For the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
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Signature campaign
Mr. John Dailey, Director of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum of the United States of America
Mr. George W. Bush, President of the United States of America
If the "Enola Gay," which dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima, is publicly displayed, we request that materials showing
the "calamity of the bombing" also be exhibited
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has announced that it has completely restored the B29 bomber "Enola Gay," which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and that it will display this plane to the general public from December onward. The explanatory text for the public display devotes a great deal to the performance characteristics and the like of the Enola Gay, but is said to restrict itself to a brief reference to the dropping of the atomic bomb: "Dropped the first atomic weapon on Hiroshima in 1945." Moreover, we have heard that Director Dailey has explained: "This is a museum of technology, and we have focused on the technological achievement."
We cannot repress our deep astonishment and anger. What the Enola Gay wrought was the loss of well over 100,000 lives that were cruelly destroyed by the atomic bomb and the deep wounds and radiation-induced handicaps that continue to afflict victims of the atomic bomb to this day. Of the 140,000 people estimated to have died in Hiroshima within that year, 65% were women, children and elderly people who had no connection to the war. To exalt this Enola Gay - which caused an unprecedented atrocity that violated all norms of morality and international law - as a testimony to "technological achievement" is completely unacceptable to the atomic bomb victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
If an exhibition of the Enola Gay is to be conducted, the exhibition should be presented without concealing the "calamity" that the atomic bomb inflicted upon humanity. In the year 2000 review meeting of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the government of your country made an "unequivocal undertaking" to "accomplish the total elimination of its nuclear arsenal." If faithful to this "undertaking" your country has assumed the international duty of fostering an atmosphere favorable to the elimination of nuclear weapons, and this exhibition should be conducted with the underlying resolve that "Hiroshima will never happen again."
By our signatures, we hereby make the following requests.
On the occasion of the public display of the restored B29 bomber "Enola Gay" which is planned for December, we request that you also exhibit photographs and materials showing the damage inflicted by the atomic bomb that was dropped from this airplane.
If this should prove impossible, we request that you cancel the currently planned exhibition of the Enola Gay.
| Name | Address |
Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo)
Gable Building #902, 1-3-5 Shiba-Daimon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0012 JAPAN Phone: +81-3-3438-1897
Care-taker organization:
