The speech by Terumi Tanaka, 92, a survivor of the bombing of Nagasaki, at the Oslo ceremony: “Four thousand nuclear warheads ready to be launched means that damage hundreds or thousands of times greater could be done in an instant. Each of you , at any moment, could become both a victim and an aggressor. Listen to the podcast about Hibakusha published by “Mondo e Missione”
Oslo (/Agencies) – “The possession of even a single nuclear weapon must never again be allowed,” said Terumi Tanaka, 92, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and one of the founders of Nihon Hidankyo, from Oslo today. , the association of victims of the nuclear bombs dropped by the United States army on Japan, to which today the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize was officially awarded. On August 9, 1945 He was 13 years old and saw with his own eyes the death and devastation caused by these types of devices. At the ceremony, he spoke on behalf of the delegation of 30 people who came from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to receive the recognition, among whom were 17 direct witnesses of this enormous tragedy.
Terumi Tanaka recounted her experience that day: the great glare, the expansive wave, the burned houses, the Urakami Cathedral (“the largest red brick church in the East”) destroyed, the destroyed bodies of the two aunts’ families. who lived 400 meters from the epicenter. “The deaths I witnessed at that time – he said – could hardly be described as human. There were hundreds of people dying without being able to receive any type of medical care. I felt deeply that, even in war, such killings and mutilations should not be allowed.”
But it is not just a story from eighty years ago. Tanaka spoke at the Nobel ceremony taking into account the chronicles of current reality: “At this moment there are 12,000 nuclear warheads on Earth, of which 4,000 are operational and ready to be launched immediately.” said. A nuclear superpower, Russia, threatens to use atomic weapons in its war against Ukraine, and even a member of the Israeli government, in the midst of its incessant attacks on Gaza, Palestine, has spoken of the possible use of nuclear weapons. “I feel infinitely sad and angry not only because of the civilian casualties, but because the ‘nuclear taboo’ risks being broken.”
Terumi Tanaka recalled the joy with which the Hibakusha – the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – who had been relegated to silence for a long time, received on July 7, 2017 the approval at the UN of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted with the support of 122 countries. “The deepest desire of Hibakusha – he explained – is that, instead of depending on the theory of nuclear deterrence, which presupposes the possession and use of nuclear weapons, the possession of even a single nuclear weapon is never again allowed. Because “4,000 nuclear warheads ready to be launched immediately mean that damage could immediately occur hundreds or thousands of times greater than what occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki – he continued -. Any of you, at any time, could become a victim or an aggressor. “I therefore urge all people around the world to discuss together what we must do to eliminate nuclear weapons and call for action from governments to achieve this goal.”
Finally, the representative of Nihon Hidankyo recalled that the average age of survivors of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is currently 85 years. “In ten years – he commented – it is likely that only a few of us will be able to testify as survivors first-hand. From here on out, I hope the next generation finds a way to build on what we’ve done and develop the movement further.”
The initiative of the No More Hibakusha Project-Inheriting Memories of the A and H-Bomb Sufferersa digital archive that is collecting the testimonies of those who are still alive. “I urge everyone – he added – to create opportunities in their own countries to listen to the testimonies of the survivors of the atomic bomb and perceive, with deep sensitivity, the true inhumanity of nuclear weapons. I hope that the conviction that nuclear weapons cannot – and should not – coexist with humanity will take root among the citizens of the nuclear-weapon States and their allies, and that this will become a force for changing the nuclear policies of their governments. May humanity not be destroyed with nuclear weapons – he concluded -. Let us work together for a humane society, in a world free of nuclear weapons and wars.”
THE MONDO E MISSIONE PODCAST “HIBAKUSHA, THE NOBEL OF ATOMICS TODAY” IS DEDICATED TO THE STORIES OF THE HIBAKUSHI AND THE MEANING OF THIS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. LISTEN HERE
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