Hiroshima, la chute du Japon

Hiroshima, la chute du Japon

On August 6, 1945, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay, drops an A bomb called Little Boy, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. With a power of 13 kilotons, the bomb decimates the city in a few seconds. 3 days later, the city of Nagasaki in turn suffered nuclear fire. These two explosions who changed history,

Mark the end of the Second World War in the Pacific. A bloody conflict who opposed far from Europe, a fanaticized Japanese army and Americans sure of their power. Summary of the fights: More than 3 million dead and a country almost entirely devastated. 70 years after the war,

Japan rose again and erected on its territory, monuments to never forget. Behind the modernity of cities now completely rebuilt, traces of these episodes terrifying of history, still remains to be discovered. On the islands of Okinawa where the Americans landed, or around towns from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, scientists and enthusiasts dedicate their lives,

To update the latest remains of the war. During their investigation, they discover traces, who testify the violence of the fighting, of the fate reserved for civilians during the last months of the war, or terrible damage caused by nuclear weapons. Analysis of these objects which resurface from the past,

Told in a new light these few months of 1945, who precipitated the fall of imperial Japan and brought humanity in a new era, that of possible total annihilation. In 1942, Japan of Emperor Hirohito, is at the peak of its power. Allied with Nazi Germany and to fascist Italy,

His empire expands from North China to Korea, passing through Indochina, the Philippines and most of Southeast Asia. Driven by its desire for expansion, the Emperor wants to affirm its influence on the region. Without even having declared the war in the United States,

He launches a raid on the base from Pearl Harbor to Hawaii, fleet headquarters American in the Pacific. On December 7, 1941, Admiral Yamamoto sends 6 aircraft carriers and 400 planes on Pearl Harbor. For the Americans, the surprise is total and the toll is terrible. 2,400 soldiers killed and part of the destroyed fleet.

The day after the attack of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt said a speech before Congress. He denounced the Day of Infamy and declared war on Japan. The Americans considered that it was an unfair attack and they wanted to take their revenge. This attack allowed Roosevelt to overcome,

The feeling of many Americans who preferred that the United States, stay out of the war in Europe. To avenge Pearl Harbor, the American army is working to reconquer the Japanese empire, islands by islands. Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Saipan, the Philippines. The battles follow one another and the Japanese soldiers retreat.

For the Americans, a landing in Japan is the last stop, of this inexorable reconquest. After the famous battle of Iwo Jima, the American command finally aims for Okinawa, subtropical islands located just south of the Japanese archipelago. They decide to throw the biggest assault on the Pacific campaign. Code name: Operation Iceberg.

From the end of March to June 1945, naval forces, amphibious and aerial, support the landing on the ground. Nearly 290,000 American soldiers are mobilized, against 130,000 Japanese. The Okinawa archipelago had importance strategic for the United States, because it allowed Japan to be cut off of all its bases scattered in Asia.

It also allowed the American army to have a launch platform, to invade the main islands from Japan. 70 years after the events, hard to imagine hell who lived for 3 months, this little corner of paradise. Yet the fighting left behind them indelible traces.

One of them is located on the heights of the city of Naha, capital of the island today populated by 300,000 inhabitants. It was here that in 1944, the Japanese navy, had built its headquarters. Buried 30 meters below the ground, this underground mini city is still perfectly preserved.

The place consisted of a tunnel main 420 meters long and narrow secondary tunnels. On the walls, we can distinguish the traces of pickaxe blows, with which the tunnels were dug. This underground was dug over five months, between August and December from the year 1944, by more than 3,000 soldiers infantry.

The men took turns day and night, while some were working, the others were resting, in municipal buildings near. The HQ could accommodate more than 4,000 soldiers. Non-ranking officers were housed along the secondary tunnels, in tiny rooms, without any comfort. Inside they were forced to sleep standing up.

