Hiroshima 1945: Atomic Bombing and Journalism ~Floyd Schmoe (1895-2001)~
On Air
⏩Hersey was a war correspondent during World WarⅡ. He used his connection with the US military to get access to visit Hiroshima in May 1946. There, he met Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto who would come to play a pivotal role in Hersey's coverage of the atomic bombing and the survivors known as hibakusha. Upon his return to the US, Hersey got in touch with the editor of The New Yorker magazine and wrote what people often refer to as one of the masterpieces of the 20th-century journalism, "Hiroshima." Because of the sensitive nature of his work, the publication was carried out in secrecy and Hersey took the precaution to temporarily relocate his family from New York City to a remote location.
His writing was a sensation. Henry Stimson, Secretary of War during WWⅡ, reacted with a magazine article, which became the foundation for the US rationale to justify the use of the atomic bombs: They spared the lives of one million US soldiers and brought the war to an end. Hersey was gradually shunned from the US mainstream media, and "Hiroshima," too had retreated from the front line of world affairs for a long time.
⏩第二次世界大戦中は従軍記者として名をはせたハーシーは、米軍とのコネクションを生かし1946年5月広島入りする。そこで、牧師・谷本清と出会い英語での書簡を交わし、凄まじい被爆体験に触れた。帰国後、雑誌「The New Yorker」の編集長と接触、20世紀ジャーナリズムの金字塔と言われる「HIROSHIMA」が出る。この出版にはリスクを伴うため秘密裏に行い、家族も大都市から地方に避難させていた。
ハーシーの「HIROSHIMA」の発表によりアメリカ社会に衝撃が走った。これに対抗するため、戦争中の米軍制服トップ、ヘンリー・スティムソン陸軍長官による論文が発表される。「原爆投下で100万人アメリカ兵が救われた」、この現在も続く、原爆投下の正当性の論理が形成されていくことになる。一方で、ハーシーは米ジャーナリズムの主流から”放逐され”、長らくHIROSHIMAは忘れ去られる。
