We spent the afternoon wandering the Peace Memorial Park and Museum in Hiroshima. Full of somber people. The place had that feel. The unimaginable had happened here. I was asked to sign a petition against nuclear weapons. Perfect place to gather signatures. Though who they are petitioning is unclear.
The museum was claustrophobically crowded and dimly lit which added to my emotional overload while reading the stories of individuals who had been vaporized and those who had survived the blast only to linger in ghastly pain for a few days or weeks and then die. Seeing the charred clothes, mangled melted glasses, a child’s tricycle. I couldn’t absorb.
Like the Holocaust, never forget. But do we ever learn?
We left the museum stepping into a brightly lit day with blue skies and a cool breeze. Should I feel relieved? Did I honor the dead as I was meant to?
There’s been a lot of talk in the USA recently of a new round of nuclear proliferation amongst some NATO countries, as well as Japan.
Hard to believe we are coming around to this again.
Thanks for posting.
Discouraging!
“Do we ever learn?” For 80 years, yes.
True. But now lost in time. Perhaps the evolutionary quest for survival overshadows all else. But “survival” has taken on complex meaning. I dunno.