Next year, humanity will mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, which showed many examples of unprecedented cruelty, when entire cities disappeared from the face of the earth within a few days or even hours and hundreds of thousands of people, including civilians, died. The most striking example of this is the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the ethical justification of which is questioned by any sane person.

Japan during the final stages of World War II

As is known, fascist Germany capitulated on the night of May 9, 1945. This meant the end of the war in Europe. And also the fact that the only enemy of the countries of the anti-fascist coalition remained Imperial Japan, which at that time was officially declared war by about 6 dozen countries. Already in June 1945, as a result of bloody battles, its troops were forced to leave Indonesia and Indochina. But when on July 26 the United States, together with Great Britain and China, presented an ultimatum to the Japanese command, it was rejected. At the same time, even during the time of the USSR, it took upon itself the obligation to launch a large-scale offensive against Japan in August, for which, after the end of the war, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were to be transferred to it.

Prerequisites for the use of atomic weapons

Long before the events listed above, in the fall of 1944, at a meeting of the leaders of the United States and Great Britain, the issue of the possibility of using new super-destructive bombs against Japan was considered. After which the famous Manhattan Project, launched a year earlier and aimed at creating nuclear weapons, began to function with new strength, and work on the creation of its first samples was completed by the end of hostilities in Europe.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki: reasons for the bombing

Thus, by the summer of 1945, the United States became the only owner of atomic weapons in the world and decided to use this advantage to put pressure on its longtime enemy and at the same time ally in the anti-Hitler coalition - the USSR.

At the same time, despite all the defeats, the morale of Japan was not broken. This was evidenced by the fact that every day hundreds of members of her imperial army became kamikazes and kaiten, directing their planes and torpedoes at ships and other military targets of the American army. This meant that when carrying out a ground operation on the territory of Japan itself, the Allied troops would expect huge losses. It is the latter reason that is most often cited today by US officials as an argument justifying the need for such a measure as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At the same time, it is forgotten that, according to Churchill, three weeks before I. Stalin informed him about the Japanese attempts to establish a peaceful dialogue. It is obvious that representatives of this country were going to make similar proposals to both the Americans and the British, since the massive bombing of large cities brought their military industry to the brink of collapse and made capitulation inevitable.

Selecting targets

After receiving agreement in principle to use atomic weapons against Japan, a special committee was formed. Its second meeting took place on May 10-11 and was devoted to the selection of cities that were to be bombed. The main criteria that guided the commission were:

mandatory presence of civilian objects around a military target;
its importance for the Japanese not only from an economic and strategic point of view, but also from a psychological one;
a high degree of significance of the object, the destruction of which would cause resonance throughout the world;
the target had to be undamaged by bombing for the military to appreciate the true power of the new weapon.

Which cities were considered as targets?

The “contenders” included:

Kyoto, which is the largest industrial and cultural center and the ancient capital of Japan;
Hiroshima as an important military port and city where army depots were concentrated;
Yokahama, which is the center of the military industry;
Kokura is home to the largest military arsenal.

According to the surviving memories of participants in those events, although the most convenient target was Kyoto, the United States Secretary of War G. Stimson insisted on excluding this city from the list, since he was personally familiar with its sights and was aware of their value for world culture.

Interestingly, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not initially covered. More precisely, the city of Kokura was considered as the second target. This is evidenced by the fact that before August 9, an air raid was carried out on Nagasaki, which caused concern among residents and forced the evacuation of most schoolchildren to the surrounding villages. A little later, as a result of long discussions, backup targets were selected in case of unforeseen situations. They became:

for the first bombing, if Hiroshima fails to hit, Niigata;
for the second (instead of Kokura) - Nagasaki.

Preparation

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki required careful preparation. During the second half of May and June, the 509th Combined Aviation Group was redeployed to a base on Tinian Island and exceptional security measures were taken. A month later, on July 26, the atomic bomb “Baby” was delivered to the island, and on the 28th, some of the components for assembling “Fat Man” were delivered to the island. On the same day, who at that time served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed an order ordering nuclear bombing to be carried out at any time after August 3, when weather conditions were suitable.

First atomic strike on Japan

The date of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki cannot be stated unambiguously, since nuclear strikes on these cities were carried out within 3 days of each other.

The first blow was struck in Hiroshima. And this happened on June 6, 1945. The “honor” of dropping the “Baby” bomb went to the crew of a B-29 aircraft, nicknamed “Enola Gay,” commanded by Colonel Tibbetts. Moreover, before the flight, the pilots, confident that they were doing a good deed and their “feat” would be followed by a speedy end to the war, visited the church and received an ampoule of s in case they were captured.

Together with Enola Gay, three reconnaissance aircraft took off, designed to determine weather conditions, and 2 boards with photographic equipment and devices for studying the parameters of the explosion.

The bombing itself went completely without problems, since the Japanese military did not notice the objects rushing towards Hiroshima, and the weather was more than favorable. What happened next can be observed by watching the film “The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” - a documentary film assembled from newsreels made in the Pacific region at the end of World War II.

In particular, it shows which, according to Captain Robert Lewis, who was a member of the Enola Gay crew, was visible even after their plane flew 400 miles from the bomb drop site.

Bombing of Nagasaki

The operation to drop the “Fat Man” bomb, carried out on August 9, proceeded completely differently. In general, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the photo of which evokes associations with well-known descriptions of the Apocalypse, was prepared extremely carefully, and the only thing that could make adjustments to its implementation was the weather. This is what happened when, in the early morning of August 9, a plane under the command of Major Charles Sweeney took off from the island of Tinian with the “Fat Man” atomic bomb on board. At 8:10 a.m. the plane arrived at the place where it was supposed to meet the second, the B-29, but did not find it. After 40 minutes of waiting, the decision was made to carry out the bombing without a partner aircraft, but it turned out that there was already 70% cloud cover over the city of Kokura. Moreover, even before departure it was known about the malfunction fuel pump, and at the moment when the board was over Kokura, it became obvious that the only way to drop the “Fat Man” was to do it while flying over Nagasaki. Then the B-29 headed towards this city and made a drop, focusing on the local stadium. Thus, by chance, Kokura was saved, and the whole world learned about what had happened. atomic bomb direction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fortunately, if such words are at all appropriate in this case, the bomb fell far from the original target, quite far from residential areas, which somewhat reduced the number of victims.

Consequences of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

According to eyewitness accounts, within a few minutes everyone who was within a radius of 800 m from the epicenters of the explosions died. Then fires started, and in Hiroshima they soon turned into a tornado due to the wind, whose speed was about 50-60 km/h.

The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki introduced humanity to the phenomenon of radiation sickness. The doctors noticed her first. They were surprised that the condition of the survivors first improved, and then they died from the disease, the symptoms of which resembled diarrhea. In the first days and months after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, few could have imagined that those who survived it would suffer from various diseases throughout their lives and even give birth to unhealthy children.

Subsequent events

On August 9, immediately after the news of the bombing of Nagasaki and the declaration of war by the USSR, Emperor Hirohito advocated immediate surrender, subject to the preservation of his power in the country. And 5 days later, the Japanese media spread his statement about the cessation of hostilities to English language. Moreover, in the text, His Majesty mentioned that one of the reasons for his decision was the presence of “terrible weapons” in the enemy’s possession, the use of which could lead to the destruction of the nation.

