Understanding Hiroshima

On our Family's recent trip to Japan we had the opportunity to spend a day in Hiroshima.  In creating our recent blog I asked all the members of our family what part of the trip they liked the most, they all said The A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Park in Hiroshima.  I tend to agree, by far the most memorable part of our trip to Japan was seeing the site which many historians would say was part of a significant event in World War II, if not for the 20th Century.

In preparing for our day in Hiroshima Rosanne and I spent time researching what we could see in Hiroshima, that is when I first came across the A-Bomb Dome.  My first thought of hearing the name was, there has to be a better name that than.  It sounded cruel, harsh and too direct and yet, after visiting I truly can see it is a name that I will not soon forget.

The A-Bomb Dome is the remnants, of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall which was designed by Czech Architect, Jan Letzel, the building prior to WWII was viewed as one of the most beautiful building in Hiroshima.  It is in fact the only building that still exists from the time of the bombing.  To see the building and the pictures on the plaque reminds us of the devastation that occurred in Hiroshima at 8:15 AM on  August 6th, 1945.   The A-Bomb dome actually only exists due to the fact that the atomic bomb is set off above the ground, in this case 600m above, with the approximately 150m away from the center of the explosion.  When the bomb was set off it actually was not as powerful below the blast thus the survival of the building. 

As we walked around the Peace Park in Hiroshima I felt a number of emotions:
- anger, at the destruction of the city and death of 200,000 people
- guilt, for being a part of the country which was at war against Japan and who set up the bomb and its devastation
- dismay, that such a device would be created and used against humanity
- fear, that such bombs and missiles still exist

Also in walking around the park one has to ask why was the weapon used -- and used against civilians?  In war, soliders fight and die, it is not what we want -- but it is part of war.  Intending to kill civilians is not the intent of war. 

As a Catholic I have studied and have come to understand the Just War Theory.  However, after seeing the destruction at Hiroshima one has to wonder if any war, or an weapon such as an A-bomb can be truly justified.  Is any war truly just?  Is any war that uses weapons of such devastation just, right or necessary?  Is there a difference between soldiers fighting one another and civilians becoming involved?

As well, while we walked around the park I could not help but be reminded of the another monument which I saw less than a year ago in Austria -- a monument dedicated to the death of all Jewish peoples in the concentration camps.  There millions of people, civilians, were killed due to the beliefs of one man and the group he led.  Now to have faced the atocities of our last world war I cannot help but be changed, I cannot help but to think that we need to understand what is going on in the world to groups that marginalized or to groups that try to control others.

In the final analysis though, the A-Bomb dome and the surrounding park is dedicated to the preservation of peace and the hope that War and the use of Nuclear weapons will never be used.  For me, I am so glad that I could see this site, and more importantly share it with my wife and 5 daughters.  Part of our reason to travel was for our family to see the world and to understand the world better -- Hiroshima definitely aided these goals.

May the Peace of God be with each of us...may we never forget...may we never have to experience this in our world.  AMEN