Sadako Sasaki is a symbol of man’s rejection of the frenzy of nuclear war. This twelve year old girl really wanted to live. The tragedy that occurred in the country deprived her of this opportunity. Around the people who survived the nuclear bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, gradually faded away. But Sadako did not want to believe that the same thing 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 made only 644 figures.
The tragedy of Japan
Sadako Sasaki is a Japanese girl who survived the American nuclear bombing in the city of Hiroshima, being very small. She was born on July 7, 1943. At this time, people reaped the fruits of World War II in Europe, where thousands of children died - from bombs and shells, hunger, inhuman conditions in concentration camps and Jewish ghettos. The 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 blown out through a window into the street. Mom did not hope to see her alive anymore, but Sadako practically did not suffer. Joy knew no bounds; the poor woman did not yet know that there were no victims in her hometown. Apparently, healthy people were comforted by the fact that they did not burn down alive and did not die under the ruins, but death gave them a little respite, for which they took a terrible fee - to die in agony.
Time of hope
Sadako Sasaki grew mobile 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 day lived gave more and more hope. Throughout the city, people were dying, among them were relatives and neighbors. At first it was believed that they suffered from dysentery. But after some time it became clear that a deadly disease was brought by a bomb. It was a radiation sickness.
Studies have found that directly from the explosion in Hiroshima killed about 90 thousand people. It was not possible to establish the exact quantity. At the epicenter of the explosion, living things evaporated, decayed into molecules and atoms in a matter of seconds, since the temperature was 4000 degrees Celsius. Light radiation left only dark silhouettes on the surviving walls from people. People turned into coal and dust, even birds burned on the fly.
The consequences of the explosion were terrible. A total of 286,818 people died from radiation sickness and cancer in Hiroshima. In Nagasaki, up to 80 thousand inhabitants were killed by the explosion, and 161,083 from its consequences.
Disease
The trouble came suddenly. At 12 years old, Sadako Sasaki's lymph nodes began to swell. The first harbingers of the disease, insidious tumors, appeared behind the ears and on the neck. Everyone who survived the nuclear bombardment was well aware of what this meant. It was a verdict. Hiroshima residents were well aware of the symptoms of radiation sickness (leukemia) and were afraid of their occurrence.
This terrible disease from year to year carried away an increasing number of children and adults. About him it became known since 1950. The victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima were even children born after the terrible bombing, as their mothers survived it.
The girl, once cheerful and mobile, began to get tired very quickly and could not stay awake for a long time. If earlier she played tirelessly with friends, now she would rather lie down. She went to school and even engaged in 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. Doctors told the crying mother that her daughter had a maximum year to live.
Sadako Sasaki and a thousand paper cranes
The girl did not want to die, she dreamed of living with her mother, whom she loved very much. One day, her school friend Chizuko Homomoto came to the hospital, who brought scissors and origami paper. She told Sadako that there is a legend according to which cranes bring people happiness and long life. When a person is sick, he needs to make a thousand paper cranes, which will surely give a recovery.
This ingenuous tale inspired the girl, now she made cranes every day. The paper soon ran out. Sadako began to fold them from everything that came to hand - paper napkins, magazine and newspaper sheets. But forces remained less, in some days she could make one or two birds. The time allotted to fate, the girl had only 644 cranes. She died on October 25, 1955.
Folk memory
Here is such a sad story Sadako Sasaki. But she did not end there. Relatives, relatives, classmates brought the matter to an 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. All who came to say goodbye to Sadako carried paper cranes in memory of thousands of innocent civilians who died.
This story soon spread all over the globe. People in different countries made paper cranes, which could give hope for recovery to children who survived the nuclear bombing. They were even mailed to Japan. The small paper crane has become a symbol of solidarity with the inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Of course, adults understood very well that in this way they would not defeat such a terrible and insidious disease as leukemia. But the crane was a challenge to the frenzy 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.
A symbol of peace
The history of Sadako did not leave indifferent people, not only in Japan, but throughout the planet. It was decided to erect a monument as a sign of respect for the courage, willpower and faith of the girl who was struggling to the end with a terrible disease. Fundraising was held throughout 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. The memorial park is constantly visited by thousands of people from all over the world. People go to the monument. Instead of flowers, they carry colorful handmade paper cranes 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 spot where once was the busiest commercial and business district in Hiroshima. There were shops, restaurants, cinemas. After the explosion, he left a clean field. It was decided to create a Memorial complex using folk remedies in memory of the victims of the nuclear bombing. 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 an atomic nightmare. He erected a monument in the Memorial complex. It is not possible to establish the exact number of people who died and died after the tragedy, since no one counted them because they belonged to an ethnic minority. More than 400,000 Koreans after the bombing were transported from the country to Korea. How many people died there from radiation exposure and associated diseases, and how much is left to live, is unknown.
Memorial Day
Every year on August 6, a memorial ceremony for the victims of the city’s nuclear bombing takes place at the Hiroshima Memorial Complex. The Japanese call it "Bomb Day." Local residents, relatives of the victims, tourists from other countries take part in it. It starts at exactly 08-00 hours. A minute of silence is counted from 08-15. It was at this time that the city was covered by a wave of nuclear explosion, in which thousands of people, having died, did not understand what happened to them. According to the organizers and the leadership of the city, the purpose of this event, as well as the whole complex as a whole, is to prevent the recurrence of such horror.