... We have done the devil's work for him.

One of the creators of the American atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer

On August 9, 1945, a new era began in human history. It was on this day that the Little Boy nuclear bomb with a yield of 13 to 20 kilotons was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, American aircraft launched a second atomic strike on Japanese territory - the Fat Man bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

As a result of two nuclear bombings, from 150 to 220 thousand people were killed (and these are only those who died immediately after the explosion), Hiroshima and Nagasaki were completely destroyed. The shock from the use of the new weapon was so strong that on August 15, the Japanese government announced its unconditional surrender, which was signed on August 2, 1945. This day is considered the official date of the end of World War II.

After this, a new era began, a period of confrontation between two superpowers - the USA and the USSR, which historians called the Cold War. For more than fifty years, the world has been teetering on the brink of a large-scale thermonuclear conflict, which would very likely put an end to our civilization. The atomic explosion in Hiroshima confronted humanity with new threats that have not lost their severity today.

Was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary, was there a military necessity for this? Historians and politicians argue about this to this day.

Of course, a strike on peaceful cities and a huge number of victims among their residents looks like a crime. However, we should not forget that at that time the most bloody war in the history of mankind, one of the initiators of which was Japan.

The scale of the tragedy that occurred in Japanese cities clearly showed the whole world the danger of new weapons. However, this did not prevent its further spread: the club of nuclear states is constantly replenished with new members, which increases the likelihood of a repeat of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"The Manhattan Project": the history of the creation of the atomic bomb

The beginning of the twentieth century was a time of rapid development of nuclear physics. Every year, significant discoveries were made in this field of knowledge, people learned more and more about how matter works. The work of such brilliant scientists as Curie, Rutherford and Fermi made it possible to discover the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction under the influence of a neutron beam.

In 1934, American physicist Leo Szilard received a patent for the creation of an atomic bomb. It should be understood that all these studies took place in the context of the approaching world war and against the backdrop of the Nazis coming to power in Germany.

In August 1939, a letter signed by a group of famous physicists was delivered to US President Franklin Roosevelt. Among the signatories was Albert Einstein. The letter warned the US leadership about the possibility of creating in Germany a fundamentally new weapon of destructive power - a nuclear bomb.

After this, the Bureau of Scientific Research and Development was created, which dealt with issues of atomic weapons, and additional funds were allocated for research in the field of uranium fission.

It should be admitted that American scientists had every reason to be apprehensive: in Germany they were indeed actively engaged in research in the field of atomic physics and had some success. In 1938, German scientists Strassmann and Hahn split a uranium nucleus for the first time. And the following year, German scientists turned to the country's leadership, pointing out the possibility of creating a fundamentally new weapon. In 1939, the first reactor plant was launched in Germany, and the export of uranium outside the country was prohibited. After the outbreak of World War II, all German research related to the “uranium” topic was strictly classified.

In Germany, more than twenty institutes and other scientific centers were involved in the project to create nuclear weapons. Giants of German industry were involved in the work, and they were personally supervised by German Arms Minister Speer. To obtain a sufficient amount of uranium-235, a reactor was needed, the reaction moderator in which could be either heavy water or graphite. The Germans chose water, which created a serious problem for themselves and practically deprived themselves of the prospects of creating nuclear weapons.

In addition, when it became clear that German nuclear weapons were unlikely to appear before the end of the war, Hitler significantly cut funding for the project. True, the Allies had a very vague idea about all this and were quite seriously afraid of Hitler’s atomic bomb.

American work in the field of creating atomic weapons has become much more productive. In 1943, the secret program “Manhattan Project” was launched in the United States, led by physicist Robert Oppenheimer and General Groves. Huge resources were allocated to create new weapons; dozens of world-famous physicists participated in the project. American scientists were helped by their colleagues from Great Britain, Canada and Europe, which ultimately made it possible to solve the problem in a relatively short time.

By mid-1945, the United States already had three nuclear bombs, with uranium (“Baby”) and plutonium (“Fat Man”) filling.

On July 16, the world's first nuclear weapons test took place: the Trinity plutonium bomb was detonated at the Alamogordo test site (New Mexico). The tests were considered successful.

Political background of the bombings

On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered. In the Potsdam Declaration, the United States, China and Great Britain invited Japan to do the same. But the descendants of the samurai refused to capitulate, so the war in the Pacific continued. Earlier, in 1944, there was a meeting between the US President and the British Prime Minister, at which, among other things, they discussed the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Japanese.

In mid-1945, it was clear to everyone (including the Japanese leadership) that the United States and its allies were winning the war. However, the Japanese were not broken morally, as demonstrated by the Battle of Okinawa, which cost the Allies enormous (from their point of view) casualties.

The Americans mercilessly bombed Japanese cities, but this did not reduce the fury of resistance to the Japanese army. The United States began to think about what losses a massive landing on the Japanese islands would cost them. The use of new weapons of destructive force was supposed to undermine the morale of the Japanese and break their will to resist.

After the question of the use of nuclear weapons against Japan was decided positively, the special committee began to select targets for future bombing. The list consisted of several cities, and in addition to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it also included Kyoto, Yokohama, Kokura and Niigata. The Americans did not want to use a nuclear bomb against exclusively military targets; its use should have had a strong psychological effect on the Japanese and shown to the whole world new tool US power. Therefore, a number of requirements were put forward for the purpose of the bombing:

Cities chosen as targets for atomic bombing must be major economic centers, significant for the war industry, and also be psychologically important to the Japanese population
The bombing should cause a significant resonance in the world
The military was not happy with the cities that had already suffered from air raids. They wanted to better assess the destructive power of the new weapon.

The cities of Hiroshima and Kokura were initially chosen. Kyoto was removed from the list by US Secretary of War Henry Stimson because he honeymooned there as a young man and was in awe of the city's history.

For each city, an additional target was selected, and they planned to strike it if the main target was unavailable for any reason. Nagasaki was chosen as insurance for the city of Kokura.

Bombing of Hiroshima

On July 25, US President Truman gave the order to begin bombing on August 3 and hit one of the selected targets at the first opportunity, and the second as soon as the next bomb was assembled and delivered.

At the beginning of the summer, the 509th Combined Group of the US Air Force arrived on Tinian Island, the location of which was separate from other units and carefully guarded.

On July 26, the cruiser Indianapolis delivered the first nuclear bomb, “Baby,” to the island, and by August 2, components of the second nuclear charge, “Fat Man,” were transported to Tinian by air.

Before the war, Hiroshima had a population of 340 thousand people and was the seventh largest Japanese city. According to other information, before the nuclear bombing, 245 thousand people lived in the city. Hiroshima was located on a plain, just above sea level, on six islands connected by numerous bridges.

The city was an important industrial center and supply base for the Japanese military. Plants and factories were located on its outskirts, the residential sector mainly consisted of low-rise wooden buildings. The headquarters of the Fifth Division and the Second Army were located in Hiroshima, which essentially provided protection for the entire southern part of the Japanese islands.

