny, make me weep. I got so I couldn't stand my own existence. For a while I was troubled by the impulse to throw away my own body. I felt only the meanness of human beings, their weakness, and the distress of human life..." She noted that, 5 years later, that she feels more composed--"We must keep on walking until we are able to scoop up the clear spring water with our own hands. That is what it means to live."
While her sentiment is echoed by some survivors, others state rather starkly that they have become bitter people, and they see no way to change themselves. These contrasting opinions can be found throughout the book.
For instance, some survivors embrace the existence of the various events and memorials erected to memorialize the victims, while others call them out for being tourist attractions: "Is it all right if Hiroshima, the City of Peace, is just another tourist resort? Is it right that those pathetic human beings covered with keloid scars should be exhibits in a booth? ... That is not a side-show you are looking at!"
One survivor brought up the publication of war crimes committed by the Japanese army and government, and denied them as nonsense, saying that "all sides" did such things. Yet another survivor recalled, perhaps bitterly, that the "only consolation" his fellow students had as they burned to death were "our Imperial Military Mandate and 'Banzai to the Emperor'..."
He continued: " wonder whether our friends, burned to death after receiving this gift from the militarists who didn't know true human affection, were really consoled. I wonder about those men of the Special Attack Force who of their own will 'for the sake of the Emperor' were they really satisfied--did they smile from the depths of their souls as they died?"
The raw accounts--documenting pain, questioning the American and Japanese governments, criticizing what they view as commodification of tragedy, lamenting poverty and current affairs--make this an important collection of primary sources.
November 20, 2019
One of the most tragic events in the world’s history, was the atomic bombing on Hiroshima, Japan. It had taken numerous lives of innocent citizens of Hiroshima. Dr. Arata Osada publishes a testamental piece, Children Of The A-Bomb for the world to see through the children’s perspectives, as everything they once known was stripped away from them for a war they did not take part in. To support his stance, Dr. Osada uses children’s school journal entries from six years after the bomb, where they had to write about how the atomic bomb affected them, and their positions about war. Every journal entry had talked about the loss of loved ones, the severe injuries they endured, and etc. They all had the same common theme, that there should not be war because of the unnecessary toll it takes on people. ith his writing structure, it’s goal was to gain sympathy from the readers because most people believe that a child should not be exposed to the world’s cruel reality. Especially when it comes to war, where the are purely an innocent bystander. Personally, I believe that his novel as a whole was a very effective way for getting his position of the atomic bomb, and warfare across. Peering into the students' perspectives has given me a better understanding of all the trauma they had to endure as a victim of the atomic bomb. Also it had further persuaded me to be anti-war due to what all of those innocent children experienced, I don’t want anymore children to suffer from those devastating events.
September 23, 2025
Dr.Arata Osada'nın hazırladığı bu kitap 25 kişinin Atom Bombası gününün anılarını içeriyor(Normalde kitaba 65 kişi seçmiş fakat bu yayınevi 25 kişiyi eklemiş) ve hepsinin tek tek hikayelerini , anılarını ve acılarını görüyoruz.
Hiçbirini mutlu bir sonla görmediğimiz bu anılarda hepsinin buruk ve yarım kalmış hayatlarını görüyoruz hem de tüm açıklarıyla...
Kimi Annesini , Babasını ve Kardeşlerini kaybediyor çoğu ise Atom Bombasından onlara kalan vücutlarındaki izlerle yaşamaya devam ediyor ki ileri zamanda kimileri bunlarla dalga bile geçiyor ki kitapta anılarda buna değiniliyor.
3 gün sonra 6 Ağustos 1945,yani Atom Bombası atılmasından 80 yıl geçmiş olacak ve hala kanayan yaralar olduğu belli.Her hikayenin sonunda bilimin gelişmesinin bu yoldan çok kötü olduğunu belirtip,birkaç kişinin makamı yükselip ve cebi dolacak diye insanlığa söylemeleri iyi bir yer oluyor...
Kitabın maalesef baskısı yok ve Sahaflarda ve ayrı olarak kişilerin ikinci el satışıyla bulunabiliyor ki umarım birçok kişi bu eseri okur ki Dr.Arata Osada'da bunu istiyor,bu sözleriyle insanların yüreklerine Anıt dikmek istemesi ve bunun insanlığın yüreğinde hep yaşamasını istiyor...
