Peace movement is to express your kindness
The story of Kwak Bok Soon
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Before I tell you about my A-bomb experience, let me talk about my
opinion of the peace movement.
I always think that the peace movement does not mean that you have
to do something special. I think the peace movement starts with a little
thing, for example, you try to be kind to the people around you. I think
that is the peace movement. It begins with such a little thing, so I really
want you to keep it in mind and always be kind to other people.
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 Hiroshima
may be lucky enough to miss air attacks. |
When I was exposed to the A-bomb. I was 17 years old.In those days,
I was already working and I was exposed to radiation about 900m from the
hypocenter. In Japan major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, were already
destroyed by the attack of the US air force. However, in spite of the situation,
the city of Hiroshima had not been attacked yet. So among the people there
was a rumor that Hiroshima would not be attacked at all.
On August 5, 1945, the day previous to August 6, my neighbors and I
were working to make our shelter. The vice chairman of our town said to
us, "I've got information. Tonight we will be attacked by the US, so please
be careful." That night, the warning siren kept blowing, and we escaped
to the shelter with our valuable things. We were in such fear, but nothing
happened that night.
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| Trapped
under the debris just when I got out of the house. |
On the next morning, August 6, 1945, my neighbor, Ms. Mitoki came to
my home to give me food. In those days we had no food and local government
distributed food to us. Ms. Mitoki was waiting for me outside and I was
hurrying to get dressed and prepare for work. And the moment I got my clothes
on, the A-bomb exploded. My house was destroyed and I was trapped in the
rubble. I was so afraid and cried for help. I thought that it was only
me in such a terrible situation. It was so silent around me I could hear
nothing but my cry. Then I heard other people crying for help. Soon after
the explosion it suddenly became dark in Hiroshima city and there were
fires here and there. In the darkness, I saw Ms. Mitoki who was standing
naked for some reason. She looked so surprised by the blast but did not
look as though she was bleeding or injured. Rather, I thought I was more
seriously injured than her. She joined the crowd of people who were escaping
to the west, and I was left alone.I wanted to escape with her, but I couldn't
because I was barefoot and the surface of the road was so hot. I managed
to get out of the rubble and began to look for a piece of wood. I found
a piece of wood and cut it to fit my feet. I tied the pieces to my feet
with a strap and joined the group of people who were running away to the
west.
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| "Please
help me!" "Give me water!" "Mom,Mom!" |
While we were escaping, it suddenly began to rain. I felt relieved
because I thought that the rain would put out the fires. However,someone
in the crowd shouted. "It's not the rain but it's oil falling down. Everybody,
be careful. Soon we might have fireball from the air." I was so afraid,
thinking that I would be burnt but nothing happened. (Later the rain was
called "black rain" and it actually included radiation.)
Finally I managed to reach a bridge, (Kannon Bridge, 1.6 km away from
the hypocenter). There was a small evacuation space near the bridge and
already some injured people were taking rest. So I decided to stay there.
However soon we were surrounded by fire and I escaped into the river.
After the fire was put out, I started to come back to my home. I was
so astonished. What I saw was nothing but hell and I had no words to describe
it. There were burnt naked bodies everywhere I saw. When I was going through
the bodies, I heard the people's cries for help "Please help me!" "Give
me water!" "Mom, Mom!"
Still now I cannot forget those voices.
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| Maggots
stuck to the body. |
Many hours later, I came near my house and then I met the chairman
of my town. I told him I was O.K. though I was terribly injured and said
that I was going home. When I was about to leave I saw many tiles on the
ground and lots of names of people confirmed dead were written on them.
Among the names I found Ms. Mitoki's name. I was so astonished and told
the vice chairman that she should not have died because she did not look
terribly injured. But he said to me, "She died yesterday.
" First I did not understand why she died, however soon I realized
the reason for her death. After the explosion when first I saw her, she
looked not so injured though she was somehow naked. But I realized why
she was naked. Because of the blast, her clothes and moreover, her skin
was blown off. Due to the darkness after the explosion. I could not notice
that she was injured, but she was actually injured fatally. Always I feel
sorry for her and sad about her.
Finally I got to my parents home (10 km aways from the hypocenter),
but again everywhere there were many bodies who had been burnt all over.
When I got home my parents were not home, but some days later, finally
I met my parents. They said that they were looking for me everywhere in
Hiroshima. One day I went to the Red Cross Hospital near my house to look
for my other relatives. When I was walking inside, a woman called me. She
gave me a pair of chopsticks and asked me to take off the newspaper which
covered her back. When I took the paper off I was so surprised to see her
back and could say nothing. I saw maggots creeping on her. She asked me
to take the maggots off with the chopsticks. I took the worms from her
body. I found that the maggots were not just creeping but actually living
in her body. I cannot forget this memory.
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| River
filled with bodies. |
In Hiroshima, there are many rivers running through the town. After
the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the rivers were full of bodies. Then
they were taken to the suburbs and cremated. After the bodies were burnt,
only the bones were left behind and it was impossible to identify them.
Still now I cannot forget some parents who were looking for their child's
bones among the bones. But they could not identify their child and the
mother said to her husband. "Take one of them to our home. It will be impossible
to find our son's. Don't worry. Our son won't be left alone, because somebody
will take our son's bones home. However, the husband shook his head and
went away.
Because I was exposed to the radiation, I suffered the after-effects
of the A-bombing. I didn't have diarrhea, one of the typical aftere-ffects,
but I had a long illness for a month, and then another month. And after
that I had a severe pain in my bones. For a long time I had the pain and
sometimes it ached so much that I thought I was going to die. At the age
of 21, I became pregnant. I was so happy that I could have a baby, but
soon I became sick. There was a time when the pain ached so much and I
thought that I wanted to die, but thinking of my child I stopped me from
killing myself. After the end of World War II, I did not recall the war
I experienced until my son became a high school student.
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| Encouraged
by the braveness of my son, I decided to tell my story. |
When he began going to high school, I came to think that if we were
living in the wartime, my son would have been taken to the warfield. I
really thought that even if that happened I wouldn't want my son taken
to the war. And I remembered that during the wartime, we used to go to
the railway station to see young soldiers off. There I saw a mother crying.
She came to see her son off, but she could not see her son's face. All
the time she was looking down at the ground and never looking at her son.
She kept crying. Now I can fully understand how she felt. And think that
war should never be repeated.
Now, whenever I am asked to speak about my experience, I willingly
do it. However at first I was reluctant to tell my story to other people.
Even if people encouraged me to speak my experience for the sake of peace,
I didn't understand, or I thought my story would be useless. However, in
1985 when my youngest son rejected to have his fingerprints be taken, I
began to think that I would start telling my story to the younger generations.
(In those days non-Japanese people have their fingerprints be taken.) I
understand that my son rejected to have his fingerprints be taken to fight
against the inequality in the society. I was impressed by his brave action
and I thought I should also take actions. I decided to tell my story as
a contribution to world peace. As an A-bomb survivor, I have a mission
to talk about my experience for peace and I have to do it for the sake
of and in the place of the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is my
sincere hope that you will tell my story to other people and contribute
to peace.
The peace movement is not something special. The peace movement begins
with a little thing, like being kind to people. I really hope we will make
a world where everybody is kind to everybody and everybody works for peace.
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