The pilots were able to begin the mission only on August 6, before which they were hampered by heavy clouds. At 1:45 on August 6, an American B-29 bomber from the 509th Aviation Regiment, as part of a group of escort aircraft, took off from the Tinian Island airfield. The bomber was named Enola Gay in honor of the mother of the aircraft's commander, Colonel Paul Tibbetts.

The pilots were confident that dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima was a good mission; they wanted a speedy end to the war and victory over the enemy. Before departure, they visited a church, and the pilots were given ampoules of potassium cyanide in case of danger of being captured.

Reconnaissance planes sent in advance to Kokura and Nagasaki reported that cloud cover over these cities would prevent the bombing. The pilot of the third reconnaissance aircraft reported that the sky over Hiroshima was clear and transmitted the prearranged signal.

Japanese radars detected a group of aircraft, but since their number was small, the air raid alert was canceled. The Japanese decided that they were dealing with reconnaissance aircraft.

At approximately eight o'clock in the morning, a B-29 bomber, rising to a height of nine kilometers, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The explosion occurred at an altitude of 400-600 meters, a large number of clocks in the city that stopped at the moment of the explosion clearly recorded it exact time– 8 hours 15 minutes.

results

The consequences of an atomic explosion over a densely populated city were truly terrifying. The exact number of victims of the bombing on Hiroshima has never been established; it ranges from 140 to 200 thousand. Of these, 70-80 thousand people who were near the epicenter died immediately after the explosion, the rest were much less fortunate. The enormous temperature of the explosion (up to 4 thousand degrees) literally evaporated people’s bodies or turned them into coal. The light radiation left imprinted silhouettes of passers-by on the ground and buildings (“shadows of Hiroshima”) and set fire to all flammable materials at a distance of several kilometers.

Following the flash of unbearably bright light, a suffocating blast wave struck, sweeping away everything in its path. The fires in the city merged into one huge fire tornado, which was driven by a strong wind towards the epicenter of the explosion. Those who did not manage to get out from under the rubble burned in this hellish flame.

After some time, the survivors of the explosion began to suffer from an unknown illness, which was accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea. These were symptoms of radiation sickness, which was unknown to medicine at that time. However, there were other delayed consequences of the bombing in the form of cancer and severe psychological shock, which haunted the survivors decades after the explosion.

It should be understood that in the middle of the last century, people did not sufficiently understand the consequences of the use of atomic weapons. Nuclear medicine was in its infancy; the concept of “radioactive contamination” as such did not exist. Therefore, after the war, the residents of Hiroshima began to rebuild their city and continued to live in their original places. The high mortality rate from cancer and various genetic abnormalities in the children of Hiroshima were not immediately associated with the nuclear bombing.

For a long time the Japanese could not understand what happened to one of their cities. Hiroshima stopped communicating and transmitting signals on the air. A plane sent to the city found it completely destroyed. Only after the official announcement from the United States did the Japanese realize what exactly had happened in Hiroshima.

Bombing of Nagasaki

The city of Nagasaki is located in two valleys separated by a mountain range. During the Second World War, it was of great military importance as a major port and industrial center in which warships, guns, torpedoes, and military equipment were manufactured. The city was never subjected to large-scale aerial bombardment. At the time of the nuclear strike, about 200 thousand people lived in Nagasaki.

On August 9 at 2:47 a.m., an American B-29 bomber under the command of pilot Charles Sweeney with the Fat Man atomic bomb on board took off from the airfield on the island of Tinian. The primary target of the strike was the Japanese city of Kokura, but heavy clouds prevented the bomb from being dropped on it. The crew's additional target was the city of Nagasaki.

The bomb was dropped at 11.02 and detonated at an altitude of 500 meters. Unlike the "Little Boy" dropped on Hiroshima, the "Fat Man" was a plutonium bomb with a yield of 21 kT. The epicenter of the explosion was located over the industrial zone of the city.

Despite the greater power of the ammunition, damage and losses in Nagasaki were less than in Hiroshima. Several factors contributed to this. Firstly, the city was located on the hills, which absorbed part of the force of the nuclear explosion, and secondly, the bomb went off over the industrial zone of Nagasaki. If the explosion had occurred over residential areas, there would have been many more casualties. Part of the area affected by the explosion was generally on the water surface.

The victims of the Nagasaki bomb were from 60 to 80 thousand people (who died immediately or before the end of 1945); the number of people who died later from diseases caused by radiation is unknown. Various figures are cited, the maximum of which is 140 thousand people.

In the city, 14 thousand buildings (out of 54 thousand) were destroyed, more than 5 thousand buildings were significantly damaged. The firestorm that was observed in Hiroshima did not occur in Nagasaki.

Initially, the Americans did not plan to stop at two nuclear strikes. The third bomb was being prepared for mid-August, and three more were planned to be dropped in September. The US government planned to continue atomic bombing until the start of ground operations. However, on August 10, the Japanese government conveyed surrender proposals to the Allies. A day earlier, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan, and the country's situation became absolutely hopeless.

Was the bombing necessary?

The debate about whether it was necessary to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has not subsided for many decades. Naturally, today this action looks like a monstrous and inhumane crime of the United States. Domestic patriots and fighters against American imperialism like to raise this topic. Meanwhile, the question is not clear-cut.

It should be understood that at that time there was World War, characterized by an unprecedented level of cruelty and inhumanity. Japan was one of the initiators of this massacre and waged a brutal war of conquest since 1937. In Russia there is often an opinion that nothing serious happened in the Pacific Ocean - but this is an erroneous point of view. The fighting in this region has led to the death of 31 million people, most of them civilians. The cruelty with which the Japanese pursued their policy in China surpasses even the atrocities of the Nazis.

The Americans sincerely hated Japan, with whom they had been at war since 1941, and really wanted to end the war with least losses. The atomic bomb was simply a new type of weapon; they had only a theoretical understanding of its power, and they knew even less about the consequences in the form of radiation sickness. I don’t think that if the USSR had an atomic bomb, anyone from the Soviet leadership would have doubted whether it was necessary to drop it on Germany. Until the end of his life, US President Truman believed that he had done the right thing by ordering the bombing.

August 2018 marked 73 years since the nuclear bombing of Japanese cities. Nagasaki and Hiroshima today are prosperous metropolises with few reminders of the 1945 tragedy. However, if humanity forgets this terrible lesson, it will most likely happen again. The horrors of Hiroshima showed people what kind of Pandora's box they had opened by creating nuclear weapons. It was the ashes of Hiroshima for decades Cold War sobered up too hot heads, not allowing a new world massacre to be unleashed.

Thanks to the support of the United States and the abandonment of the previous militaristic policy, Japan has become what it is today - a country with one of the strongest economies in the world, a recognized leader in the automotive industry and the high technology. After the end of the war, the Japanese chose a new path of development, which turned out to be much more successful than the previous one.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them

The Second World War is remembered in history not only for catastrophic destruction, the ideas of a crazy fanatic and many deaths, but also for August 6, 1945 - the beginning of a new era in world history. The fact is that it was then that the first and, to date, last use of atomic weapons for military purposes was carried out. The power of the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima has remained for centuries. In the USSR there was one that frightened the population of the whole world, see the top of the most powerful nuclear bombs and to

There are not so many people who survived this attack, as well as surviving buildings. We, in turn, decided to collect all existing information about nuclear bombing Hiroshima, structure the data of this impact effect and support the story with the words of eyewitnesses and officers from the headquarters.