Hiçbirini mutlu bir sonla görmediğimiz bu anılarda hepsinin buruk ve yarım kalmış hayatlarını görüyoruz hem de tüm açıklarıyla...
Kimi Annesini , Babasını ve Kardeşlerini kaybediyor çoğu ise Atom Bombasından onlara kalan vücutlarındaki izlerle yaşamaya devam ediyor ki ileri zamanda kimileri bunlarla dalga bile geçiyor ki kitapta anılarda buna değiniliyor.
3 gün sonra 6 Ağustos 1945,yani Atom Bombası atılmasından 80 yıl geçmiş olacak ve hala kanayan yaralar olduğu belli.Her hikayenin sonunda bilimin gelişmesinin bu yoldan çok kötü olduğunu belirtip,birkaç kişinin makamı yükselip ve cebi dolacak diye insanlığa söylemeleri iyi bir yer oluyor...
Kitabın maalesef baskısı yok ve Sahaflarda ve ayrı olarak kişilerin ikinci el satışıyla bulunabiliyor ki umarım birçok kişi bu eseri okur ki Dr.Arata Osada'da bunu istiyor,bu sözleriyle insanların yüreklerine Anıt dikmek istemesi ve bunun insanlığın yüreğinde hep yaşamasını istiyor...
December 6, 2018
I read this back in 1969, I was on a nuclear trip...I read Hersey's Hiroshima for school and was fascinated by it. Next I chose a nuclear apocalypse novel Alas Babylon by Pat Frank, originally published in 1959, my mother had read it and suggested I might like it. I did. It was chilling, and it seemed "Nukes were becoming a part of my life..." I saw the Osada book in the Library and checked it out, some light summer reading. Nothing light about this book, it was an oral history of children who had survived the Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima... Needless to say I moved onto much lighter fare after this one, I had read enough about nuclear war to last me a lifetime. I do recommend it, though...
December 7, 2019
"In the left hand, penicillin and streptomycin - in the right hand, atom bombs and hydrogen bombs - now of all times the peoples of the world ought to reflect coolly on this contradiction."
-Yoshiko Uchimura
"However, there are no loopholes in the law of retribution. Those who are haughty in their wealth, boast of their power, and flourish their weapons, will be humiliated by the strength of later generations."
-Shintaro Fukuhara
I have these two quotes hanging on my wall, because they are so relevant and impactful, even decades later.
It's sad, depressing, and downright horrifying to read. But it's an book that's chock full of emotional, first hand accounts of the bombings and it deserves to be read.
-Yoshiko Uchimura
"However, there are no loopholes in the law of retribution. Those who are haughty in their wealth, boast of their power, and flourish their weapons, will be humiliated by the strength of later generations."
-Shintaro Fukuhara
I have these two quotes hanging on my wall, because they are so relevant and impactful, even decades later.
It's sad, depressing, and downright horrifying to read. But it's an book that's chock full of emotional, first hand accounts of the bombings and it deserves to be read.
October 9, 2025
This is a very, very hard book to read. It consists of firsthand accounts of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The writers mostly were children when the bombing occurred. Their ages range from 4 or 5 in 1945 to around 15 or 16 when the a-bomb fell. These accounts were written 6 years later.
Make no mistake, these accounts are harrowing, sickening and saddening. Still, I feel that we should continue to remind ourselves of the human cost of these weapons. The nightmare of nuclear war doesn’t seem as imminent as it did when I was growing up during the Cold War, but complacency can be a dangerous thing.
I would not call the book gross or lurid in its descriptions of wounds or death. But it’s also not light reading.
Make no mistake, these accounts are harrowing, sickening and saddening. Still, I feel that we should continue to remind ourselves of the human cost of these weapons. The nightmare of nuclear war doesn’t seem as imminent as it did when I was growing up during the Cold War, but complacency can be a dangerous thing.
I would not call the book gross or lurid in its descriptions of wounds or death. But it’s also not light reading.
December 4, 2022
It’s so heartbreaking and so intense. These children’s lives were distrusted because the US tested a bomb on them and killed so many people. It’s a testament to these kids that they survived.
