"There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man." - Alan Paton I say “survivors” but in reality, many of those who survived the blast but were exposed to radiation, eventually died. For those with any kind of scientific or medical bent… a good percentage of the diary describes the clinical symptoms of those “survivors” suffering from radiation poisoning, which is both mesmerizing and horrific. Interestingly, most of the anger for their plight seems to be reserved for the Japanese armed forces with very little animosity toward the United States. Hachiya’s lens the Japanese people definitely do seem stoic. It’s hard to say this one man represents the fortitude of the entire population of the time… but through Dr. Which, in itself, is a really curious window into the mind of the author. Extremely unemotional a little detached even. For anyone planning to visit Hiroshima I would make this an essential pre-visit read. And yes, it obviously enriched my experience. I specifically read this in preparation for my visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
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