Was the atomic bomb necessary?

Almost every person living on earth knows that America dropped nuclear bombs on Japan, although the country went through this test alone. In view of political situation At that time, in the States and the control center they celebrated the victory, while on the other side of the world people were dying en masse. This topic still resonates with pain in the hearts of tens of thousands of Japanese, and for good reason. On the one hand, it was a necessity, because it was not possible to end the war in any other way. On the other hand, many people think that the Americans simply wanted to try out a new deadly “toy.”

Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist for whom science always came first in his life, did not even think that his invention would cause such enormous damage. Although he did not work alone, he is called the father of the nuclear bomb. Yes, in the process of creating the warhead, he knew about the possible harm, although he did not understand that it would be inflicted on civilians who had nothing directly to do with the war. As he said later: “We did all the work for the devil.” But this phrase was uttered subsequently. And at that time he was not distinguished by his foresight, since he did not know what would happen tomorrow and how the Second World War would turn out.

In the American "bins" before 1945, three full-fledged warheads were ready:

Trinity;
Baby;
Fat man.

The first was blown up during testing, and the last two went down in history. The dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was predicted to end the war. After all, the Japanese government did not accept the terms of surrender. And without it, other allied countries will have neither military support nor reserves of human resources. And so it happened. On August 15, as a consequence of the shock experienced, the government signed documents on unconditional surrender. This date is now called the official end of the war.

Historians, politicians and ordinary people cannot agree to this day whether the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary. What's done is done, we can't change anything. But it was precisely this action directed against Japan that became turning point in history. The threat of new atomic bomb explosions hangs over the planet every day. Although most countries have abandoned atomic weapons, some still retain this status. The nuclear warheads of Russia and the United States are securely hidden, but conflicts at the political level are not decreasing. And the possibility cannot be ruled out that more similar “actions” will be held someday.

In our native history we can come across the concept of the Cold War, when during the Second World War and after its end, the two superpowers - the Soviet Union and the United States could not come to an agreement. This period began just after the surrender of Japan. And everyone knew that if the countries did not find mutual language, nuclear weapons will be used again, only now not in concert with each other, but mutually. This would be the beginning of the end and would again make the Earth a blank slate, unsuitable for existence - without people, living organisms, buildings, only with a huge level of radiation and a bunch of corpses around the world. As a famous scientist said, in the Fourth World War people will fight with sticks and stones, since only a few will survive the Third. After this short lyrical digression, let's return to the historical facts and how the warhead was dropped on the city.

Prerequisites for the attack on Japan

The dropping of a nuclear bomb on Japan was planned long before the explosion. The 20th century is generally distinguished by the rapid development of nuclear physics. Significant discoveries in this industry were made almost every day. World scientists realized that a nuclear chain reaction would make it possible to make a warhead. Here's how they behaved in opposing countries:

Germany. In 1938, German nuclear physicists were able to split the uranium nucleus. Then they turned to the government and talked about the possibility of creating a fundamentally new weapon. Then they launched the world's first rocket launcher. This probably spurred Hitler to start the war. Although the studies were classified, some of them are now known. Research centers have created a reactor to generate a sufficient amount of uranium. But scientists had to choose between substances that could slow down the reaction. It could be water or graphite. By choosing water, they, without even knowing it, deprived themselves of the possibility of creating atomic weapons. It became clear to Hitler that he would not be released until the end of the war and he cut funding for the project. But in the rest of the world they didn’t know about it. That is why they were afraid of German research, especially with such brilliant initial results.
USA. The first patent for nuclear weapons was received in 1939. All such studies took place in fierce competition with Germany. The process was spurred by a letter to the US President from the most progressive scientists of that time stating that a bomb could be created in Europe earlier. And if you don’t have time, then the consequences will be unpredictable. In development, starting in 1943, America was helped by Canadian, European and English scientists. The project was called "Manhattan". The weapon was first tested on July 16 at a test site in New Mexico and the result was considered successful.

In 1944, the heads of the United States and England decided that if the war did not end, they would have to use a warhead. Already at the beginning of 1945, when Germany surrendered, the Japanese government decided not to admit defeat. The Japanese continued to fend off attacks in the Pacific and advance. It was already clear then that the war was lost. But the morale of the “samurai” was not broken. A striking example This was due to the Battle of Okinawa. The Americans suffered huge losses in it, but they are incomparable with the invasion of Japan itself. Although the US bombed Japanese cities, the fury of the army's resistance did not subside. Therefore, the question of the use of nuclear weapons was raised again. The targets for the attack were selected by a specially created committee.

Why Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

The target selection committee met twice. For the first time, the Hiroshima Nagasaki nuclear bomb release date was approved. The second time, specific targets for weapons against the Japanese were selected. It happened on May 10, 1945. They wanted to drop the bomb on:

Kyoto;
Hiroshima;
Yokohama;
Niigata;
Kokuru.

Kyoto was the largest industrial center of the country, Hiroshima was home to a huge military port and army warehouses, Yokohama was the center of the military industry, Kokuru was home to a large arsenal of weapons, and Niigata was the center for the construction of military equipment, as well as a port. They decided not to use the bomb at military installations. After all, it was possible not to hit small targets without an urban area around and there was a chance of missing. Kyoto was rejected outright. The population in this city was different high level education. They could assess the significance of the bomb and influence the country's surrender. Some requirements were put forward for other objects. They must be large and significant economic centers, and the process of dropping the bomb itself must cause a resonance in the world. Objects damaged by air raids were not suitable. After all, the assessment of the consequences after the explosion of an atomic warhead from the General Staff had to be accurate.

Two cities were chosen as the main ones - Hiroshima and Kokura. For each of them, a so-called safety net was determined. Nagasaki became one of them. Hiroshima was attractive due to its location and size. The power of the bomb must be increased by nearby hills and mountains. Significance was also attached to psychological factors that could have a special impact on the country’s population and its leadership. Also, the effectiveness of a bomb must be significant in order for it to be recognized throughout the world.

History of the bombing

The nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima was scheduled to explode on August 3rd. It has already been delivered by cruiser to the island of Tinian and assembled. It was separated by only 2500 km from Hiroshima. But bad weather pushed the terrible date back by 3 days. Therefore, the event of August 6, 1945 occurred. Despite the fact that near Hiroshima there were fighting and the city was often bombed, no one was afraid anymore. In some schools, classes continued and people worked according to their usual schedule. Most of the residents were on the street, eliminating the consequences of the bombing. Even small children cleared away the rubble. 340 (245 according to other sources) thousand people lived in Hiroshima.

