On Sunday, Aug. 4, the day PeaceWorks KC will hold its annual event “Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” The Kansas City Star published Ann Suellentrop’s letter about visiting the atom bomb sites. Ann will speak at tonight’s “Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” the free 7:30 pm program at Loose Park pond, on Wornall Road near 53rd Street, KC MO.
“My recent journey to Hiroshima and Nagasaki deepened my understanding of the atomic bombings, which once seemed distant and abstract. Walking where thousands perished in a blinding flash, it struck me: these were massive, solemn cemeteries—crematoriums that bear witness to the horrors of war,” begins Ann in her letter. “The experience was reminiscent of my visit to a WWII concentration camp. In both places, the enormity of human suffering became palpable, visceral reminders of the horrors of war.”
Ann continues, “Meeting with hibakusha survivors revealed lasting scars inflicted by the atomic bombs. We heard of unimaginable devastation and suffering, wrought by the invention of our brilliant yet misguided scientific minds. Our apology and pledge to advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons was met with gratitude. Their forgiveness and resilience profoundly moved me. Despite enduring physical and psychological hardships, also discrimination and fears for future generations, they harbored no hatred. Our shared commitment to oppose nuclear weapons, including the local nuclear bomb factory in Kansas City, resonated deeply with them and gave them hope.”
Ann, a board member of PeaceWorks KC and the national Physicians for Social Responsibility, concludes her letter: “My journey was not merely a pilgrimage to historic sites but a profound awakening to the human toll of war and the imperative to strive for a future free from nuclear annihilation.” The Kansas City Star picked up on Ann’s reference to scars and titled the letter “Scars endure.”
Ann and speaker Hiroko Komiya will share their reflections tonight. Hiroko, a former teacher and now principal of the Kansas City Japanese School, will recall growing up in Chiba, a suburb of Tokyo. Hiroko’s fourth-grade friend had to move from Chiba to be cared for by other family after her mother died from leukemia in 1967, caused by radiation from the Hiroshima bombing.