A little further away was the staff room. On the walls, we can still see dozens of holes. In June 1945, six senior officers committed suicide, with grenades to avoid to be taken prisoner. The shards of the explosions left their footprints in the rock as witnesses of the commitment Japanese troops,

Preferring to die rather than fall in the hands of the Americans. At the heart of the HQ was the room of command, the most beautiful in the bunker, busy with command of the Japanese navy in Okinawa, Vice-Admiral Minoru Ōta. It is here that at the end of the fighting, he killed himself,

Probably with a gun, after writing on the wall these few lines, a poem that sums up in itself his blind devotion, to the Japanese Emperor. In Japanese there is what we call farewell poems, those we write before we die. It is written, fighting me until death

For the emperor, I would have given meaning to my life. With the staff and means spectacular, deployed by the Americans, the invasion of the archipelago seems inevitable. In March 1945, the GIs began, by seizing the small Kerama Islands. On April 1, they disembarked on the West Coast, from the main island of Okinawa.

They only encounter resistance very weak and overcome easily from the center and the north of the island. It is in the south, where there are hundreds of natural caves, that the Japanese resistance will get organized. 187,000 soldiers were ready to disembark. They encountered no resistance from the Japanese forces.

She hid in the caves, because she thought it was the best way to defend yourself and turn their weakness into an asset. To counter the power American fire, the Japanese wanted to wait Americans in caves and inflict maximum damage on them. The forest of southern Okinawa was therefore the theater,

One of the most violent battles of the Pacific. It is here that thousands of soldiers Japanese have retreated, for their final fight. This is a fortress where the Japanese army ambushed, awaited the enemy, rifle on his shoulder. Once the army has crossed this line,

The entire island will be in the hands of the Americans. The troops present here have had the order to fight to the death, to defend this base at all costs. Photojournalist and amateur archaeologist, Tetsuji Hamada, conducts his own excavations in Okinawa for fifteen years.

In the heart of the jungle, he manages to find traces, of the army defense system Japanese that have stood the test of time. You have a cavity here which we called an octopus trap. Where were the soldiers hiding of the imperial army. There were probably 1 or 2 soldiers, who could fit there.

From this height, they could wait for the enemy to arrive to shoot. At the bottom of the hole, a recess allowed the soldiers, to be invisible from the surface in case of enemy arrival. Hundreds of cavities have been dug by soldiers in the forest, to take the Americans by surprise.

Set back from these holes, Tetsuji also found a vast network of trenches. Here we have a trench in which the soldiers were moving. She had to do between 1.30 m and 1.50 m deep. Thus, the soldiers could move around in a squatting position, without being seen by the enemy.

But Japanese soldiers, even entrenched in this plant labyrinth, are no match for to the American armada. On this front line, the last before the ocean, the Japanese fall one after the other. Tetsuji Hamada finds remains soldiers in almost every trench. Look, there’s one here. And that too. They are all broken.

It must have been bombed. It’s impressive. That’s a femur. Everything is in pieces, poor guy. The soldiers here must have died taking a bomb head-on, which propelled them against the rocks. The condition of the scattered bones suggests that they were, directly affected by the explosion. For several weeks, the fighting rages.

The Japanese know perfectly on the ground and places to retreat. But the Americans are in a hurry to end it, to dislodge them from their hiding place, they put in place methods, as effective as they are cruel. The new investigation area by Tetsuji Hamada, reveals the stubbornness of both camps.

It is a limestone cave. Japanese soldiers buried themselves in the deepest guts, only going out to launch raids against American troops. Alongside Tetsuji Hamada, 130 original students from all over Japan, came to help him in his excavation work. This is a survival ration that the Japanese soldiers kept with them.

She probably has was burned with a flamethrower, because it is all charred. There is also this bone found in the same place, who also has completely charred. We can clearly see the difference with this one. These food rations and his bones bear the marks of the flamethrower.

This weapon, used massively by the Americans, during the Battle of Okinawa, remained engraved in the memory of the inhabitants. Here, as in many caves, soldiers and sometimes civilians, end up asphyxiated or burned alive. Before the assault, the Americans sometimes ask soldiers and Japanese civilians to surrender with the help of an interpreter.