Numerous T-shaped bridges connecting six parts of the city were chosen as the location for dropping the bomb. They were clearly visible from the air and crossed the river lengthwise and crosswise. From here one could see both the industrial center and the residential sector, consisting of small wooden buildings. At 7 o'clock in the morning the air raid alarm sounded. Everyone immediately ran for cover. But already at 7:30 the alarm was canceled, as the operator saw on the radar that no more than three aircraft were approaching. Entire squadrons were flown in to bomb Hiroshima, so the conclusion was drawn that they were reconnaissance operations. Most people, mostly children, ran out of hiding to look at the planes. But they were flying too high.

The day before, Oppenheimer had given the crew members clear instructions on how to drop the bomb. It should not have exploded high above the city, otherwise the planned destruction would not have been achieved. The target should be clearly visible from the air. The pilots of the American B-29 bomber dropped the warhead at the exact time of the explosion - 8:15 am. The “Little Boy” bomb exploded at an altitude of 600 meters from the ground.

Consequences of the explosion

The yield of the Hiroshima Nagasaki nuclear bomb is estimated to be between 13 and 20 kilotons. It was filled with uranium. It exploded over the modern Sima hospital. People who were a few meters from the epicenter burned immediately, since the temperature here was around 3-4 thousand degrees Celsius. From some, only black shadows remained on the ground and steps. Approximately 70 thousand people died per second, and hundreds of thousands more received terrible injuries. The mushroom cloud rose 16 kilometers above the ground.

According to eyewitnesses, at the moment of the explosion the sky turned orange, then a fiery tornado appeared, which was blinding, then the sound passed through. Most of those who were within a radius of 2-5 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion lost consciousness. People flew 10 meters away and looked like wax dolls, the remains of houses were spinning in the air. After the survivors came to their senses, they rushed en masse to the shelter, fearing another attack and a second explosion. No one yet knew what an atomic bomb was or imagined the possible dire consequences. All the clothes were left on the units. Most wore rags that had not yet faded. Based on the words of eyewitnesses, we can conclude that they were scalded with boiling water, their skin hurt and itched. In places where there were chains, earrings, rings, a scar remained for life.

But the worst thing began later. People's faces were burned beyond recognition. It was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman. The skin of many began to peel off and reached the ground, holding on only by their nails. Hiroshima resembled a parade of the living dead. Residents walked with their arms outstretched in front of them and asked for water. But they could only drink from the canals along the road, which is what they did. Those who reached the river threw themselves into it to relieve the pain and died there. The corpses flowed downstream, accumulating near the dam. People with babies who were in the buildings grabbed them and died frozen like that. Most of their names have never been identified.

Within minutes, black rain with radioactive contamination began to fall. This has scientific explanation. The nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki increased the air temperature significantly. With such an anomaly, a lot of liquid evaporated, and it very quickly fell on the city. The water mixed with soot, ash and radiation. Therefore, even if a person was not seriously injured from the explosion, he became infected by drinking this rain. It penetrated into the canals and onto the products, contaminating them with radioactive substances.

The dropped atomic bomb destroyed hospitals, buildings, and there was no medicine. The day after, survivors were taken to hospitals about 20 kilometers from Hiroshima. Burns there were treated with flour and vinegar. People were wrapped in bandages like mummies and sent home.

Not far from Hiroshima, the residents of Nagasaki had no idea about exactly the same attack on them, which was being prepared on August 9, 1945. Meanwhile, the US government congratulated Oppenheimer...

After the Provisional Committee decided to drop the bomb, the Task Force identified the locations that would be targeted, and President Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration as a final warning to Japan. The world soon understood what “total and absolute destruction” meant. The first and only two atomic bombs in history were dropped on Japan in early August 1945 at the end of the year.

Hiroshima

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. It was called "Baby" - a uranium bomb with an explosive power equivalent to approximately 13 kilotons of TNT. At the time of the bombing, there were 280-290 thousand civilians in Hiroshima, as well as 43 thousand soldiers. It is believed that between 90 and 166 thousand people died in the four months after the explosion. The US Department of Energy estimated that the bombing killed at least 200,000 people or more over five years, and in Hiroshima they counted 237,000 people killed directly or indirectly by the bomb, including burns, radiation sickness and cancer.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima, codenamed "Operation Center I", was approved by Curtis LeMay on August 4, 1945. A B-29 carrying "Baby" from Tinian Island in the western part Pacific Ocean to Hiroshima, was called "Enola Gay" in honor of the mother of the crew commander, Colonel Paul Tibbetts. The crew consisted of 12 people, including co-pilot Captain Robert Lewis, bombardier Major Tom Ferebee, navigator Captain Theodore Van Kirk and tail gunner Robert Caron. Below are their stories about the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan.

Pilot Paul Tibbetts: “We turned to look at Hiroshima. The city was covered with this terrible cloud... it boiled, growing, terribly and incredibly high. For a moment everyone was silent, then everyone spoke at once. I remember Lewis (co-pilot) hitting me on the shoulder, repeating: “Look at this! Look at it! Look at it!" Tom Ferebee feared that radioactivity would make us all sterile. Lewis said he could feel the splitting of atoms. He said it tasted like lead."

Navigator Theodore Van Kirk recalls the shock waves from the explosion: “It was as if you were sitting on a pile of ash and someone hit it with a baseball bat... The plane was pushed, it jumped, and then - a noise similar to the sound of sheet metal being cut. Those of us who have flown over Europe quite a bit thought it was anti-aircraft fire close to the plane.” Seeing an atomic fireball: “I'm not sure any of us expected to see something like this. Where two minutes ago we had clearly seen the city, now it was no longer there. We saw only smoke and fire creeping along the mountain slopes."

Tail Gunner Robert Caron: “The mushroom itself was a stunning sight, a seething mass of purple-gray smoke, and you could see the red core with everything burning inside. As we flew further away, we saw the base of the mushroom, and below there was a layer of debris several hundred feet high and smoke, or whatever it was... I saw fires break out in different places - flames swinging on a bed of coals.

"Enola Gay"

Six miles below the crew of the Enola Gay, the people of Hiroshima were waking up and preparing for the day's work. It was 8:16 am. Until this day, the city was not subject to regular aerial bombardment like other Japanese cities. There were rumors that this was because many residents of Hiroshima emigrated to where President Truman's mother lived. However, citizens, including schoolchildren, were sent to fortify houses and dig fire ditches in preparation for future bombings. This is exactly what the residents were doing, or were still getting ready for work on the morning of August 6. Just an hour earlier, the early warning system had gone off, detecting a single B-29 carrying "Little Boy" toward Hiroshima. The Enola Gay was announced on the radio shortly after 8 a.m.

The city of Hiroshima was destroyed by the explosion. 70 thousand of the 76 thousand buildings were damaged or destroyed, and 48 thousand of them were razed to the ground. Those who survived recalled how impossible it was to describe and believe that in one minute the city ceased to exist.

College History Professor: “I walked up Hikiyama Hill and looked down. I saw that Hiroshima had disappeared... I was shocked by the sight... What I felt then and still feel, now I simply cannot explain in words. Of course, after that I saw many more terrible things, but this moment when I looked down and did not see Hiroshima was so shocking that I simply could not express what I felt... Hiroshima no longer exists - that's basically it all I saw was that Hiroshima simply no longer exists.

