The diary read August 6, 1945when Enola Gay bomber commander Paul W. Tibbets was releasing over the city of Hiroshima the atomic uranium bomb, killing 70,000 to 80,000 people at a time. The clock read 08:15 in the morning.

By the end of 1945, the death toll had risen to around 140,000 from injuries and radiation sickness. Survivors, known as “hibakusha”, suffered long-term health effects, including increased rates of cancer, chronic illnesses and severe psychological trauma. Many of them faced social stigma and discrimination in the years following the attack.

The bombing shocked the world, not only for its sheer destructiveness, but also for the moral and ethical questions it raised. It revealed the terrifying potential of nuclear weapons and sparked urgent debates about their use and the future of war. On August 9, a second bomb, the “Fat Man,” was dropped on Nagasaki, leading to Japan’s unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945 and effectively ending World War II.

Harry Truman, the one who made the cruel decision to level an entire city, justified his move by saying that the casualties from such an attack would be less than the losses that would have occurred in a possible landing in Japan or in the continuation of the war.

Many, however, saw it as a show of strength from the US to the rest of the world, but more so to the Soviet Union. The United States chose to drop the nuclear bombs, committing one of the greatest war crimes in human history.