JESUIT MISSIONARY'S GRAPHIC STORY

Chronicle (Levin), 10 May 1946, Page 7

JESUIT MISSIONARY'S GRAPHIC STORY

SHATTERIflG EXPEF.IENCE OF HHIROSHIMA

. , Atom Bomb's Devastation

The story of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima* as told by Fatner John B. Siemes caused a sensation when first published in the Unit'ed States. Father Siem'es is a Jesuit missionary who was stationed in the quietest spot in the.whole1* Jap,anese Empire — at a novitiate out'side Hiroshima — when the atom bomb fell on August 6, 1945. For that minute his life was filled with terrorism and tragedy, the like of which few men have ever known. When things quietened down he gathered together the fragments of the story and sent it to the "Jesuit Missions" in which it first appeared. Considered as perhaps the most graphic as well as most compiete story so far published, the most amazing part of it is the absence of any personal revelation of the i writer's own feelings. It is dilficult i to imagine a more objective account i of such a shattering experience. | "For a long time the people of ! Hiroshima wondered why they I alone were not being pounded by American bombs. Occasionaliy oombs fell, but they did little damage — nothing in comparison with what was happening in other Japanese cities. Fantastic rumours circ'ulated that America had' something special in store for us, but no one dreamed of the reality that was to come. "August 6 dawned bright and ! clear. About seven o'clock there ,yas an air raid alarm. A few 'planes ; appeared over the city, but no one j paid any attention, and at eight I o'clock the "all clear" signal was 1 sounded. I was sitting in my room | at the Novitiate in Nagatsuko. about ; two and a-half miles from tne centre of Hiroshima, half-way up the side of a mountain, overlooking the valley which stretched down to the sea. Suddenly — the time was 3.15 — the whole valley filled with a garish light, like a gigantic magnesium fiare. All at once I became conscious of a wave of heat, but ali [ could see "was a bright yellow light. "As I made for the door, perhaps ten seconds after the first -flash of i light, I heard a moderately loud explosion which seemed to come 1 from directly oyer our house.

Instantly all the windows in the' 1 house were broken. Fragments of : glass were sprayed all over me. In j no time I was bleeding from cuts | about the hands and head. Every- ! thing around me was confusion— ! all the windows broken, all the j doors forced in, and book shelves I tqmbled down. Most of the other ; Jesuits were injured by fragments ! of glass. Treating the Injuries

"Down in the valley, half a mile away, several peasant homes caught fire. Over the city clouds of smoke were rising, and ' I heard a few indistinct explosions. Perhaps half an hour later, a long file of desperate people began to stream up the valley from the city. Some came to our house, their steps heavy and dragging, their faces blackened, all of them bleeding or suffering from burns, some with horrible wounds on the extremities and back. We brought them into the chapel, put them to rest on straw mats, and gave them all the aid we could, but at length we had to be ! content merely to cleanse the j wounds, as more and more of the i injured came pouring into us. I Among them was Father Kopp who l was standing in front of a convent j on the outskirts of the city when the bomb fell. He was badly burnt I on the palm of his hand and bled ! profusely about the head and neck. ! News came that the entire city was ! aestroyed and afire; ' the roads jammed with bumed, bleeding frightened people. Even the uninjured, distraught by the magnitude of the disaster rushed by without a thought of organising help for the . : others. "It became clear to us later that . the Japanese displayed little initi1 ative or organising skill in meeting the catastrophe, adopting a fa'talistic atitude to the whole affair." 1 In the afternoon Father Siemet j'went down into the city with a res'cue party. This is his account of - 1 the destruction and devastatior

there. "Six of us liurried down to the city, and the closer we got, the greater the destruction, and tne more difficult it became to make our way. Twice we were forced down to the river to escape the flarrfes. A large number of people were sheltermg in the parx, tnougn all the paths and bridges were blocked by fallen trees. Fires still fiared 'up in the distance, giving out an eerie light. "Finally we came upon those we were searching for. They all were suffering from serious wounds and were completely exhausted. Bi.t by bit they told us of their experiences. All the buildings around them collapsed at once, and from every pile of ruins there arose piteous cries for help. Father Lasalle and Father Schiffer, despite their wounds, aided as many as tney could, and lost a great deal of blood in the process, but when the fires swept closer and closer, they nad to flee for their lives. Mr. Fukai, secretary to the mission, went j almost out of his mind, and would not leave the scene until he was for- | cibly carried away. Beneath the ! wreckage of houses all along the j streets many were trapped, and jsereamed to be rescued, but they i were beyond hope, . for the flames ! would be ppon them before anyone j could dig them out of the ruins. "By midnight we were still work- ' ing caring for the wounded and j trying to carry our own back to ! Nagatsuka. Wires, beams, ruins j and rubble blocked every street and j every passage. In the dark i't was I impossible to see. Again and again . we fell, carrying the stretchers with I us to the ground. i "The next day we spent rescuing 1 victims along the roads. The Japanese had made no effort to organise rescue parties and people we had helped to safety the day before were still sitting and lying in the same places as we had put them. On our ' return to Nagatsuka we had wit-h us fifty refugees, most of .wiiom were wounded, many of them dangerously bumed, and all of them very weak and helpless. Few died of those we were able to care for, but at the official aid station a good third or hsilf died. They lay

about almost without care — everything was lacking, doctors, assistants, dressings, drugs, etc." Effects of Atomic Bomb As a result of the explosion of the bomb almost the entire city was | destroyed at a single blow. Only small outlying districts escaped compiete destruction. Ninety-nine per cent. of the small Japanese homes in the city collapsed or were blown away, and those who were not buried by the ruins were in the open, so sustained burns. The heat which arose from -the ground was so intense as to cr'eate a minor wliirlwind sweeping the fire across the whole city. Up to three miles from the centre of the explosion, all houses were damaged,. and many collapsed and caught fire. Even seven miles away windows were broken.

Toll of Human Life How many people fell victims to this one bomb? Official statistics up to September 1 place the number at 70,000 dead, 130,000 wounded. among them 43,500 seriously so, and many thousands missing. Thou^ands of wounded who died". later could have been saved if they had received proper treatment, but there were aiso cases of wounded people who began 1^o recover ano then died suddenly. There cannol be any doubt that the rays, whatever they were, had some effect on the blood. "I am of the opinion however, that the general undernourished and weakened condition of so many people was responsible for the larger number of deaths. "It was an incredible catastrophe, and yet strangest of all, the Japanese people here showed nc bitterness towards America. Grea1. good can yet be brought out of this tragedy, and of all the nations on enrth to-dav, America is in the best position to help us to lead these. tc |the knowledge, love and service of l the one true God."