But those who only speak the dialect from Okinawa do not understand. Especially the Japanese had instructed to die, rather than surrender. This is an army grenade Japanese Imperial. The soldiers each had two, one to attack the enemy and the other to kill himself. When we do excavations, skulls are sometimes found,

Whose jaw is completely exploded. This is explained by the fact that he was killing himself, squeezing the pomegranate against them, like this. Tetsuji proposed to Kiku Nakayama, a survivor of the battle, to come and watch the excavations. At the time she was a teenager and was committed

In the nursing brigade from his high school. Now aged 86, she agreed to return in the cave, where she lived for 3 months, to tell his memories terrifying to students. On the left wall there was a row of bunk beds, which continued to the bottom.

On the right, it was a corridor which allowed movement. This is where they were lying the soldiers we had already operated on. And further on, there was the room where operations were carried out. There was a wooden table there where a reclining adult could stand. Nothing else.

I don’t remember being lying down when I was here. I was leaning against the wall like this, to breathe a little before hearing another injured scream. I was surprised to see how man could survive, under such conditions. The only meal was a small rice ball, nothing more. Associated with the stories of Kiku,

The objects found are witnesses again, living conditions of soldiers Japanese during the fighting. Some of them are placed in the personal museum of Isamu Kuniyoshi, a friend of Tetsuji Hamada and an enthusiast, who conducts his own excavations for 60 years. On the shelves, guns, bombs, anti-personnel mines, grenades, an impressive number of weapons

Which demonstrates the intensity fights during the 3 months, of the Battle of Okinawa. Among the most personal items from his collection, plaques of hundreds of Japanese, but also Americans. They are often the only memories soldiers who fell at the front. It says Yama N3475. It’s an identification plate.

All the soldiers saw each other assign a number. Only the officers had their full name engraved on this plaque, unlike the soldiers which only had one number. Here the Yama N3475. So there are only officer plates which can be returned to families. Isamu Kuniyoshi was six years old during the Battle of Okinawa.

He too was subjected to the propaganda of the imperial regime. It is particularly sensitive to objects that remind us, this generalized regimentation. I found this bowl in 1998, in a cave which served as a hospital. We see the soldiers there who set off on the charge.

This is not a military object, but just a bowl of rice, used by civilians. Actually, It’s even a children’s bowl. This type of drawing was made to make them understand, let the soldiers fight for the homeland. I don’t think there was a big difference between military and civilians, on recruitment.

They followed the same education and those who joined the army took another layer. In the Battle of Okinawa, many people were summoned by the army and were trained as soldiers over a very short period, before being sent to the front. At the time, everyone was potentially military.

While the fighting rage on the ground, another decisive battle takes place at sea. Several destroyers and aircraft carriers American and English, cross offshore to support the landing. To counterattack, the Japanese headquarters, choose a tactic terrifying and desperate, sending suicide bombers. In April 1945, the command Japanese coordinates,

The largest suicide attack of the Pacific War. Just in Okinawa, more than 1,400 kamikaze pilots, are sent crashing on the enemy fleet. From the end of 1944, the strategy of the suicide bombers was probably the only way left. It’s an inhumane strategy from which no one returns.

These were not attacks carried out in a burst of supercharged fanaticism. On the contrary, I think that the suicide bombers left in peace, of a person who simply goes take his responsibilities. The Japanese started this war knowing that they would lose her,

But they said to each other if we can inflict enough losses on the Americans, we will be able to negotiate capitulation and ensure the maintenance of the emperor. Off the coast of Okinawa, several boats still lie sunk by kamikaze planes. Jan Weirauch is a professional diver,

Of German origin and installed in the archipelago for several years, he knows perfectly the seabed of the region. Today he goes to explore a wreck from the Battle of Okinawa, the USS Emmons. During WWII, this 106 meter long destroyer was one of the flagships, of the United States Navy.

In June 1944, he participated to Operation Overlord and supports the landing in Normandy. It is then converted into a mine sweeper and sent to Okinawa, to participate in Operation Iceberg. And this is where his destiny changes. The wreck is in good condition because there is very few divers who come here.

It is quite deep, 45 meters underwater, so you have to be experienced to go there. The wreck was only discovered in 2001 by Japanese coast guards and fishermen. The fishermen had noticed traces of oil in the sea and they called the coast guard who spotted something with sonar.

The wreck of the USS Emmons lies north of Okinawa, off the coast of Kouri Island. The destroyer is lying on its side. On the ship, we can distinguish perfectly traces of his military past. On the bridge, several batteries anti-aircraft guns, are still in place. Close to the rear are depth charge launchers.

