arndt@lymph.DEC (05/18/85)
Note to Tim S. There is a portion of ground zero at Hiroshima preserved. It contains the old city hall, I believe, and has a park and museum. When I filed through it and looked at all the items on display and the photos I got the sense it was saying, 'look at what the Americans did to us'. My reaction, as an American was, 'you bet' and the fire raids did a lot more. I remember what the soldiers of Nippon did in China and elsewhere. Chickens come home to roost I say. Sorry you involved all the population in the war, just like we did, but then the civilians become legal targets. The ruined building standing in the center of the display is stark witness to the result of that method of waging war. The bomb (the GOOD ole bomb!) saved us from having to invade and causing many more deaths on both sides than from the bomb itself - not to mention the way the bomb has keep the larger peace (no WWIII) since then. I'm all for bomb shelters - to keep them safe! Dachau, while open, does not give the impression of being a pilgrimage site for the Germans themselves - who, it is my impression would rather forget it exists, did not seem to be there in large numbers. Some school children on a field trip but not much else. Also, and an important point, we were told that Dachau was not a death camp but a work camp. Which is only partly true expecially when compaired with the other death camps. Only (only!) about 30,000 people were killed in Dachau. It was one of the few places where the liberation forces, American G.I.s, captured the guards. They killed about 120 or so of them when they saw what was going on there and the released prisoners killed about 50 more. One of the few instances where justice, however rough, was served. The treatment of charged war crimes prisoners is a stench. They almost all got off a few years after the war! The problem with both places is that they are cleaned up. Not that there should be bodies around but somehow after a good lunch and before a good supper on a sunny day, despite the pictures and lecture one fails to capture the horror of the place I think. I went to the prisoner block run by the SS behind the main building in Dachau and stood in a cell by myself for a while just thinking. Ground zero in Hiroshima is the same - a park. One can laugh and flirt and think about other things as one wanders through. Perhaps that's not bad but perhaps something is missing. Just some thoughts. Regards, Ken Arndt