Chapter 24 Hiroshima - City of Complaints

On the afternoon of August 19th, we arrived in Hiroshima by car from Iwakuni. A week ago in Nagasaki, we saw the ruined walls of churches, hospitals, schools... and saw the vast, desolate, cleared rubble fields around a few piles and pieces of buildings.We met with victims of the atomic disaster both inside and outside the conventions in Nagasaki, Osaka, and Tokyo.Ten years have passed, and the Japanese people have continued to work hard, but they still have not been able to cover up this vast ruins!Ten years have passed, and the blood and tears of thousands of injured people are still trickling down!The horrors of this hell on earth have aroused our incomparable anger towards the atomic madmen.It is with a very heavy heart that I welcome Hiroshima City, which we are about to arrive in.

Entering Hiroshima City, there are short and sparse trees beside the road, and the dry dust is blown up by the scorching wind. Amidst the yellow dust, the car drives to the gate of the New Hiroshima Hotel, and the gate is full of people holding flags to welcome .After receiving the bouquet and shaking hands with those who welcomed us, we immediately went to the memorial monument for the victims of Hiroshima. This memorial monument is like a saddle. The names of more than 240,000 victims.The engraving on the stone said: "Rest in peace, don't repeat the mistakes of the past." We laid a wreath respectfully and stood silently for a while.

Looking at the inscription on the stone, I couldn't help but shed tears of grief and indignation.It was the crimes of atomic madmen that caused this unprecedented tragedy. We should say: "Rest in peace, we will never let there be another Hiroshima in the world!" Exit from under the stele, and we went to the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital to condolences to the patients affected by the atomic disaster. Ten years have passed. In addition to the 240,000 people who were immediately killed by the atomic bomb explosion of the first weapon of mass murder at 8:15 a.m. on August 6 ten years ago, there were still 50,000 people seriously injured at that time. More than 10,000 people were injured, and more than 105,000 people were slightly injured.

In the past ten years, the wounded died one after another due to their inability to receive treatment.Those who are now hospitalized are only a handful of the wounded, and ten years later a sepsis patient was suddenly discovered among the healthy residents of the bombed city.The number of people suffering from sepsis is increasing day by day, which makes people who survived the casualties ten years ago feel very panic. Some people avoid physical examinations. They are afraid that they will find out the disease. , Work problems, immediately there is no way! As a sympathizer, I am prepared to approach the moaning and painful patients with a calm and stable mood, but when I stand in front of their bed, shake hands and talk with them, I often cannot stop my tears!What saddened me the most was a female worker in her forties. When she was bombed, she carried a child on her back. This naive and ignorant child was burned to death on her body, except for the place covered by the child. Besides, her back, shoulders, arms, and legs were covered with scars!Because she had to support the three surviving children, she struggled to work for eight or nine years. Recently, she was admitted to the hospital with the support of the masses because she could no longer support herself.She buried her head in the pillow, weeping bitterly, only stretched out her hand, and held it tightly with me.I say:

"You rest assured to recuperate, support bravely, and live! Because of your pain, the eyes of the peace-loving people in the world have been brightened. They have stood up resolutely and must eliminate this evil atom from the world. arms. You are not alone. There are 600 million people in China and hundreds of millions of peace-loving people all over the world. They will always be with you, care about you, encourage you, and comfort you. The dark years of the past ten years are gone forever. Yes, your future is promising, let's recuperate with peace of mind! "Because of the emotional excitement, I did not continue to speak these few words continuously, and our hands were held tighter—yes, the Chinese and Japanese people who are fighting for peace will always march forward bravely hand in hand Yes, our hands will never be separated!

We also visited several other patients, some of them were young girls with a little makeup powder on their faces in order not to look sick; some were teenagers with grateful smiles on their pale faces; It was people who found out that they were sick after ten years. They had deep worries about their future, but because of the "World Congress to Ban the Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs" The meeting in Hiroshima gave them the courage to live.Thousands of peace representatives from all over Japan and other countries in the world flocked to this city that was once a "sea of ​​fire", condolenced them, cared for them, and told them that the movement to ban atomic weapons is being supported by peace-loving people all over the world. Support, this movement is expanding day by day... All this gives the young patients infinite comfort and courage.

When we got out of the ward, the dean took us to the balcony on the roof of the hospital. He pointed out to us that the yard inside the gate of the hospital was crowded with tens of thousands of people in the first few days after being bombed ten years ago. Because more than half of the doctors and nurses in the hospital died, the treatment cannot be carried out quickly, so thousands of hundreds of corpses are carried out from this yard every day.He also took us to a big room upstairs in the corner, which was damaged by the earthquake and never repaired. Of the 86 schools and libraries of all sizes in this city, only 19 of them are still usable after the bombing. The crime of destroying culture by the atomic madmen is really disgusting.