This defense system was among the most efficient in the fleet. Yet, the destroyer will not be able to resist, to a devastating kamikaze attack. On April 6, 1945, five Japanese planes, hit him simultaneously. The first 2 hit the backcourt and destroy the propeller and rudder. The third hits the post starboard side communication,

Just in front of the mast. The fourth reached the destroyer, one level above the third impact, port side. The last plane, finally, crashes at the front, right in front of number one gun. Next to the wreckage still lies the engine, from one of the Japanese devices which hit the ship.

On the evening of April 6, 1945, the destroyer is out of service. The next day, the Americans prefer to sink it themselves, rather than see it fall in the hands of the Japanese. After the discovery of the wreck, a plaque was attached to the ship.

She pays tribute to everyone sailors who fell in battle. Of the 254 crew members, 52 are dead or missing. Almost all were reservists. Over the weeks, military losses pile up American and Japanese side. But soldiers are not the only ones pay with their lives for the invasion of Okinawa.

Feeling that defeat is near, the Japanese command decides to encourage civilians, to commit suicide. The propaganda carried out against the Americans consisted of saying, that it was better to kill yourself, rather than being captured by the enemy who would then enjoy torturing you. This propaganda, which was well rooted in Saipan

And in the other islands, not only resulted in the soldiers, but also civilians, to kill oneself, throwing himself off the cliff or by blowing himself up with a grenade. Many people died this way. On the island of Tokashiki, Yoshikatsu Yoshikawa agrees to testify, from this black page of Japanese history.

He takes us to the precise location where the authorities of his village, brought together the inhabitants, this day in March 1945, to organize their collective suicide. He was six years old at the time. It was shortly after the landing Americans. Planes and shells were flying over his head.

We have come since our air raid shelters so far, following the river. When I arrived here, it was already crowded with people and people formed groups by families. Shortly after, the mayor shouted: “Long live the Emperor!” My 16 year old older brother who worked at the town hall,

Came towards us with two grenades in hand and told us: “Our turn to do it.” We gathered in a circle and my brother typed the grenade against a stone, before throwing it among us. But even after five seconds, ten seconds, the grenade did not explode. My brother took second and did the same,

But it didn’t explode either. My mother said to my big brother Yusuke: “Throw those grenades and follow your cousins. Now is not the time to die.” Yoshikatsu and his mother manage to run away, but the little boy’s father is fatally hit by grenade shrapnel. Like him, nearly 400 inhabitants,

Found death during this absurd day. Driven to suicide, caught in crossfire, or enlisted in the army, civilians paid the high price in Okinawa. It is estimated that 140,000 inhabitants lost their lives during the battle, or more than the soldiers. In total, losses in Okinawa, amount to 220,000 Japanese

And 12,000 Americans in barely three months of combat. The names of the dead from both camps are inscribed on the steles, of the Peace Memorial. These colossal losses had an immediate impact, on the aftermath of the war. Okinawa will ultimately the last battle, of the Pacific campaign.

The Americans assessed the losses of this battle of Okinawa and they thought that an attack of the main islands of Japan, was going to be extremely costly in human lives. And at that time the war was completed in Europe in May 45. And the United States just wanted bring their men home

And if possible not in a coffin. American command change strategy. He refuses to land on the main islands of Japan. Its objective, to accelerate the bombardment massif of the archipelago, to force the Emperor to capitulate. During the first six months from the year 1945, 67 cities are hit and largely destroyed, including Tokyo.

In August 45, it will be the turn Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to be reduced to ashes by a new weapon, which will forever change the face of the world, atomic bomb. The reason why the United States launched 2 atomic bombs, so close in Japan remains the subject heated debates still.

First there is the explanation traditional. Truman dropped the bomb to end the war quickly and save 1 million of American lives. There are also many other explanations. One of them is that the atomic bomb was the start of the Cold War. To show Stalin that the Americans, had a new miraculous weapon,

Which would make the United States the only superpower. For this final bombardment, the United States wants to inflict maximum damage to the enemy. They hesitate between five cities. Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kokura, Niigata and Kyoto. All had been carefully spared from regular bombardments. It will ultimately be Hiroshima, a city of 350,000 inhabitants

And an important military center. According to archival documents, the American army was looking for a sufficiently large city and with a fairly flat surface and cleared, to test the capacity of this new weapon. They also chose cities, who had not yet been bombed until then, to assess the impact of the atomic bomb.

