Hiroshima-Nagasaki, August 1945

On August 6th and 9th 1945, the American airforce released two atom bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The fireballs caused by both bombs reached a diameter of almost four miles, and temperatures which equalled the heat of the sun's surface. One hundred thousand people were instantly killed, followed by many thousands who succumbed to their injuries in the days, weeks and months following. A couple of days after the dropping of the bombs, Japanese cameramen made recordings of the aftermath in both cities. Upon arriving, the Americans confiscated the footage and put it away in the archives of their Ministry of Defence. Not until 1968 the existence of the footage was revealed. One of the people who pleaded for the release of the material was Erik Barnouw, at that time chairman of the film department of Columbia University. After the Ministry had responded favourably, Barnouw used these recordings, with a total length of 165 minutes, to compile a sixteen-minute film, intended as a warning against the use of nuclear bombs.