Hiroshima remembered in posters
The A bombing was followed by a time of chaos and confusion. Japan's surrender and the Allied occupation brought tremendous change. Despite the dire shortage of food, capital and materials of all kinds, the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki fought off the despair and struggled to rebuild their lives. One of the photos was taken a month after the bombing and showed shacks built with the burnt materials that were available.
60 years later, the deleterious effects of radiation--including the destruction of cells, damage to blood formation and other organs and loss of hair--can still be felt. This was shown in photographs such as the picture of a girl who had lost her hair in Nagasaki. A 1945 picture shows a soldier on the verge of death. This was accompanied by more pictures of subcutaneous bleeding and falling of hair.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The A bomb had many adverse affects on the foetuses exposed in their mother's wombs. Children were born with mental and physical handicaps. Once the parents died, the handicapped children grew up but were unable to live independently. Their care has become a major issue today. There was a distinct increase in leukemia found within months of the bombing.This aspect of the suffering too was depicted in photographs.
Not only were the wooden parts of the buildings destroyed, but also the concrete constructions. When the A bomb exploded the temperature of the epicentre rose to one million degree centigrade. As a result there were only charred remains, as depicted in a picture of a fence which had been ignited by the heat rays.
Along with a film, the posters drove home the gravity of the destruction wrought by the A bomb.