Sadako Sasaki is a symbol of human rejection of the insanity of nuclear war. This twelve-year-old girl really wanted to live. The tragedy that occurred in the country deprived her of this opportunity. People who survived the nuclear bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki gradually faded around. But Sadako didn't want to believe that the same would happen to her. She hoped that if she made a thousand paper cranes, she would stay with her mother and her family. But there was not enough time: she only made 644 figurines.
Tragedy of Japan
Sadako Sasaki is a Japanese girl who survived the American nuclear bombing in the city of Hiroshima when she was very young. She was born on July 7, 1943. At that time, people were reaping the fruits of the Second World War in Europe, where thousands of children died - from bombs and shells, hunger, inhuman conditions of detention inconcentration camps and Jewish ghettos. Trouble overtook Sadako on August 6, 1945, when American pilots dropped an atomic bomb on her hometown of Hiroshima. Three days later, this fate befell the city of Nagasaki.
The house where Sadako Sasaki lived in Hiroshima was two kilometers from the epicenter. The little girl was thrown out the window into the street by the blast wave. Mom did not hope to see her alive again, but Sadako was practically not hurt. Joy knew no bounds; the poor woman did not yet know that there were no uninjured people in her native city. Seemingly he althy people consoled themselves with the fact that they did not burn alive and did not die under the ruins, but death gave them a little respite, for which they took a terrible price - to die in agony.
Time of Hope
Sadako Sasaki grew up agile and cheerful. Mom, looking at her, began to believe that everything would be fine with the girl. She grew up and went to school. Each passing day gave more and more hope. People were dying all over the city, among them were relatives and neighbors. At first it was believed that they suffered from dysentery. But after some time it became clear that the fatal disease was brought by a bomb. It was radiation sickness.
Studies have established that approximately 90,000 people died directly from the explosion in Hiroshima. It was not possible to establish the exact number. At the epicenter of the explosion, living beings evaporated, disintegrated into molecules and atoms in a matter of seconds, since the temperature was 4000 degrees Celsius. lightthe radiation left only dark silhouettes of people on the surviving walls. People turned into coal and dust, even birds burned up in flight.
The consequences of the explosion were also terrible. A total of 286,818 people died from radiation sickness and cancer in Hiroshima. In Nagasaki, the explosion killed, presumably, up to 80 thousand inhabitants, from its consequences - 161,083.
Disease
The trouble came suddenly. At the age of 12, Sadako Sasaki's lymph nodes began to swell. The first harbingers of the disease, insidious tumors, appeared behind the ears and on the neck. All who survived the nuclear bombing understood perfectly well what this meant. It was a verdict. The inhabitants of Hiroshima were well aware of the symptoms of radiation sickness (leukemia) and were afraid of their appearance.
This terrible disease from year to year carried away an increasing number of children and adults. It has been known about since 1950. Even children born after the terrible bombing were victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as their mothers survived it.
The girl, once cheerful and agile, began to get tired very quickly and could not stay awake for a long time. If earlier she tirelessly played with her friends, now she wanted to lie down more. She went to school and even went in for physical education. But one day, right in the lesson, she fell and could not get up. She was sent to the hospital. This happened in February 1955. The doctors told the crying mother that her daughter had only a year to live.
Sadako Sasaki and a thousand paper cranes
The girl did not want to die, she dreamed of living togetherwith my mother, whom I loved very much. One day, her school friend Chizuko Homomoto came to the hospital and brought scissors and origami paper. She told Sadako that there is a legend according to which cranes bring happiness and long life to people. When a person is sick, he needs to make a thousand paper cranes, which will definitely give a recovery.
This simple tale inspired the girl, now she made cranes every day. The paper soon ran out. Sadako began to fold them out of everything that came to hand - paper napkins, magazine and newspaper sheets. But there was less and less strength left, on some days she could make one or two birds. The time allotted by fate, the girl was only enough for 644 cranes. She passed away on October 25, 1955.
People's memory
This is the sad story of Sadako Sasaki. But she didn't end there. Relatives, relatives, classmates brought the work they started to the end and made a thousand paper cranes in memory of Sadako. They were released into the sky at parting with a little girl who so wanted to live. Everyone who came to say goodbye to Sadako carried paper cranes, in memory of the thousands of innocent civilians who died.
This story soon spread around the globe. People in different countries made paper cranes that could give hope for recovery to children who survived the nuclear bombing. They were even mailed to Japan. The little paper crane has become a symbol of solidarity with the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Of course, adults were well aware that in this way they would not defeat such a terrible and insidious disease as leukemia. But the crane was a challenge to the madness of those people who conducted a terrible experiment on an entire nation. It was a sign of support for the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Peace Symbol
Sadako's story did not leave people indifferent not only in Japan, but all over the planet. It was decided to erect a monument as a sign of respect for the courage, willpower and faith of the girl who fought the terrible disease to the end. Fundraising took place all over Japan. In 1958, the monument to Sadako Sasaki in Hiroshima was unveiled.
It is installed in Peace Park in her hometown and is a stone statue of a girl with a paper crane in her hands. Memorial Park is constantly visited by thousands of people from all over the world. People go to the monument. Instead of flowers, hand-made multi-colored paper cranes are brought here. This is a tribute to the memory and hope that this will never happen again.
Hiroshima Memorial
Here is a park and a monument to Sasaki Sadako. It was designed by Japanese architect Kenji Tange. The park is located on the site where once was the busiest commercial and business district in Hiroshima. There were shops, restaurants, cinemas. After the explosion, it left an open field. It was decided to create a memorial complex in memory of the victims of the nuclear bombing at the expense of the people. It contains several monuments, museums,lecture halls. Up to a million tourists from all over the world come here every year.
Interesting fact
During the atomic bombing, a large number of Koreans lived in Hiroshima. More than 20,000 of them died in the atomic nightmare. A monument was erected to them in the Memorial Complex. It is not possible to establish the exact number of dead and dead after the tragedy, since no one counted them due to belonging to an ethnic minority. More than 400,000 more Koreans were taken out of the country to Korea after the bombing. How many people died there from radiation exposure and related diseases, and how many remained alive is unknown.
Memorial Day
Every year on August 6, a ceremony is held at the Hiroshima Memorial Complex to commemorate the victims of the nuclear bombing of the city. The Japanese call it "Bomb Day". It is attended by local residents, relatives of the victims, tourists from other countries. It starts promptly at 08:00. The minute of silence is counted from 08-15. It was at this time that the city was covered by a wave of a nuclear explosion, in which thousands of people, having died, did not understand what had happened to them. According to the organizers and the city's leadership, the purpose of this event, as well as the entire complex as a whole, is to prevent a repetition of such a horror.
