Never forget the victims, never forget history: Hiroshima, 75 years on.
On 6 August 1945, Hiroshima (Japan) became the first city to endure an atomic bombing. On that day, during the final stages of World War II, US troops dropped the atomic bomb called ‘Little Boy’, instantly killing over 70,000 people.
Another estimated 70,000 suffered fatal injuries from the radiation and would die in the following weeks and months.
Hiroshima thus entered into History as one of the saddest episodes ever known and the very name “Hiroshima” has come to symbolize the ultimate horror of war.
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) was the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on 6 August 1945.
Through the efforts of many people, including those of the city of Hiroshima, it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing.
Not only is it a stark and powerful symbol of the most destructive force ever created by humankind; it also expresses the hope for world peace and the ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons.
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial stands as both a reminder of the past and an eloquent plea for the future. The Memorial was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1996.
On this day let’s pay tribute to the victims and let’s commit ourselves to never forget history and to prevent such events from happening again.
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