‘My eyes filled with tears’: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (Museum)

 We all know about Hiroshima, Japan where the first Atom bomb was dropped depicting the cruelest human suffering.  I visited many countries in the world and across India but I was in pain and ‘my eyes filled with tears’ after visiting Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (Park) in March 2023. During the Second World War, the USA on 6 August 1945 dropped the first Atom Bomb on Hiroshima, and then on 9 August 1945 another Atom Bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Anyway, I visited Hiroshima in March 2023. and when I visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (Park word was used), I was in great pain as watched the worst suffering of human beings. Photos, documentary films, terrifying photographs of survivors, the awful effects of explosions, and artifacts such as melted glass, deformed bicycles, charred clothes, etc., portrayed the unimaginable, unbelievable cruelty created by human beings against innocent human beings.
With my little knowledge, I could say earlier that Wars, wherever took place mostly soldiers, suffered on the battlefields but during the Second World War innocent people greatly suffered and the greatest examples are Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was opened in 1955 to depict the reality and cruelty of the damage caused by the Atom Bomb so that in the future no country violates such norm by dropping an Atom Bomb. At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was the first in the world to be damaged by an Atom Bomb. Most parts of the town were destroyed and many people lost their lives. Even those who barely survived suffered great physical and psychological damage. The Peace Memorial Museum has displayed photographs and materials showing the remains of the Atom Bomb survivors and the devastation of the Atom Bomb, as well as the history of Hiroshima pre and post-effects of the Atom Bomb which is a lesson for the present generation of political leaders.   
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and now commonly called the Genbaku Dome, Atomic Bomb Dome, or A-Bomb Dome is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 (wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial). 
It is believed that because of the Atom bomb 80, 000 people i.e., 30 percent of the total population of Hiroshima on the spot died and thousands suffered. Some people lost their eyes, some people's skin was badly burnt, some became lame, leukemia developed later on, etc. In the Museum, there are many photographs depicting these which are heart-wrenching. Also, there are photographs depicting how within a few seconds a beautiful town became a ghost town because of the Atom Bomb. A 1998 study revealed that about 62,000 more people in Hiroshima died as a result of the Bomb, bringing the total number of victims to more than 200,000 (death). Also, it may be mentioned that approximately 70 percent of Hiroshima city was completely wiped out in one of history’s biggest atrocities.
Near Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a monument has been constructed in memory of all children who died as a result of the Atom Bomb. The monument was originally thought of because of the death of Sadako Sasaki, a girl, who was exposed to radiation from the Atom Bomb when she was just two years old. And 10 years later (when she was 12 years old) she developed leukemia that ultimately ended her life. Sadako's untimely death upset her classmates and they thought of constructing a monument for all the children who died due to the Atom Bomb. Subsequently, with the contributions received from more than 3200 schools in Japan and also donations received from nine countries the Children Peace Monument was constructed on May 5, 1958.
 As a senior citizen after traveling to many places in the world and across India, I observed earlier that some kings benefited because of war, and now the arrogant political leaders might desire war. This beautiful world is for all so we desire there should not be any war.
On May 27, 2016, President Barack Obama became the first US President to visit Hiroshima and pay his respects at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. He visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, then he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe each laid a wreath at the cenotaph commemorating the victims of the atomic bombing. Later, Obama signed the Park’s guestbook with the message, “‎We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.‎”
I have inserted three photographs to get an idea about the damage and cruelty created because of Atom Bomb. 








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  1. Dear Dada, Namaskar and Good Morning. The Hiroshima and Nagasakhi atomic explosion is the most cruel incident in the annals of human history. Only wish such incidents donot happen in future when we have 1000 times powerful Atomic Weapons of all types available now. Man is the biggest enemy of mankind.
    Prof Madhav Rao, former Professor and Head (GIS), NIRDPR, Hyderabad

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