Bethe, Hans
(Nuclear researcher in 1945, Hiroshima) , speaking German:
- "I knew that it was a super-weapon. I also knew that there would be an unbelievable number of victims; it was going to eliminate whole cities. We thought that it would be terrible if Nazi Germany had it first. We appeased ourselves with that. "
Tomasowa, Francis
(survivor in Hiroshima) , speaking Japanese:
- "During the daily report I heard two bombers flying - B 29s. As far as I remember they headed from south to west. "
Tomasowa, Francis
(survivor in Hiroshima) , speaking Japanese:
- "I worked in the uniform factory. Every morning passwords were given to us. The other workers encouraged us to do our best for the Kaiser. "
Kirk, Dutch van
(Navigator of „Enola Gay“) , speaking German:
- "The American soldiers were fighting in the front lines everywhere, and they were caught or killed. That’s why we wanted to stop the slaughter and take the boys home."
Kirk, Dutch van
(Navigator of „Enola Gay“) , speaking German:
- "For us it was like a flash of a photographer."
Bethe, Hans
(Nuclear researcher in 1945, Hiroshima) , speaking German:
- "Finally we let the genie out of the lamp. And the genie was very good in destruction."
Tomasowa, Francis
(survivor in Hiroshima) , speaking Japanese:
- "First I saw an unbelievably bright light – so bright that I could not see my friends standing beside me. "
Tomasowa, Francis
(survivor in Hiroshima) , speaking Japanese:
- "I turned and started to run, but in this very moment the pressure caught up with me and knocked me off my feet."
Kirk, Dutch van
(Navigator of „Enola Gay“) , speaking German:
- "We were happy that the bomb worked because it could have happened that it didn’t explode. And our next thought was: this war is going to be over."
Tomasowa, Francis
(survivor in Hiroshima) , speaking Japanese:
- "I was on my way home and I met a young mother pushing a pram who looked absolutely normal at first sight. From far. As I got closer I saw that she was nearly naked, the clothes were torn to shreds on her. She was burnt and bleeding.
Than I realized horrified that on the face of the child was a huge hole with a piece of wood inside. The child was not crying."
Tomasowa, Francis
(survivor in Hiroshima) , speaking Japanese:
- "This may have been the beginning of the end of the world – if we don’t watch it.."
Bethe, Hans
(Nuclear researcher in 1945, Hiroshima) , speaking German:
- "The result was shocking, although according to our calculations we knew that it had to happen like this. "
Kirk, Dutch van
(Navigator of „Enola Gay“) , speaking German:
- "On the other hand the bomb saved human lives. Of course the inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki could hardly understand that, but if we had not dropped the bomb, the war would have continued for a long time. "