OSLO, Norway (AP) — A 92-year-old Japanese man who survived the American era dropping the atomic bomb A Nagasaki city professor on Tuesday described the suffering he witnessed in 1945, including the charred bodies of his loved ones and the ruins of his city, as he accepted this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of his organization.
The award went to Nippon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Japanese atomic bomb survivors that has worked for nearly 70 years to maintain taboos on the use of nuclear weapons. Since their first and only use by the United States in the war at Nagasaki and Nagasaki, the weapon has grown exponentially in power and numbers. Hiroshima (In 1945.
The bombing forced Japan to surrender to the Allies. Approximately 210,000 people had been killed by the end of 1945, but the death toll from radiation is certainly higher.
As survivors reach the twilight of their lives, they grapple with the fear that the taboo against the use of weapons appears to be weakening. These were the concerns expressed by 92-year-old survivor Tanaka Termi, who spoke at Oslo City Hall to an audience that included the Norwegian royal family.
“The nuclear superpower Russia Ministers have threatened to use nuclear weapons in a war against Ukraine. IsraelHe also mentioned the possibility of using nuclear weapons in the midst of Palestine’s relentless attacks on Gaza,” Tanaka said. “I am deeply saddened and angry that the nuclear taboo is at risk of being broken.”
Norway’s Nobel Committee has previously awarded other nuclear non-proliferation efforts, but this concern led it to award this year’s award to a Japanese organization.
Introducing the winners, Committee Chair Jorgen Watne Fridnes said it was important to learn from their testimonies in the face of heightened nuclear dangers.
He said, “None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons — the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea — seem to have any interest in nuclear disarmament or arms control at this point.” Ta. “On the contrary, they are modernizing and expanding their nuclear arsenal.”
He said the Norwegian Nobel Committee is calling on the five nuclear-weapon states that have signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom) to seriously fulfill their obligations under the treaty. . Others said it must be ratified.
“It is naive to believe that our civilization can survive in a world order where global security depends on nuclear weapons,” Fridnes said. “The world was not meant to be a prison where we await mass extinction.”
In his speech, Tanaka described the attack on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, three days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
He recalled hearing the bomber’s buzz followed by a “bright white light” followed by a powerful shock wave. Three days later, he and his mother searched for loved ones who lived near ground zero.
“Many people who were seriously injured or burned and still alive were left without any help. “I just went to my destination,” he said.
He discovered the charred remains of his aunt, the remains of her grandson, a severely burned grandfather who was dying, and another aunt who had been severely burned and died shortly before his arrival. In total, five family members were killed.
He spoke of the survivors’ efforts to use their experiences to eliminate nuclear weapons for the good of humanity and to obtain compensation for their suffering from the Japanese state that started the war.
“I hope that the belief that nuclear weapons cannot and must not coexist with humanity will be firmly established among the peoples of nuclear-weapon states and their allies, and that this will give governments the power to change their nuclear policies. ” he said.