June 12, 2018
Really interesting little book on a new perspective of Hiroshima. It was difficult and intriguing to read a child's view of what happened that day and waht it meant to them.
January 5, 2017
I chose to read this book which I found at my local public library because I wanted to learn about the incredible sufferings and death experienced by those who lived in Hiroshima during the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945.
Obviously there was tremendous suffering. Who was responsible? The Japanese government. They refused to surrender. While the loss of civilians is always regrettable sometimes including this case it becomes necessary to end the war.
The accounts are largely the same. They are accounts from several years after the bombing by young people who were children at the time of the bombing. Their accounts describe tremendous suffering, burns, broken bones, puncture wounds due to glass and debris flying through the air at high velocity and radiation sickness. Many accounts describe the deaths of parents, grandparents, siblings etc.
What I didn't like about the book is at the end of the majority of accounts nuclear weapons are condemned. If America did not have nuclear weapons the Japanese would have had to learn Russian or Chinese. Our nuclear umbrella protected post-war Japan.
Despite the tremendous brutality and cruelty of the Japanese army, once conquered, we helped Japan rebuild. Not many conquerors do that.
I recommend the book, however the accounts are repetitious, which I didn't mind because it was good to really understand their sufferings.
One positive aspect of the book was the willingness of some to help those dying and injured even at great risk to themselves.
Obviously there was tremendous suffering. Who was responsible? The Japanese government. They refused to surrender. While the loss of civilians is always regrettable sometimes including this case it becomes necessary to end the war.
The accounts are largely the same. They are accounts from several years after the bombing by young people who were children at the time of the bombing. Their accounts describe tremendous suffering, burns, broken bones, puncture wounds due to glass and debris flying through the air at high velocity and radiation sickness. Many accounts describe the deaths of parents, grandparents, siblings etc.
What I didn't like about the book is at the end of the majority of accounts nuclear weapons are condemned. If America did not have nuclear weapons the Japanese would have had to learn Russian or Chinese. Our nuclear umbrella protected post-war Japan.
Despite the tremendous brutality and cruelty of the Japanese army, once conquered, we helped Japan rebuild. Not many conquerors do that.
I recommend the book, however the accounts are repetitious, which I didn't mind because it was good to really understand their sufferings.
One positive aspect of the book was the willingness of some to help those dying and injured even at great risk to themselves.
February 12, 2016
The book is a collection of people recounting what happened to them in Hiroshima on the day the atomic bomb fell. They were all very young at the time, in elementary school, junior high or high school.
The problem with a book of this nature is that it gets, frankly, boring. Reading a number of memories is no problem, of course, and gives a person a good view of what happened in the city that day. Narrative after narrative, though, tends to get very repetitive and thus boring. It takes some of the power that this book could have on readers away.
This is more a work of research then it is a regular book to read.
November 17, 2014
I recently found another copy of this. I had it back in the 1970's but lent it to a teacher in high school who promptly stole it. Rereading it was as powerful as when I first read it back then,. A collection of essays written several years after the war by children who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Horrific, unforgettable, and a taste of hell you can understand as it was written by kids.
Should be required reading for all war-hawks.
Horrific, unforgettable, and a taste of hell you can understand as it was written by kids.
Should be required reading for all war-hawks.
August 6, 2015
It is one thing to know that "we," the United States, dropped an atomic bomb on the civilian city of Hiroshima, Japan. It is quite another to read about the effect that bomb had in the words of people who were children at the time the bomb fell. I haven't touched this book in at least twenty years and some of the images still haunt me. We must find a way other than war; we must never tolerate this inhumanity again.
February 14, 2011
Wow, talk about powerful. This book puts into perspective about all the innocent lives affected by the A-Bomb on that horrific day it was dropped. So many children put their memories/thoughts down to paper for this book. I am sure it was horrible reliving that moment for this book.
September 1, 2015
A heart-wrenching collection from a large variety of children who experienced the destruction of Hiroshima by an atomic bomb. Collected 6 years after the event it's amazing to hear from children who were between 5 and 12 when the bomb exploded.
September 13, 2010
A great resource for narratives about the Hiroshima tragedy, but I felt that over 100 children's accounts got a little repetitive after awhile.
Want to read
December 24, 2018beautiful book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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