Hiroshima and Nagasaki then and now : The day when humanity cried [ Reviews from the Telegraph ]
Today Hiroshima marked 70th anniversary of the moment the city was flattened by an atomic bomb and turned in to ashes. Today the 70th anniversary of the darkest day in history of japan was marked by prayers and a moment’s of silence. Today tens of thousands of people lowered their heads and stood in silence at 8.15am, the time the bomb was dropped on 6 August 1945, killing 80,000 people instantly and another 60,000 in following month. On sunday similar event will be held to remember the second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki. More than 70,000 people died.
A US B-29 bomber called the Enola Gay dropped the uranium bomb, exploding some 600m (1,800ft) above the city, at around 08:10 on 6 August 1945.On that day alone, at least 70,000 people are believed to have been killed. Many more died of horrific injuries caused by radiation poisoning in the days, weeks and months that followed.
A uranium gun-type atomic bomb (Little Boy) was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed by a plutonium implosion-type bomb (Fat Man) on the city of Nagasaki on August 9. Little Boy exploded 2,000 feet above Hiroshima in a blast equal to 12-15,000 tons of TNT, destroying five square miles of the city. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; 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, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians, although Hiroshima had a sizable military garrison.
On August 15, just days after the bombing of Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war, Japan announced its surrender to the Allies. On September 2, it signed the instrument of surrender, effectively ending World War II. The bombings' role in Japan's surrender and their ethical justification are still debated.
It's 70 years of the darkest day and since than Japan has changed in all aspects but the memory of the gloomy day can never be erased from the history of Japan which was turned in to ashes and faced its effects for many years.
We have tried to narrate the story of "Hiroshima and Nagasaki then and now" and bring before you a short experience of what Japan must have gone through.
Image courtesy :The Telegraph
The gutted Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, which is currently called the Atomic Bomb Dome or A-Bomb Dome
This location was 860m (2,822 ft) from the centre of the blast; the unshielded asphalt surface was scorched, while the areas that were shielded are a lighter colour
Urakami Cathedral (centre) which was destroyed by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, and the rebuilt cathedral in Nagasaki
Blast marks on the ground on the ground of the bridge
The ruins of Nagasaki Medical College, destruction caused by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 and the same location in Nagasaki now
Residents walking near Aioi Bridge in Hiroshima, after the atomic bomb hit on August 6, 1945, and the same location in July 2015
Ruins of the Shiroyama National School, which was destroyed by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, and the same location in Nagasaki, Japan in July 2015
Urakami Cathedral, which was destroyed by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, and the rebuilt cathedral in Nagasaki in July 2015
The gutted Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, which is currently called the Atomic Bomb Dome or A-Bomb Dome, people walking on Aioi Bridge in Hiroshima, after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
