HIROSHIMA (dpa-AFX) – The G7 heads of state and government commemorated the victims of the US atomic bombing of the city in 1945 at the Hiroshima memorial. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his colleagues from the group of leading democratic business powers laid wreaths at a concrete arch in the city’s Peace Park, which were presented to them by Japanese schoolchildren.
Beneath the simple concrete arch lies a stone sarcophagus containing a register of atomic bomb victims’ names. It bears an inscription that is intended to express the dual purpose of the monument: “Rest in peace, for we will not repeat the mistakes”.
On the morning of August 6, 1945, the US bomber “Enola Gay” dropped an atomic bomb with the harmless-sounding name “Little Boy” over the center of Hiroshima. A second bomb hit Nagasaki three days later. It was the first and so far only nuclear weapon attack in the history of war. It is estimated that more than 70,000 people died in one fell swoop in Hiroshima; by the end of 1945 the number had risen to 140,000. In Nagasaki around 70,000 people died by the end of the year.
The exact number of victims can never be determined because many died only as a result of the long-term effects of the radiation. Today Hiroshima is a symbol of war – and peace. Against the background of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and Moscow’s nuclear threats, the fact that the G7 countries are holding their summit in Hiroshima also serves as a reminder.
Just like the former US President Barack Obama, who was the first US President to visit Hiroshima Peace Park in 2016, his successor Joe Biden also refused to apologize for his country’s atomic bombing at the G7 summit. Many Americans still believe the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justified because they believe they led to Japan’s surrender and ended World War II.
Before the wreath-laying ceremony, Biden and the other G7 leaders also visited the Peace Museum. In view of the increasing nuclear threat worldwide, they saw evidence of the horror of these weapons./ln/DP/zb