Anniversary: The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima — August 6, 1945

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 in the morning, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped «Little Boy» on Hiroshima, the first atomic bomb used in war. A flash, then the shock wave and the fires: most of the city was levelled, and estimates count roughly 70,000–80,000 immediate victims, a toll set to nearly double by the end of the year from burns and radiation. Three days later it was Nagasaki’s turn; on August 15, Japan announced its surrender.

It was also the start of a long silence. In the first days, Japanese authorities downplayed the nature of the weapon; then, during the Allied occupation, the Press Code subjected reports, photographs and even medical studies on the effects of radiation to censorship, and for years the hibakusha, the survivors, spoke of it only quietly. The taboo began to break only in the 1950s, when images and testimonies started circulating again.

In Hiroshima, the place where all of this remains visible is the Atomic Bomb Dome (Genbaku Dome): the former industrial exhibition hall left standing almost directly beneath the blast, preserved as the war left it and today a UNESCO World Heritage Site within the Peace Memorial Park.