‘A Scene From Hell.’ Survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings Share Their Stories in Atomic People

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Approximately eight decades after the initial and sole instance of an atomic bomb being deployed in warfare, on August 6 and 9, 1945, eyewitnesses from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks share their personal experiences during those fateful days, as documented in the PBS broadcast Atomic People, airing on August 4.

Since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the U.S. had been creating atomic bombs. Four years later, when the U.S. detonated these bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it resulted in the immediate death of approximately 78,000 people out of a total population of 350,000 in Hiroshima, and around 40,000 people from a total population of 240,000 in Nagasaki. A week after the bombings, on August 15, it was announced that Japan would surrender, with the formal signing of documents taking place on September 2, marking the end of World War II.

The majority of the survivors had been children at the time the bombs fell, but they still have clear memories of those tragic days.

Dripping flesh

Those who survived describe initially witnessing brilliant lights. For instance, Kikuyo Nakamura, aged 21 at the time in Nagasaki, remembered the mountains appeared as if they were ablaze. Meanwhile, students in Hiroshima recalled a powerful, blinding light rushing towards them within their classroom.

Immediately after the bombing, the devastating impact was evident in Hiroshima, according to survivors. A resident recounted how the tiles on his house disintegrated and a gap appeared in the ceiling. Another survivor, Hiromu, described the sky as if it were “raining fire.

At the time, Michiko Kodama was attending school and remembers taking cover beneath a table as the ceiling collapsed above her. Glass from broken windows scattered all over the desks and chairs in the classroom.

Hiromu vividly depicts an individual whose face appeared to be a tattered piece of worn-out fabric, and whose body seemed to ooze flesh like softening candle wax. Kodama’s father picked her up from school, and as he carried her on his back, she glimpsed people with deteriorating flesh – a sight she referred to as “a vision from hell.” Chieko Kiriake was 15 when she witnessed victims whose skin from their limbs was shedding off.

In the heart-wrenching aftermath, I found myself tasked with a grim duty – digging graves for my fallen peers in our very playgrounds. The weight of those words, “I cremated them,” hang heavily on my lips as I recall the tragedy that unfolded. Beneath Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park lies the somber testament of countless lives lost, their remains a haunting reminder of the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb.

The aftermath

People who lost their homes and were survivors had to construct makeshift huts, as they struggled to find enough food. The survivors share stories about venturing into the mountains in search of fruit-bearing trees. They resorted to eating bee larvae from beehives as well. In Seiichiro Mise’s words, “We truly lived like primitive cave dwellers.

A single survivor recounted that her father perished when his abdomen turned dark purple and bruised, accompanied by vomiting of blood. Approximately 90,000 individuals, residing in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, succumbed to their injuries by the year’s end in 1945.

Kiyomi Iguro, aged 19 in 1945, escaped immediate harm from the bombing, but suspects that radiation exposure led to a miscarriage she experienced later on. In the documentary, she expresses thoughts of suicide, considering an overdose of sleeping pills as an option. A couple, Hiroshi and Keiko Shimizu, express fear about having children due to potential genetic abnormalities they might pass down. Nakamura mentions her son contracting leukemia in adulthood, a condition she believes was caused by breastfeeding while being exposed to radiation.

The survivors were given some medical attention and a type of financial reimbursement, yet they continue their advocacy for increased compensation and the elimination of nuclear weapons. The documentary concludes with survivor Sueichi Kido at the United Nations in 2023, expressing his concern that the images from the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza suggest a potential risk of another nuclear conflict. The survivors hope that stories like “Atomic People,” detailing the destructive consequences of the bomb, will help avoid history from repeating itself.

Atomic People premieres Aug. 4 at 10 p.m. ET.

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2025-08-04 17:06