1945 · Hiroshima on 6 August
Hiroshima through records of those affected
Read documented damage alongside individual accounts of destroyed lives.
The destruction of an inhabited city
At 8:15 a.m. on 6 August 1945 the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. People occupied schools, workplaces and homes. Heat, blast and radiation overlapped, with differing effects according to position and shielding. An overall image cannot represent every individual experience.
School and work objects connect the bombing with earlier lives. They give concrete meaning to losses beyond aggregate numbers. A personal object does not represent the whole city, but documents the meeting of ordinary life and destruction.
Aid and deaths after the explosion
Deaths continued after the explosion. The estimate of about 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945, with uncertainty of about 10,000, covers a defined period rather than an exact immediate count. Aid, care and later survival belong within the event’s history.
Helpers and services were themselves affected. Restoring transport supported movement and supplies. The damaged city was not permanently frozen in one image: attempts to sustain life unfolded amid destruction and continuing loss.
Rebuilding and remembrance
Rail service resumed on part of the system on 8 August and trams on 9 August. Early restoration does not imply slight damage. Functional recovery occurred amid injury and bereavement, and its dates differ from those of individual recovery.
Personal and memorial accounts preserve different experiences and memories. New buildings could not restore lost relatives or lives. Reading reconstruction beside testimony prevents equating an operating city with the resolution of every loss.
Before and after
- 6 August 1945, 8:15 a.m.
The US drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
- 8 August 1945
Rail service resumes between Hiroshima and Yokogawa.
- 9 August 1945
Tram service resumes on part of the system.
- By the end of 1945
Period covered by the estimate of about 140,000 deaths with uncertainty of 10,000.
Key terms
- Estimate
- A calculated figure with a defined scope and uncertainty.
- Heat, blast and radiation
- Different effects causing harm from the atomic explosion.
- Personal account
- An account written by someone about their experience.
What supports the account?
The 140,000 figure is an estimate through year-end.
Hiroshima Prefecture gives the period and uncertainty.
It is not an exact immediate-death register.
Individual accounts show differing experiences.
The memorial hall exhibits accounts concerning schools and families.
One account cannot represent everyone’s experience.
Check your understanding
Choose an answer to reveal the explanation. Return to the article and sources when you are unsure.
Sources
- Atomic bombing and Hiroshima’s reconstruction広島県
Date and time, city background, destructive effects and the year-end estimate.
- Exhibitions and survivor accounts国立広島原爆死没者追悼平和祈念館
Accounts, memorial writings, objects and testimony about the bombing and rebuilding lives.