Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

On August 6th, 1945, the US bomber "Enola Gay" drops the first atomic bomb ever used in a war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The device bears the harmless-sounding name "Little Boy." About 20 percent of the city's 350,000 inhabitants are killed just seconds after the blast. A giant shock wave flattens the city center.

The attack on Hiroshima is set to take place on August 1st, 1945, but it is postponed due to a typhoon. The "Enola Gay" takes off five days later with 13 crew members on board. They only find out they are about to drop an atomic bomb after the bomber is airborne.

Three days after Hiroshima, the Americans drop a second bomb over the city of Nagasaki. The target is originally Kyoto, but the US Department of Defense objects and so Nagasaki is chosen. The bomb bears the name "Fat Man" and has the explosive power of 22,000 tons of TNT. An estimated 70,000 people die over the next four months.

In 1945, the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works are located in Nagasaki. The company does not only run large shipyards at the port, but is also responsible for the construction of the torpedoes used in the attack against the US Pacific fleet based at Pearl Harbor. Only a few Japanese soldiers are stationed in Nagasaki. Poor visibility conditions render a direct assault on the shipyards impossible.

Tens of thousands of people die months later from the consequences of the explosions. By the end of 1945, a further 60,000 people die in Hiroshima alone, as a result of radiation exposure, burns and other severe injuries. Five years later, casualty figures are estimated at 230,000.

After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki many Japanese fear a third US attack on the capital, Tokyo. Japan decides to capitulate, thus ending World War II. US President Harry Truman had ordered the bombings, convinced it was the only way to end the war swiftly. However, many historians regard the attacks as war crimes.

Hiroshima's devastated city center is fully rebuilt, except for an island on the river Ota, which is preserved as a peace memorial park. Today, there are an array of memorial sites here: the Peace Museum, the Children's Peace Monument, the ruins of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce as well as a flame which will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed.

In Nagasaki, the Atomic Bomb Museum and the Peace Park have been remembering the victims and aftermath of the bombings since 1955. The remembrance of the victims plays an important part in Japanese culture and national identity. Hiroshima and Nagasaki have become global symbols for the horrors of nuclear war.

Every year a large memorial ceremony is held in Hiroshima. Survivors, relatives, citizens and politicians get together to hold a minute of silence. Many Japanese are committed to nuclear disarmament.