Explosion over Hiroshima

Doctor Michihiko Hachiya: “There was nothing left except a few reinforced concrete buildings... Acres and acres of space in the city were like a desert, with only scattered piles of bricks and tiles everywhere. I had to reconsider my understanding of the word "destruction" or find some other word to describe what I saw. Devastation may be the right word, but I don’t really know the word or words to describe what I saw.”

Writer Yoko Ota: “I reached the bridge and saw that Hiroshima had been completely erased from the face of the earth, and my heart trembled like a huge wave... the grief that stepped over the corpses of history pressed on my heart.”

Those who were close to the epicenter of the explosion simply evaporated from the monstrous heat. All that was left of one man was a dark shadow on the steps of the bank where he was sitting. The mother of Miyoko Osugi, a 13-year-old schoolgirl working on fire ditches, did not find her foot in a sandal. The place where the foot stood remained light, but everything around turned black from the explosion.

Those residents of Hiroshima who were far from the epicenter of the "Baby" survived the explosion, but were seriously injured and received very serious burns. These people were in uncontrollable panic, scrambling for food and water, medical help, friends and relatives, and trying to escape the firestorms that had engulfed many residential areas.

Having lost all orientation in space and time, some survivors believed that they had already died and were in hell. The worlds of the living and the dead seemed to come together.

Protestant priest: “I had the feeling that everyone was dead. The whole city was destroyed... I thought this was the end of Hiroshima - the end of Japan - the end of humanity."

Boy, 6 years old: “There were a lot of dead bodies near the bridge... Sometimes people came to us and asked for water to drink. Their heads, mouths, faces were bleeding, pieces of glass stuck to their bodies. The bridge was on fire... It was all like hell.”

Sociologist: “I immediately thought that it was like hell, which I always read about ... I had never seen anything like it before, but I decided that this must be what hell was like, here it is - the fiery Gehenna, where, as we thought, those who are not saved end up... And I thought that all these people I saw were in the hell that I read about.”

Fifth grade boy: “I had a feeling that all the people on earth had disappeared, and only five of us (his family) remained in the other world of the dead.”

Grocer: “The people looked like... well, they all had blackened skin from burns... They had no hair because the hair had been burned off, and at first glance you couldn't tell whether you were looking at them from the front or the back... Many of them died along the way - I still see them in my mind - like ghosts... They didn’t look like people from this world.”

Hiroshima destroyed

Many people wandered around the center - near hospitals, parks, along the river, trying to find relief from pain and suffering. Soon agony and despair reigned here, as many wounded and dying people could not get help.

Sixth grade girl: “Swollen bodies floated along seven previously beautiful rivers, cruelly breaking into pieces the childish naivety of the little girl. A strange smell of burning human flesh spread throughout the city, which turned into a heap of ash."

Boy, 14 years old: “Night came and I heard many voices crying and moaning in pain and begging for water. Someone shouted: “Damn it! The war is crippling so many innocent people!” Another said: “It hurts! Give me water!" This person was so burned that we could not tell whether he was a man or a woman. The sky was red with flames, it was burning as if paradise had been set on fire.”

Three days after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9. It was a 21-kiloton plutonium bomb called "Fat Man." On the day of the bombing, about 263 thousand people were in Nagasaki, including 240 thousand civilians, 9 thousand Japanese soldiers and 400 prisoners of war. Until August 9, Nagasaki was the target of small-scale US bombing. Although the damage from these explosions was relatively minor, it caused great concern in Nagasaki and many people were evacuated to rural areas, thereby reducing the city's population during the nuclear attack. It is estimated that between 40,000 and 75,000 people died immediately after the explosion, and another 60,000 were seriously injured. In total, by the end of 1945, approximately 80 thousand people died.

The decision to use the second bomb was made on August 7, 1945 in Guam. By doing so, the United States wanted to demonstrate that it had an endless supply of new weapons against Japan, and that it would continue to drop atomic bombs on Japan until it unconditionally surrendered.

However, the original target of the second atomic bombing was not Nagasaki. Officials chose the city of Kokura, where Japan had one of the largest munitions factories.

On the morning of August 9, 1945, a B-29 Boxcar piloted by Major Charles Sweeney was scheduled to fly "Fat Man" to the town of Kokura. Accompanying Sweeney were Lieutenant Charles Donald Albery and Lieutenant Fred Olivi, Rifleman Frederick Ashworth and Bombardier Kermit Behan. At 3:49 a.m., Boxcar and five other B-29s left Tinian Island for Kokura.

Seven hours later the plane approached the city. Thick clouds and smoke from fires following an air raid on the nearby town of Yawata obscured much of the sky over Kokura, obscuring the target. Over the next fifty minutes, pilot Charles Sweeney made three bombing runs, but bombardier Behan failed to drop his bomb because he could not visually locate the target. By the time of the third approach, they were discovered by Japanese anti-aircraft guns, and Second Lieutenant Jacob Beser, who was monitoring the Japanese radio broadcast, reported the approach of Japanese fighters.

The fuel was running out, and the crew of the Boxcar decided to attack the second target, Nagasaki. When the B-29 flew over the city 20 minutes later, the sky above it was also covered with dense clouds. Gunner Frederick Ashworth proposed bombing Nagasaki using radar. At this point, a small window in the clouds, discovered at the end of a three-minute bombing run, allowed bombardier Kermit Behan to visually identify the target.

At 10:58 a.m. local time, Boxcar dropped Fat Man. 43 seconds later, at an altitude of 1,650 feet, about 1.5 miles northwest of the intended aiming point, an explosion occurred with a yield of 21 kilotons of TNT.

The radius of complete destruction from the atomic explosion was about one mile, after which the fire spread throughout the northern part of the city - about two miles south of where the bomb fell. Unlike the buildings in Hiroshima, almost all the buildings in Nagasaki were of traditional Japanese construction - wooden frames, wooden walls and tiled roofs. Many small industrial and commercial establishments were also located in buildings that were unable to withstand explosions. As a result, an atomic explosion over Nagasaki leveled everything within its radius of destruction.

Due to the fact that it was not possible to drop the “Fat Man” precisely on the target, the atomic explosion was limited to the Urakami Valley. As a result, most of the city was not damaged. The Fat Man fell in the city's industrial valley between the Mitsubishi steel and weapons factories to the south and the Mitsubishi-Urakami torpedo production facility to the north. The resulting explosion had the equivalent of 21 kilotons of TNT, about the same as the Trinity bomb. Almost half of the city was completely destroyed.

Olivi: “Suddenly, the light of a thousand suns flashed in the cabin. Even with my welding glasses on, I winced and closed my eyes for a couple of seconds. I assumed that we had flown about seven miles from the epicenter and were flying away from the target, but the light blinded me for a moment. I have never seen such a strong blue light, maybe three or four times brighter than the sun shining above us.”

“I've never seen anything like it! The biggest explosion I've ever seen... This plume of smoke is hard to describe. A huge white mass of flame boils in a mushroom-shaped cloud. It is pinkish, salmon color. The base is black and slightly distant from the mushroom.”