We must never forget the symposium of atomic victims we attended downstairs in the hospital.The X-shaped table was full of old and young people who were blind, with broken arms, and with scars on their faces and bodies.They complained angrily about the unspeakable pain that the atomic bomb gave them. It destroyed their families, killed their relatives, and caused them to be disabled. They lived a long, miserable and inhuman life for ten years... When everyone narrates their personal pain, they either calm down at the beginning and sob at the end; or tears fill their eyes intermittently;The scorching sun in the west, through the tall windows, casts on this hall, on these victims who shy away from the sun, making us feel a kind of boiling anger.But they finally calmed down. The speeches of the representatives, like the cool and peaceful wind from overseas, gave them hope and comfort.They believe that the power of the people is invincible, and that the people demand peace and the prohibition of atomic weapons. This just desire must and must be achieved.For the first time in ten years, smiles appeared on their faces full of scars; in their sunken eye sockets, there seemed to be a radiance of hope.Mentioning the 50,000 yuan relief money sent to them by the Chinese people, they burst into tears of gratitude again.For the great generosity of the Chinese people, the victims and the Japanese people have repeatedly expressed their admiration and gratitude to us.

That evening, the people of Hiroshima gave us a grand welcome in the auditorium of the Shin-Hiroshima Hotel where we were staying. Slogans such as "Welcome the Chinese Peace Mission", "Strengthen Sino-Japanese exchanges", "Thank you for the assistance of love", "Connect Hiroshima and Beijing with peace and friendship" were hung on the stage.Because of the hard work of our travels, there were only speeches, gifts and flowers at the meeting. Although the time was very short, we looked down from the stage and saw the enthusiastic and grateful eyes of hundreds of people. Peace and friendship have connected Beijing and Hiroshima. Woke up.

The next day—the morning of August 20th, we set off in groups to express condolences.Looking out from the car, on the burned land of 4 million square meters, after ten years of hard work by the working people, although some tall buildings and long and wide bridges have been built, but in the distant surrounding mountains, Hiroshima City is still a bit like a "desert in an oasis", especially in the center of the explosion. There are no verdant trees, and a few streets extend on the wide, scorched land, which makes people feel desolate. A few of us visited the Mingchengyuan Blind Children’s Orphanage. There were three nannies here, who were injured by the atomic bombing. Two of them are still working there, and one is studying Western tailoring. They all came to talk to us.Ten years ago, they were just in their 28th year, and they had entrusted the ideals and fantasies of ordinary girls about their future.

They yearn for a peaceful and happy life, a happy marriage, and angelic children.Now they are sitting opposite me, with their heads lowered, stroking the purple-red twisted scars on their arms, and in the midst of sobbing, talking about the disaster that flew out of the sky ten years ago: Seeing the scars on their faces in the mirror made them feel unspeakable horror when they woke up from the painful coma. They were sad, angry, and ashamed. Life, and had to struggle to support it.This great blow made them feel that all their dreams were shattered, their ugly and weak bodies ruined their life's happiness, and their tenacious study and hard work became impossible.They dragged their wounded bodies and depressed moods through these 3,650 days and nights... I held their hands tightly, and I deeply felt the feelings of these girls. I said: " Why are you ashamed of the scars on your face and arms? This great misfortune was caused by atomic madmen. You have presented the bloody crimes written on your body to the righteous and peace-loving people all over the world. Seeing the ironclad facts of crime, arousing their righteous indignation and uniting them in a heroic struggle against the atomic madmen, the effect is enormous. You do not see that at each congress you accuse thousands of delegates. How excited are you? I just think you are the pioneers who bravely walk in front of the team fighting for peace. Our team is strong, and the power of the people is invincible. Peace will surely win, so live bravely!" At 2:50 in the afternoon, we left Hiroshima by train. We were saying goodbye at the station. Suddenly, the two sides of the seeing-off crowd parted. Take my hand and send me to the car.The car started slowly, and they said, "Mr. Xie, we will bravely live and fight!" They still couldn't help crying, but their tear-stained faces shone bravely and firmly. On the train I unfolded a piece of paper, a Japanese friend handed me an English translation of an unsigned poem by a Japanese poet entitled "We Found the Power": Come to Destroy, Come to Slaughter, Come to burn us into charcoal, come to maim, come to kill!In an instant—the sweat, hopes, and dreams of thousands of years of labor turned into mountains of blood and endless pain.In the past few years, you have stood like a demon, constantly exaggerating and intimidating, spreading your poisonous madness on the flesh and blood of mankind.We were alone crouched and intimidated.But now we are untold billions and behind your flames are only a few busy counting money...United we have the strength to destroy this demon and turn its claws into loving hands Come serve humanity!Today, here let us swear: We will do what has never been done, to comfort the scorched memory of the living, the crippled, and the dead, and outlaw it "Atom bomb, the devil!" after". )