On August 6, 1945, at 2:45 a.m., the B-29 Flying Fortress, baptized Enola Gay, takes off from the base American from Tinian, in the Mariana Islands. At 8:15 a.m., the plane dropped on Hiroshima, the first atomic bomb Of the history. In a few seconds, the city is reduced to nothing.

Nearly 70% of buildings are destroyed and around 140,000 people are killed. A terrible assessment which can be explained by the position chosen by the Americans, to detonate the bomb. On the day of June 6, the plane arrives above Hiroshima, at an altitude of 9,600 meters. Its target is the Aioi bridge,

Chosen for its T shape, easily recognizable from the sky. At 8:15 a.m., he dropped his bomb, slightly off the initial target, vertically from Shima Hospital, located 300 meters from the bridge. We will call this point the hypocenter or Ground Zero. In a few seconds, the explosion of the Little Boy bomb,

Decimates the city. The damage extends over a surface of 12 square km. If the effects of the bomb are also devastating, it’s because it explodes not on the ground, but at altitude. A precisely determined altitude to maximize damage. Little Boy explodes at 580 meters. It generates a first shock wave,

Which spreads like a ball of fire. This wave is then reflected to the ground and creates a second wave, which in turn spreads at very high speed and ends up merging with the first. This principle is called the Mach Stem effect. From the moment when both shock waves add up,

They create a powerful background, parallel to the ground, which razes everything in its path. After the explosion, the Mach Stem effect wanted by the Americans, almost destroyed all the buildings. However, one of them, the dome of Genbaku, held. Built in 1915 in bricks and in concrete and not in wood,

Like the buildings traditional Japanese, this industrial exhibition center was topped with a dome, steel framed and covered with copper. 25 meters high, it was a landmark in the landscape, for the residents of Hiroshima. If it doesn’t completely collapse during the explosion, is that it is located very close to the hypocenter,

150 meters to the northwest. Too close to take the blast horizontal pest, of the Mach Stem effect, he is affected almost vertically. And its solid concrete pillars manage to resist, to the forces that apply from top to bottom. Extreme temperatures due to incandescent gas, calcine anything that can be burned.

The 140 people which are inside, are killed instantly. The copper of the dome melts instantly, but its steel structure, concrete and bricks heat resistant. This is why part of the building remains standing, amid the rubble. 70 years later, the Genbaku dome is still there. The authorities decided to keep it,

In his State of 1945. He became the symbol of the city and was listed as heritage world of UNESCO. Today he is one of the only buildings dating from the explosion. The rest of the city was completely rebuilt. Rebun Kayo is a medical researcher, marked by an encounter with a Hiroshima survivor,

When he was a teenager, he quickly became interested in the remains that the bomb left behind. For 13 years he has been driving his own Archaeological excavations and still manages to find the last traces, of that terrible day in August 1945. Accompanied by his former Professor Takashiro Sateda,

He explores the bed of the Motoyasu River, located at the foot of the Hiroshima dome. – I found one. It’s an angle. A fairly rare piece. Rebun can carry out his excavations only in the early morning or evening, when the river bed drops under the effect of the tide.

Water at less than ten degrees, slippery pebbles and covered in sludge, excavation conditions are painful. But Rebun still manages to find some nuggets. Like this tile that covered a house near the dome. A perfectly two-tone tile, as if one of its sides had been covered with paint.

It’s a tile that melted under the effect of the heat of the explosion. We can distinguish the part which was covered with that which melted. It is said that the heat released by the atomic bomb, reached 4,000 degrees for two seconds. It left this kind of mark uniform on the tiles.

