HIROSHIMA PEACE MEMORIAL
One of the first rooms we entered in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum showed images of the city of Hiroshima before August 6, 1945. These “before” images showed a bustling city with streets filled with young and old people riding their bikes, and lined with merchants selling newspapers and food. There was a photo of a group of children smiling outside their school and a one that captured swimmers diving off a starting block at a swim meet at the community center.
We turned the corner to enter the next room, where the “after” photos covered the walls. The streets were now filled with piles of rubble. The buildings were decimated. There were no photos of people — yet. In the center of the room, a large digital map was on the floor. In a series of images and animations, it showed the hypocenter of the atomic bomb and the widespread destruction it caused.
This is when Sadie, who is the only one of the girls who has studied WWII in school, turned to me and said, “I don’t think Reese will be ok with this.”
I replied, “I don’t think any of us will be — or should be — ok this.”
We then walked down a long, dark hallway. At the end of the hallway was a large black and white photograph directly in front of us. It was an image of a 10 years old girl named Yukiko, who was badly injured from the blast. This photo ushered us into the room where the victims’ stories were told through more images of absolute anguish and immeasurable pain. Stories told through tattered clothes, burnt relics, a silver pocket watch, and a child’s bicycle. Stories that detailed minutes — and decades — of inconceivable suffering.
We were not ok with it.
It was too much for us to handle.
We left the building soon thereafter, all of us trying to process what we just saw in our different ways. We took a much needed break, but then returned to the Peace Memorial Park. With our guide, we walked through the park and listened to stories of survival, hope, and resolve. We rang the Peace Bell, admired the thousands of pieces of artwork created from origami cranes at the Children’s Peace Monument, and stood before the Victims Memorial Monument, where there is a flame that will continue to burn until the world is free from the threat of nuclear weapons.
