Hearing Mother’s Voice Behind, I Fled My house collapsed instantly—broken roof tiles, shingles and mud walls. I found Mother lying on her back, trapped under the debris. Her face was covered with blood. She could not even turn her face sideways. I heard her saying, “Take the thing pressing on my shoulder away.” But I could not budge it. The fire came closer as I ran away, bidding her farewell. Behind me she was reciting the Buddhist Heart Sutra as I tore myself from the scene. —Iwasa Mikiso (Hiroshima survivor) Top: At noon in Nagasaki, the day after the bombing. Photograph by YosukeYamahata, Courtesy of Shogo Yamahata. Bottom: Photograph by Hajime Miyatake, Collection of the Asahi Shimbun.
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