This is a good way to recognize objects from this period. In thirteen years of hard work, Rebun Kayo found dozens of stones, having belonged to the Hiroshima dome. Carefully crafted pieces which suggest the finesse, of the former palace of industry. The past decades under water left traces,

Like these oyster shells numerous in the region. The most beautiful piece comes from from the upper part of the building. This 300 kilo block must have been out of the river, using a crane. It alone proves the power of the explosion. In 1955, the city of Hiroshima,

Erected the Peace Memorial to display objects dating from the explosion. Place of memory and contemplation, the museum collected more than 20,000 objects brought back by the survivors or found during excavations. Vestiges that tell the story, each in their own way, bombing. A frozen watch at the exact time of the explosion.

The bike and the helmet charred child, The tattered clothes of a schoolboy, or this box of rice from a young boy mobilized for work in town and who will never eat his meal. There is also this section of wall on which we still guess, 70 years later, the shadow of a bomb victim.

This reconstruction filmed after the explosion, shows how man who should have been seated, to wait for the opening form the bank, left this mark on the ground. The atomic explosion frees such a bright flash, that it discolors all surfaces. Everywhere, except where there were objects or people. An exhaust pipe, a pipe valve.

A flowerpot prints like this shadows on the ground for years. In town, the bomb explodes atomic destroys 18 hospitals and 32 clinics. 90% of medical staff died or was injured. No one to take care of survivors, sometimes seriously burned. The greatest confusion reigns amid the rubble.

But off the coast of Hiroshima, a small island was spared. Ninoshima Island. This is where they will be transported thousands of injured, after the bombing. Rebun conducted research there to discover the last remains, of this time. The buildings have now disappeared, but during World War II, the island welcomed a major military hospital.

Here there was an establishment quarantine, where the returning Japanese soldiers, came to receive a medical examination, to check that they were not carriers of a disease. There was the same type establishment for horses, who also left on the front during the war.

The one who was in the location in front The army horses welcomed us. Today, buildings were destroyed and the vegetation covered everything. Rebun still manages to bring to light the old foundations, from the military hospital. It is here that in 1945, were transported the injured after the explosion, often in critical condition.

In terms of coverage and medical equipment, this establishment had the capacity to accommodate 5,000 people. But from the first night, after the bomb, everything had been exhausted. It is said that around 10,000 injured would have been brought here. The few survivors explain that it was a nameless horror.

The wounded were brought to receive care, but medications and others equipment is no longer sufficient, many died without ever receiving the slightest care. Rebun dug for two months, at the location of the old center quarantine for horses. He could not extract from the ground just a few objects, a vial, a comb,

A pipe, shirt buttons, or a belt buckle. I guess she was left there when the bones were recovered. This is my first find. It takes me back to a touching memory, because she is the one who made me realize, that I found myself on a land where men died and were buried.

On the island of Ninoshima, most of the survivors do not survive. No funerals here nor a last tribute. Some of the victims is cremated in this oven, where were once burned dead horses. The others are buried in staggered rows, in pits by soldiers. Since then, hundreds of bodies were dug up and transported,

In the tomb of the unknown victims at the Hiroshima Memorial. At the time of the explosion, the Little Boy bomb, releases a huge amount of radioactivity which spreads over the city an insidious evil. Vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss. Many residents who escaped explosion or fire, will later die of diseases.

Today, radioactivity returned to its natural level. To find traces of the effects atomic bomb pests, you have to go to the Foundation for research, on the effects of radioactivity. This is where the files are kept medical treatment for thousands of survivors. Created by the Americans in 1947,

Under the name of Commission on the victims of the bomb. The center has now become a Japanese-American foundation, managed by both nations. Since the war and until today, survivors of Hiroshima go there regularly, to monitor their state of health. Here we measure the size and the weight of survivors.

We give them a questionnaire on their state of health and their family history, as well as an x-ray, of the rib cage and an ultrasound of the heart. The Commission left very bad souvenirs to the Japanese. During the post-war period, while Japan, is under American occupation.

The center is accused of treating the survivors like guinea pigs. In a context of occupation by the Americans, I was told that survivors were taken by force to the center and that the first years were difficult. But since the group of survivors was established in 1958, after the end of the occupation.