“The mushroom cloud was moving straight towards us, I immediately looked up and saw it approaching the Boxcar. We were told not to fly through the atomic cloud because it was extremely dangerous for the crew and the aircraft. Knowing this, Sweeney turned the Boxcar sharply to the right, away from the cloud, with the throttles wide open. For a few moments we could not understand whether we had escaped from the ominous cloud or whether it had captured us, but gradually we separated from it, to great relief.”

Tatsuichiro Akizuki: “All the buildings that I saw were on fire... The electric poles were shrouded in flames, like so many huge matches... It seemed as if the earth itself was spewing fire and smoke - the flames were twisting and being thrown straight out of the ground. The sky was dark, the ground was scarlet, and clouds of yellowish smoke hung between them. Three colors - black, yellow and scarlet - swept ominously over the people who were rushing about like ants trying to escape... It seemed like the end of the world had come.”

Consequences

On August 14, Japan surrendered. Journalist George Weller was "the first on Nagasaki" and described a mysterious "atomic sickness" (the onset of radiation sickness) that killed patients who appeared to have escaped the bomb's impact. Controversial at the time and for many years to come next years, Weller's papers were not cleared for publication until 2006.

Controversy

The debate over the bomb—whether a test demonstration was necessary, whether dropping a bomb on Nagasaki was necessary, and much more—continues to this day.

on the ground"

70 years of tragedy

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

70 years ago, on August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs. The total number of victims of the tragedy is over 450 thousand people, and the survivors still suffer from diseases caused by radiation exposure. According to the latest data, their number is 183,519 people.

Initially, the United States had the idea of dropping 9 atomic bombs on rice fields or in the sea to achieve a psychological effect to support the landing operations planned on the Japanese islands at the end of September 1945. But in the end, the decision was made to use the new weapon against densely populated cities.

Now the cities have been rebuilt, but their inhabitants still bear the burden of that terrible tragedy. The history of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the memories of survivors is in a TASS special project.

Ideal goal

It was not by chance that Hiroshima was chosen as the target for the first nuclear strike. This city met all the criteria to achieve the maximum number of casualties and destruction: a flat location surrounded by hills, low buildings and flammable wooden buildings.

The city was completely wiped off the face of the Earth. Surviving eyewitnesses recalled that they first saw a flash of bright light, followed by a wave that burned everything around. In the area of the epicenter of the explosion, everything instantly turned to ashes, and human silhouettes remained on the walls of the surviving houses. Immediately, according to various estimates, from 70 to 100 thousand people died. Tens of thousands more died from the consequences of the explosion, bringing the total number of victims as of August 6, 2014 to 292,325.
Immediately after the bombing, the city did not have enough water not only to put out the fires, but also for people who were dying of thirst. Therefore, even now the residents of Hiroshima are very careful about water. And during the memorial ceremony, a special ritual “Kensui” (Japanese - offering water) is performed - it reminds of the fires that engulfed the city and the victims who asked for water. It is believed that even after death, the souls of the dead need water to alleviate suffering.

The clock hands have stopped

The hands of almost all the clocks in Hiroshima stopped at the moment of the explosion at 08:15 am. Some of them are collected at the Peace Museum as exhibits.

The museum was opened 60 years ago. Its building consists of two buildings designed by the outstanding Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. In one of them there is an exhibition about the atomic bombing, where visitors can see personal belongings of the victims, photographs, and various material evidence of what happened in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Audio and video materials are also shown there.

Not far from the museum is the Atomic Dome, the former building of the Exhibition Center of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry, built in 1915 by Czech architect Jan Letzel. This structure miraculously survived the atomic bombing, although it stood only 160 meters from the epicenter of the explosion, which is marked by a regular memorial plaque in an alley not far from the dome. All the people inside the building died, and its copper dome instantly melted, leaving a bare frame. After the end of World War II, the Japanese authorities decided to preserve the building as a sign of memory of the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima. Now it is one of the main attractions of the city, reminiscent of the tragic moments of its history.

Paper cranes

Trees near the Atomic Dome are often decorated with colorful paper cranes. They have become an international symbol of peace. People from different countries They constantly bring homemade figurines of birds to Hiroshima as a sign of mourning for the terrible events of the past and in tribute to the memory of Sadako Sasaki, a girl who survived the atomic bombing in Hiroshima at the age of 2. At the age of 11, she was found to have signs of radiation sickness, and the girl’s health began to deteriorate sharply. One day she heard a legend that whoever folds a thousand paper cranes will definitely recover from any illness. She continued to fold the figures until her death on October 25, 1955. In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a crane was installed in the Peace Park.

In 1949, a special law was passed, thanks to which large funds were provided for the restoration of Hiroshima. A Peace Park was built and a fund was established to store materials about the atomic bombing. Industry in the city was restored after the start Korean War in 1950 thanks to the production of weapons for the US Army.

Now Hiroshima is modern city with a population of approximately 1.2 million people. It is the largest in the Chugoku region.

Zero mark

Nagasaki became the second Japanese city, after Hiroshima, to be subject to American bombing in August 1945. The initial target of the B-29 bomber under the command of Major Charles Sweeney was the city of Kokura, located in the north of the island of Kyushu. By coincidence, on the morning of August 9, there was heavy cloudiness over Kokura, so Sweeney decided to turn the plane to the southwest and head to Nagasaki, which was considered as a backup option. Here the Americans were also beset by bad weather, but the plutonium bomb called “Fat Man” was eventually dropped. It was almost twice as powerful as the one used in Hiroshima, but inaccurate aiming and the local terrain somewhat reduced the damage from the explosion. Nevertheless, the consequences of the bombing were catastrophic: at the moment of the explosion, at 11.02 local time, 70 thousand residents of Nagasaki were killed, and the city was practically wiped off the face of the Earth.

In subsequent years, the list of disaster victims continued to grow with those who died from radiation sickness. This number increases every year, and the numbers are updated every year on August 9th. According to data announced in 2014, the number of victims of the Nagasaki bombing increased to 165,409 people.

Years later, an atomic bomb museum was opened in Nagasaki, as in Hiroshima. Last July, his collection was replenished with 26 new photographs, which were taken a year and four months after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese cities. The images themselves were recently discovered. In particular, they depict the so-called zero mark - the site of the direct explosion of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. Captions on the back of the photographs indicate that the photographs were taken in December 1946 by American scientists who were visiting the city at the time to study the consequences of a terrible atomic attack. “The photographs are of particular value, as they clearly demonstrate the full scale of the destruction, and, at the same time, make it clear what work was done to restore the city practically from scratch,” the Nagasaki administration believes.
One of the photos shows a strange arrow-shaped monument installed in the middle of the field, the inscription on which reads: “Zero mark of the atomic explosion.” Local experts are at a loss as to who installed the almost 5-meter monument and where it is now. It is noteworthy that it is located exactly in the place where the official monument to the victims of the atomic bombing of 1945 now stands.

