Nuclear bombings #Hiroshima and #Nagasaki - august 1945

The two nuclear bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on august 6 and 9 1945 killed 129,000 – 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians.^[1]

The role of the bombings in Japan’s surrender, and the ethical, legal, and military controversies surrounding the United States' justification for them have been the subject of scholarly and popular debate.

Among them: a belief that atomic bombing is fundamentally #immoral, that the bombings counted as #warcrimes, that they constituted state #terrorism and that they involve #racism and #dehumanization.

Like the way it began, the manner in which World War II ended cast a long shadow over international relations for decades to come. By 1986, the United States would have 23,317 nuclear weapons, while the Soviet Union had 40,159. By 2017, nine nations had nuclear weapons.^[2]

Under NATO nuclear weapons sharing, the United States has provided nuclear weapons for Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands ^[3], and Turkey to deploy and store.

The Netherlands hosts an estimated 10-20 B61 bombs at its Volkel AB. The weapons are earmarked for delivery by Dutch F-16A/Bs of the 1st Fighter Wingand are under custody of the US AirForce 703rd MUNSS. ^[4].

Background and context 'Familie Bastiaans - de Indische takken ':

At the end of '45 grandfather Bastiaans is liberated from Fukuoka 8B, a Japanese POW camp on Kyushu, ~ 100km from Nagasaki.

In my teenage years I was active in the protests against nuclear weapons and the placement on European, specific Dutch territory.

Anno 2019, history seems to repeat itself when the US and Russia withdraw from the INF- Treaty of 1987, which forbids nuclear weapons for the short and medium range.

Ik schrijf sinds begin '90' verhalen en artikelen op diverse platformen. De laatste 15 jaar focus ik op de genealogie van mijn 'Indische takken'. Af en toe een 'salty bit'. Dat hoort een beetje bij 60+ers. Zodoende.

Kan via twitter @roelbazuin (Tjitjak)
Desnoods via // www.linkedin.com/in/roelbazuin[linkedin^]

On Monday, August 6, 1945, a mushroom cloud billows into the sky about one hour after an atomic bomb was dropped by American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, detonating above Hiroshima, Japan. Nearly 80,000 people are believed to have been killed immediately, with possibly another 60,000 survivors dying of injuries and radiation exposure by 1950

A pall of smoke lingers over this scene of destruction in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 7, 1945, a day after the explosion of the atomic bomb. Nearly 80,000 people are believed to have been killed immediately, with possibly another 60,000 survivors dying of injuries and radiation exposure by 1950.

"Fat Man" was dropped from the B-29 bomber Bockscar, detonating at 11:02 AM, at an altitude of about 1,650 feet (500 m) above Nagasaki. An estimated 39,000 people were killed outright by the bombing a further 25,000 were injured.

This picture made shortly after the August 9, 1945 atomic bombing, shows workers carrying away debris in a devastated area of Nagasaki, Japan. This picture obtained by the U.S. Army from files of Domei, the official Japanese news agency, was the first ground view of the nuclear destruction in Nagasaki

The clothes pattern, in the tight-fitting areas on this survivor, shown burnt into the skin.

Partially incinerated child in Nagasaki. Photo from Japanese photographer Yōsuke Yamahata, one day after the blast and building fires had subsided. Once the American forces had Japan under their military control, they imposed censorship on all such images including those from the conventional bombing of Tokyo, this prevented the distribution of Yamahata’s photographs. These restrictions were lifted in 1952.

22-year old victim Toyoko Kugata being treated at the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital (October 6, 1945)