Looking Back for Peace

By Justin Sondak in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 12, 2005 5:37PM

This week marked the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, the only wartime deployment of nuclear weaponry, hastening Japanese surrender to the Allies and the end of World War II. The calm, measured accounts of history books can’t approach the horror that the Axis powers were inflicting upon the world and the subsequent horror of hundreds of thousands of Hiroshima and Nagasaki residents perishing in the blasts and subsequent aftermaths. The necessity of the A-bomb in 1945 remains one of the most intensely debated subjects in historical, political, and military circles.

The Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the citizens of Japan have collaborated with Chicago’s Peace Museum to bring A-Bomb: 60 Years Later to the city’s west side. Sunday is your last chance to see photos, artifacts, and video accounts from survivors along with a dramatic reading from survivor journals performed by local actors. The account of Katsuji Yoshida, a Nagasaki survivor, has been archived by Chicago Public Radio. (Warning: the account is rather disturbing and not for more sensitive listeners)

If you can’t make it to the Peace Museum this weekend, you can still donate a “peace crane” to participate in a vast, symbolic gesture while honoring a friend or loved one. A peace crane is installed with every $10 donation. Every 1,000 cranes that the Museum collects will be sent to Iraq symbolizing a shared wish for peace.

A-Bomb: 60 Years Later is at the Peace Museum, 100 N Central Park Avenue in Garfield Park, today from 10am – 4pm and Sunday from 11am – 3pm. For more information or to donate a crane, call 773-638-6450 or visit www.peacemuseum.org