I assure you that the survivors grant their participation voluntarily. The foundation also kept carefully biological samples taken from survivors. Around 1 million samples blood and urine, to observe the impact of radioactivity on the human body, the immune system and cells. Some are kept under coverslip since 1947,

Others, more recent, are kept in liquid nitrogen, to -195 degrees Celsius. Here are blood cells survivors. They are kept here in these liquid nitrogen tanks, for decades, so that we can use them, for future research. We are carrying out studies on the system immune and more particularly, the functioning of white blood cells.

This is the largest epidemiological study, on the effects of radioactivity. Most of what we know today on cancers and other pathologies caused by radioactivity, comes from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I think the survivors of the atomic bomb, felt mistreated. They came to this American center in the hope of being treated,

But instead, they were treated like guinea pigs. Today, it has given way to the idea that their sacrifices, should not be in vain and they say to themselves: “Yes, I was exposed, yes, I suffered, but with a little luck, the world will learn the lessons of the horror of the atomic bomb

And my body will provide the proof. Despite the toll of Hiroshima, Emperor Hirohito refuses to capitulate. Just three days later the first atomic bomb, the Americans decide to strike Japan again. Three days apart. That didn’t leave time for Japanese to assess the damage and develop a response. The researchers say that the Americans,

Dropped the bombs quickly because they wanted the Japanese, surrender before the Union Soviet enters the war and demands an occupation joint of Japan. On August 9, 1945, at 3:49 a.m., a new B-29 plane takes off. On board, Fat Man. A plutonium bomb even more powerful, than the one dropped on Hiroshima.

His target is the town of Kokura. But once arrived in the area, clouds have gathered above the region. B-29 pilot cancels shot and then heads towards the second city ​​on his list, Nagasaki. The initial target is in the heart of the city center, very close to the port. But on this August morning,

The sky is slightly veiled and the pilot, drops the bomb in the wrong place. At 11:02 a.m., Fat Man explodes three kilometers further, above the Urakami Valley. Like in Hiroshima, the shock wave spreads parallel to the ground and devastates everything in its path. But they find themselves blocked by hills surrounding the valley.

The most populated part of Nagasaki is spared and the main damage are located around, from the hypocenter of the explosion. In the Urakami Valley, the damage is considerable. Eight square kilometers destroyed and 75,000 deaths. Today, the city was rebuilt, but Ground Zero remains a place particularly moving memory.

Some remains remind us the scale of the disaster, like this sacred door, cut in two. In Nagasaki, it’s a cathedral which symbolizes the bombing. Urakami Cathedral. It was located only 500 meters from the hypocenter. Today, statues recovered in the rubble, are on display in front of the new building.

At the time, it was one of the most important churches in Asia. Nagasaki was then the center history of Christians in Japan, especially Catholics. Shigemi Fukahori is one of the faithful of the parish. This August 9, 1945, he works on construction sites naval of the city, located three kilometers from the hypocenter.

But in church, activity is in full swing. August 15 is the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and many believers were present, to prepare for the event and confess their sins. As it was the holidays, 15 children came at the church and 2 priests, to carry out confessions.

All died inside as a result to the bomb explosion. I was convinced that the church had held up like it was a building, big and strong before coming back here. But arriving at point zero, the view was desolate. That’s when I noticed that we don’t could no longer see the church steeples.

I told myself that there was no more hope for my house. On August 9, 45, the cathedral is hit whipped by the blast of the bomb. She is pulverized. After the explosion, the statue of Christ has returned. Part of the facade and some sections of walls, still standing, overlooking an apocalyptic landscape.

The rest of the building is on the ground, including the bell tower who rolled down the hill. Today he was left at the same location. Huge witness to the explosion, as if embedded in the middle of the city. The church was rebuilt, so that worship continues and for remember the centuries of persecution,

Christians in Japan. Among the remains who resisted the explosion, there is a particular room, the one who gave hope to the faithful of the parish. The face of the Virgin Mary, now nicknamed the Virgin bombed. The statue was discovered by a priest from Hokkaido,

Who kept it for himself before to return it 30 years later. We once thought that these eyes were made of crystal, but I think it was glass. They melted. But only the eyes melted and the rest of the wooden face was preserved. It’s a miracle.

This is surely the way of which Mary wanted to tell us, how bad the war was. The names of the faithful who died in the bombing are registered, in this room in front the bust of the Virgin. Of the 12,000 Christians from the Urakami valley, 8500 were decimated by the Fat Man bomb.

