Hiroshima And Holocaust Perspectives: A Comparative Analysis

Rohan Shah
3 November 2014
Hiroshima and Holocaust Perspectives

World War II is an event that has marred the lives of people from all different races, cultures, and continents. Two of the most terrifying and grim incidents happened during this war: the Holocaust and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Germany wiped out the Jewish population in Europe, while the United States shocked the world with its weapon of mass destruction that destroyed two industrial cities of Japan. Although it is very difficult to actually understand the atrocities that occurred during this time without experiencing it first-hand, From the Ashes of Sobibor by Thomas Blatt and Hiroshima by Keiji Nakazawa give a glimpse into these events. The perspectives
Although each suffered in different places and times, they are connected by how they lived during their respective horrific event. Nakazawa lived in the ruins of Hiroshima, with corpses all around him. Every “day was a struggle to ensure that we had food and could survive” (Nakazawa 72). Similarly, Blatt faced possible death every day once the German soldiers arrived in his town. One of those ways he could have died was starvation as it was very difficult to get a proper amount of food. While in Sobibor, he detailed how “Food was scarce and we were hungry” (Blatt 129). Even though one lived in a concentration camp and the other in a destroyed city, both suffered from a lack of food and constant fear of
In the case of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the United States was the perpetrator. However, unlike the Germans in the Holocaust, the Americans sole purpose was not to wipe out the Japanese, but rather to end the war. As said in the leaflet dropped on the Japanese, “because of your leaders’ refusal to accept the surrender declaration that would enable Japan to honorably end this useless war, we have employed our atomic bomb” (Leaflet Translation 1). Also, another reason for the employment of the atomic bomb was to “destroy every resource of the military” (Leaflet Translation 1). Although the United States used the bomb knowing many civilians would die, the main reason they employed the bomb was to end the war and destroy military resources. For these reasons, Nakazawa’s perspective is not as bad as it could be. Even though he blames the United States for the bombing, he also blames the government and leadership of Japan. On the other hand, Blatt had a different perspective for the intent of the perpetrators. He had reason to blame the Germans for everything that happened to him and the Jewish people during this time. No justifiable explanation can be given to explain this horrific event as “Antisemitism was at the core of Nazi ideology in general and of Hitler’s own ‘world-view’ in particular” (Nazism 1919-1945). This absolute hatred caused the destruction of millions and millions