Give back my father, give back my mother/Give grandpa back, grandma back/Give my sons and daughters back/Give me back myself/Give back the human race; As long as this life lasts, this life/Give back peace; that will never end. (Give Back the Human, written and translated by Miyao Ohara).
The poem, engraved on a tombstone, speaks louder than many words in describing the impact and the suffering which followed the Aug. 6, 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.
A burned tricycle and a metal helmet have another story to tell.
The bike belonged to Shinichi Tetsutani, then three years and 11 months old. The boy was riding in front of his house when, after a sudden flash, he and his tricycle were badly burned. He died that night. His father, feeling he was too young to be buried in a lonely grave away from home, and thinking he could still play with the tricycle, buried the boy with his tricycle in the backyard.
Forty years later, his father dug up Shinichi’s remains to be reinterred in the family grave and donated the tricycle and helmet to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
Scaled down model of Hiroshima after the explosion, with the red ball depicts the explosion point
The museum, which was exactly one hour and 28 minutes by Shinkansen bullet train from Osaka, is always packed with students on field-trips from across Japan as well as foreign tourists.
The museum, which was built in August 1955, showcases belongings left by the victims, photos, videos and much more to show the horror of the event. Each exhibit evokes the victims’ grief, anger and pain.
With the museum, Hiroshima, having recovered from the A-bomb disaster, aims to present the facts of the atomic bombing, contribute to the abolition of nuclear weapons and promote world peace.
The facility was renovated in 1994 to facilitate education and is divided into the East and West Wings.
In the East Wing, visitors could learn on the city’s history before the bombing and the lives of its people during the war era and after the bombing. The West Wing focuses on the damages caused by the bombing, with different sections, including the one showcasing personal belongings worn by the victims during the bombing
The museum also presents photos and videos on damages caused by the bomb’s heat rays, the blast and the radiation.
— JP/Stevie Emilia
