Plea of an atomic bomb survivor - Sakue Shimohira

I was born on January 1, 1935 and was 6 when the Pacific War erupted. And I was 10 when the war finished. I feel very sad when I think that if there had been no war in the first place, the atomic bomb would not have been dropped on Nagasaki.

During the war that continued on from the Sino-Japanese war, food became scarcer each year and life was tough for us children as well. Food was scarce and I went to school in bare feet.

Air raids started from 1944. Air raid shelters were constructed in the town. Nagasaki is a hilly area. Air raid shelters were dug into the side of hills and mountains. August 9, 1945 is a day I will never forget. Air raid sirens sounded from early morning. We children hurried to the usual air raid shelter. I hid with many children in the dark shelter. I heard a voice sounding the all-clear. The bombers must have gone. Many children flooded out of the dark hole. However, my sister and I and 7 or 8 friends stayed inside the shelter. Then a brilliant light burst, illuminating the corners of the bomb shelter, and a tremendous bomb blast attacked the shelter. Those of us remaining in the shelter were thrown against the rock walls and I lost consciousness.

When I came to from someone striking my head, I was surprised at what I saw around me. The large air raid shelter where there was supposed to be no-one other than us was full of people, people burnt black, people covered in blood with flesh hanging off them, people with their eyeballs hanging out, and people with burns causing their bodies to swell to 2 – 3 times normal size. Pitiful voices here and there were crying out, 'Water please. Help me!' My body was stiff with fright and I couldn't move, just crying out 'Mummy, help me.' My younger sister with me was blown away and I didn't know what happened to my friends. The child of my older sister was also blown away. At last the 3 of us crowded together again and called for help, but nobody came.

We heard a voice calling out, 'Who's there? Someone please kill me.' It was the older Sakurai boy. His stomach was ripped open and his intestines spilling out. Despite the blackened bodies and terrible smell in the shelter, we waited there for help, but none came. We called for help. My foster father came for us. We finally went outside the shelter, but we were shocked speechless. Not a single house was left standing. There was only blackened corpses and rubble. When we got to the ruins of our house, my older sister was a blackened corpse. And my mother was lying dead beside a woman neighbour. My older brother, a student at Nagasaki Medical College, was helped by a friend and staggered about in search of us. We rejoiced together that we were saved, but on the 11^th, while saying 'I don't want to die, I don't want to die', my brother turned cold as he died. The 3 of us who survived were helped by relatives to flee from Nagasaki to the countryside. The ties between parent and child, and brother and sister were severed.

At the end of 1945, a barracks hut was built where our house used to be, and we shared it with our neighbours. There was no electricity and no food. There were only white skeletons still scattered around us. At night, bluish-white light would shine out of the darkness. Perhaps it was phosphorous from the corpse bones?

Even though I had survived, it was not possible to live like a human being, or to die either. I suffered from an unspecified illness. My younger sister tried gamely, but suffering from the poor life and illness, and pining for her mother, she took her own life by throwing herself in front of a train. I was unable to stop my tears as I cried at her, 'Why did you die? Why couldn't you try harder?' Dying also takes courage. Living also takes courage. Unfortunately, my younger sister chose the courage to die. But I chose the courage to go on living.

Now I am glad from the bottom of my heart that I have lived. I hope that the next generation will survive no matter what. I hope you will understand the pain of the many people who have died, decrying death in the name of war. We must absolutely refuse nuclear weapons, with their capacity for indiscriminate mass murder. We must not repeat the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The peoples of the world must pool their wisdom to eliminate nuclear weapons and create a world without war. Let's join hands with our global neighbours to create a world of peace.