Middle school students study World War II and sometimes read, study and discuss this compelling and unforgettable book, Hiroshima by John Hersey. This nonfiction work made Americans aware of the horrors of atomic warfare. His A Bell for Adano won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1945.
In 1946, John Hersey published in The New Yorker Magazine, "Hiroshima," an account of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Soon after the explosion, a straightforward record of six Hiroshima residents and survivors was recorded.
As a companion book, share the following memoir with the students.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes tells of twelve year old Sadako Sasaki who died ten years after the atomic bombing, as a result of "atomic bomb disease,"luekemia. After her death, the paper crane became a symbol of Sadako and "her dream of universal peace and hope." A memoir written by a family member shows a unique perspective of the aftermath of the atomic bombings in Japan in 1945.
A link within the album connects to The Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima built in 1954 as a memorial to peace. Please visit the link.