Among them, the three brothers by Shigemi Fukahori. Michiaki Ikeda does it too part of the survivors of the bomb, still alive. They are called hibakusha. They are the ones who carry their body and their memory, the history of the atomic bomb. He takes us to the roof from the university hospital,

Where he was during the day where Fat Man exploded. A hospital was rebuilt at the same location. On the day of the explosion, Michiaki Ikeda is six years old. His mother works in construction as a caregiver, only 700 meters away from the hypocenter.

With my friend Shige, we were looking for something to do for fun. And that day we went up on the roof of the hospital. After a while, Shige then asked to go back down. He explained to me that he had a desire urgent to go to the toilet.

This pressing desire has certainly saved the lives of the two boys. A few more minutes on the roof and they would have been blown up and burned. Michiaki and Shige take the elevator and when leaving, their world turns upside down. When we arrived on the ground floor, the doors opened.

We went out from the elevator and there, a very powerful light flashed and made me lose consciousness. After a certain time, a burning smell and the crackling of a fire made me regain consciousness. But in spite of opening my eyes, I didn’t see anything. It was all black.

His friend Shige is alive and sight Michiaki eventually returns. But the horizon is still blacker on the outside. The city is completely destroyed. Michiaki finds himself face to face to the shredded building, like all hibakushas still able to move, they flee to the mountain to escape hell, which fell on Nagasaki.

He eventually reached this little temple on the heights of the city. A refuge of tranquility which was then transformed, in a survivor camp. On the way, Michiaki warns a woman, than the baby she carries on her back, is no longer alive. The woman then went down the baby from his back,

Put it in front of her to shake it calling him by his name. But got no response because he was already dead. She put it on the floor and broke down in tears. It was the first time that I saw an adult crying. I didn’t know how to react.

Michiaki survived the bomb without an injury and without side effects. A miracle according to doctors. But the details of this day of August 9, 1945, will remain forever anchored in his memory. After this double atomic bombing, Emperor Hirohito announces capitulation unconditionally from Japan. More than 100,000 Japanese had already found death,

In the bombing from Tokyo on March 10, 1945. An equivalent bombardment in terms of human losses, to those of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. But even though, the imperial headquarters, always intended to go all the way. With Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the fact that as many Japanese citizens, were killed with a single bomb.

I think the headquarters finally realized, that we had to stop sacrificing even more innocent people. Hiroshima and Nagasaki obviously precipitated the surrender of Japan. But another factor was at play. August 9, the same day as Nagasaki, Stalin decides to invade Manchukuo, a state controlled by Japan.

All Japanese generals knew what happened to the Tsar of Russia, during the communist revolution. If they really wanted save the Emperor, the last thing they wanted was to let Stalin, jointly occupy Japan. It would have been a threat much larger. So the surrender to the United States was considered a lesser evil

And because of the atomic bomb, the soldiers were able to save face. In a way, they didn’t have lost on the battlefield. At the end of a murderous war, the fall of Imperial Japan made enter the country into a new era. The emperor lost his divine character and Japan became a democracy.

70 years later, the work of archaeologists and the testimony of survivors, remind us at what cost this nation new one was built. Japan sacrificed a generation full of soldiers and civilians, to his dream of grandeur and its population was exposed, to the most destructive weapon of humanity.

The steles erected in honor of these victims, are there to pay tribute to them, just like the traces that bear witness of their sacrifice, or the emaciated buildings left intact, in the heart of rebuilt cities. Safeguarding these remains and the collection of speech, of the last living witnesses allow us to reconstitute,

A black page of history, so that new generations never forget these days of August 1945, where the atomic bomb destroyed, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

C’est « l’autre » Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Celle du Pacifique qui met aux prises une armée impériale fanatisée à des Américains confiants dans leur puissance. Une guerre moins connue, mais tout aussi sanglante et cruciale pour la mémoire collective que celle qui a ravagé l’Europe. De 1941 à 1945, 3 millions de Japonais, civils et militaires, et plus de 100.000 soldats américains ont trouvé la mort.
Réalisateur : MARIE LINTON ET GUILAIN DEPARDIEN