Hiroshima Peace Museum © AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye

Blind spots of history

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been the subject of careful study by many historians, but 70 years after the tragedy, many blank spots remain in this story. There are some testimonies of individuals who believe that they were born "in the shirt" because, according to them, a few weeks before the atomic bombing, information appeared about a possible deadly attack on these Japanese cities. Thus, one of these people claims that he studied at a school for children of high-ranking military personnel. According to him, several weeks before the strike, all personnel educational institution and his students were evacuated from Hiroshima, which saved their lives.
There are also completely conspiracy theories according to which, on the threshold of the end of World War II, Japanese scientists, with the help of colleagues from Germany, approached the creation of an atomic bomb. Weapons of terrible destructive power could supposedly appear in the imperial army, whose command was going to fight to the end and was constantly rushing the nuclear scientists. The media claim that records have recently been found containing calculations and descriptions of equipment for enriching uranium for subsequent use in creating a Japanese atomic bomb. The scientists received the order to complete the program on August 14, 1945, and apparently were ready to carry it out, but did not have time. The American atomic bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the entry of the Soviet Union into the war did not leave Japan any chance to continue hostilities.

No more war

Survivors of the bombings in Japan are referred to by the special word "hibakusha" ("person who suffered from the bombing").
In the first years after the tragedy, many hibakusha hid the fact that they survived the bombing and received a high dose of radiation because they were afraid of discrimination. Then they were not given financial assistance and were denied treatment. It took 12 years before the Japanese government passed a law making treatment for bomb victims free of charge.
Some of the hibakusha have dedicated their lives to educational work to ensure that the terrible tragedy does not happen again.
“About 30 years ago, I happened to see a friend of mine on TV, he was among the participants in the march to ban nuclear weapons. This prompted me to join this movement. Since then, remembering my experience, I explain that atomic weapons are "This is an inhumane weapon. It is completely indiscriminate, unlike conventional weapons. I have dedicated my life to explaining the need to ban atomic weapons to those who know nothing about atomic bombings, especially young people," wrote hibakusha Michimasa Hirata on one of the websites, dedicated to preserving the memory of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Many Hiroshima residents whose families were affected to varying degrees by the atomic bomb are trying to help others learn more about what happened on August 6, 1945 and to convey the message of the dangers of nuclear weapons and war. Near the Peace Park and the Atomic Dome memorial you can meet people who are ready to talk about the tragic events.
“August 6, 1945 is a special day for me, it’s my second birthday. When the atomic bomb was dropped on us, I was only 9 years old. I was in my house about two kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion in Hiroshima. A sudden brilliant flash hit over my head. She fundamentally changed Hiroshima... This scene, which then developed, defies description. This is a living hell on earth," Michimasa Hirata shares his memories.

Bombing of Hiroshima © EPA/A PEACE MEMORIAL MUSEUM

"The city was enveloped in huge fire whirlwinds"

“70 years ago, I was three years old. On August 6, my father was at work 1 km from the place where the atomic bomb was dropped,” said one of the hibakusha, Hiroshi Shimizu. “At the moment of the explosion, he was thrown back by a huge shock wave. He immediately felt that numerous shards of glass were pierced into his face, and his body began to bleed. The building where he was working instantly burst into flames. Everyone who could ran out to a nearby pond. My father spent about three hours there. At that time, the city was enveloped in huge fiery vortices.
He was only able to find us the next day. Two months later he died. By that time, his stomach had completely turned black. Within a radius of one kilometer from the explosion, the radiation level was 7 sieverts. This dose can destroy cells of internal organs.
At the time of the explosion, my mother and I were at home about 1.6 km from the epicenter. Since we were inside, we were able to avoid a lot of radiation. However, the house was destroyed by the shock wave. Mother managed to break through the roof and get out into the street with me. After that, we evacuated to the south, away from the epicenter. As a result, we managed to avoid the real hell that was going on there, because there was nothing left within a radius of 2 km.
For 10 years after the bombing, my mother and I suffered from various illnesses caused by the dose of radiation we received. We had stomach problems, nosebleeds all the time, and our general immune system was also very poor. All this happened in 12 years, and after that for a long time I didn't have any health problems. However, after 40 years, illnesses began to haunt me one after another, the functioning of my kidneys and heart sharply deteriorated, my spine began to hurt, signs of diabetes and problems with cataracts appeared.
Only later did it become clear that it was not just the dose of radiation that we received during the explosion. We continued to live and eat vegetables grown on contaminated soil, drink water from contaminated rivers and eat contaminated seafood."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (left) and hibakusha Sumiteru Taniguchi in front of photographs of people affected by the bombing. Top photo shows Taniguchi himself © EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA

"Kill me!"

A photograph of one of the most famous figures of the hibakusha movement, Sumiteru Taniguchi, taken in January 1946 by an American war photographer, spread throughout the world. The photo, dubbed "red back," shows severe burns on Taniguchi's back.
“In 1945, I was 16 years old,” he says. “On August 9, I was delivering mail on a bicycle and was about 1.8 km from the epicenter of the bombing. At the moment of the explosion, I saw a flash, and the blast wave threw me off my bicycle. The heat was burning everything is in its path. At first I had the impression that a bomb had exploded next to me. The ground under my feet shook as if something had happened strong earthquake. After I came to my senses, I looked at my hands - skin was literally hanging off them. However, at that moment I didn’t even feel pain.”
“I don’t know how, but I managed to get to the ammunition factory, which was located in an underground tunnel. There I met a woman, and she helped me cut off pieces of skin on my hands and bandage them somehow. I remember how after that they immediately announced evacuation, but I could not go on my own. Other people helped me. They carried me to the top of the hill, where they laid me under a tree. After that, I fell asleep for a while. I woke up from machine-gun fire from American planes. From the fires it was as bright as day , so the pilots could easily monitor the movements of people. I lay under a tree for three days. During this time, everyone who was next to me died. I myself thought that I would die, I could not even call for help. But I was lucky - "On the third day, people came and rescued me. Blood was oozing from the burns on my back, and the pain was growing rapidly. In this condition, I was sent to the hospital," Taniguchi recalls.
Only in 1947 was the Japanese able to sit down, and in 1949 he was discharged from the hospital. He underwent 10 operations, and treatment continued until 1960.
“In the first years after the bombing, I couldn’t even move. The pain was unbearable. I often shouted: “Kill me!” The doctors did everything so that I could live. I remember how they repeated every day that I was alive. During the treatment, I learned for myself everything that radiation is capable of, all the terrible consequences of its impact,” Taniguchi said.

Children after the bombing of Nagasaki © AP Photo/United Nations, Yosuke Yamahata

"Then there was silence..."

"When the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, I was six years old and living with my family in a traditional Japanese house, recalls Yasuaki Yamashita. - Usually in the summer, when it was hot, my friends and I would run to the mountains to catch dragonflies and cicadas. But on this day I was playing at home. Mom was nearby preparing dinner, as usual. Suddenly, at exactly 11.02, we were blinded by a light, as if 1000 lightning flashed simultaneously. Mom pushed me to the ground and covered me with herself. We heard the roar of a strong wind and the rustling of debris from the house flying towards us. Then there was silence..."
"Our house was 2.5 km from the epicenter. My sister, she was in next room, severely cut by flying glass shards. One of my friends went to play in the mountains that ill-fated day, and a heat wave from a bomb explosion hit him. He suffered severe burns and died a few days later. My father was sent to help clear the rubble in the center of Nagasaki. At that time we did not yet know about the danger of radiation, which caused his death," he writes.