The article reflects on a visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, where visitors engage with the profound history of the atomic bombing on August 6, 1945. It contrasts the experience of memorials at sites like Auschwitz, suggesting that Hiroshima compels visitors to confront the stark reality of annihilation rather than fill in gaps of history. The author evokes vivid imagery of destruction while referencing a personal family history intertwined with wartime experiences, illustrating the complexities of memory, trauma, and reconciliation in the context of Hiroshima's legacy.
A traditional Japanese bell made of oxidized metal, it has a pendular log that strikes at the atomic symbol engraved on its side as if to banish that evil from the earth.
At Auschwitz or Dachau, one is asked to fill in what happened, the ruins urging the imagination to conjure what is no longer there. At Hiroshima, the ask is altogether different.
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