A minute of silence was respected on Saturday in Nagasaki at the exact time of the atomic explosion which struck the Japanese city 80 years ago. Fifteen days after the bombing, Japan capituated, which ended the Second World War,
On August 9, 1945, at 11:02 am, three days after Hiroshima, Nagasaki suffered in turn the horror of a nuclear bomb. Some 74,000 people died in this port city in the southwest of the country, in addition to the 140,000 victims of Hiroshima.
’80 years have passed and who could have imagined that the world would become like this? Please immediately arrest armed conflicts, ‘urged the city mayor, Shiro Suzuki during the ceremony in front of an audience of representatives of more than 100 countries.
‘The clashes intensify in various places due to a vicious circle of confrontation and division. A crisis likely to threaten the survival of humanity, like a nuclear war, hangs over each of us living on this planet, ‘added the councilor while the strong showers of the morning stopped just before the minute of silence.
The large international participation – a record – is notably marked by the presence of Russia, which had not been invited since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Israel, whose ambassador had not been invited last year to protest against the conflict in Gaza, was present.
Retired bell
This explosion ‘seems a very old era, but for the people who lived it, it must be as if it was yesterday. We should remember that these are real events, ‘testified atsuko Higuchi, a 50 -year -old Nagasaki resident, presents near the peace park.
Symbol of this commemoration, the bell of a cathedral destroyed by the atomic explosion and restored in the spring of this year by American Christians resounded for the first time in 80 years.
The imposing red brick cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, flanked by its two bell towers, stands at the top of a hill in the city. It was rebuilt in 1959, after the original building was blown away by the explosion of the atomic bomb a few hundred meters away. Only one of his two bells had been found in the rubble.
Hibakushas
It was an American university professor, whose grandfather had participated as a doctor in the Manhattan project, at the origin of the atomic bombs of the Second World War, who carried out the restoration project.
The nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the grace of Japan, which capitulated on August 15, 1945, ending the Second World War.
But historians continue to debate to find out if these bombings have really made it possible to save more lives by precipitating the end of the conflict, facing the Calvary of Hibakushas’ (the bomb survivors), victims of discrimination and exposed for the rest of their life at an increased risk of developing certain cancers.
/ATS
