The recent opening of American and Japanese archives documents has revealed new secrets about the dropping of the first atomic bomb that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima, Japan 75 years ago.

These documents answered some of the questions that were on the minds of many, such as: Why was Tokyo excluded and why did America not consider using this weapon against the Germans? This is what Vincent Juffair, writer for L'OBS, answered after reading some of these documents, saying:

On the sixth of August 1945, General Leslie Groves sent a "top secret" telegram to US President Harry Truman describing what had been caused by the first atomic bomb in history, right after he oversaw that operation in Hiroshima, saying, "In the beginning a fireball was formed that turned in Within seconds purple clouds and flames rose in a whirlpool towards the sky, before the entire city disappeared under a layer of dark gray dust.

In the now declassified post, he added, proudly and proudly, that the operation that destroyed Hiroshima was "a success by all standards."

Also on August 6, 1945, the Japanese officer responsible for assessing the damage caused by "Little Boy" (the codename given to this bomb) wrote a report to his superiors, the tone of which was completely different, saying, "A special kind was thrown. This morning, in downtown Hiroshima, with a formation of three or four planes, the resulting flash was instant and led to the burning of exposed body parts of people even those three kilometers away ... and the shock is beyond imagination, as the bomb destroyed almost every home in the city, and according to our estimates there are 100 A victim. "

Discuss goals

Archive documents show that the Americans had never considered striking Germany with this bomb, but rather had set their target since May 5, 1943, even though their uranium enrichment plant had not yet started work, according to a top-secret document, because the Americans had the perception that the Germans would be more The ability of the Japanese to cognitive use of this bomb in the event that it does not explode.

One of the high-ranking American officers suggested that the first strike be directed at Tokyo, but his idea was ruled out not for moral or political reasons, but because "the bomb must be used where the depth of the water is sufficient for the bomb to be recovered if it does not explode."

Others proposed dropping it on the Emperor's palace in Tokyo because of its "high symbolic value", but this was reversed due to its "low strategic importance."

Five cities

In the end, US officials have identified a list of five Japanese cities, topped by the ancient capital and cultural center of the country, and the city to which many Japanese fled after the destruction of their cities, and therefore their destruction would have "the strongest psychological effect."

Hiroshima came in second place because it is "an important military warehouse and industrial port" and the adjacent hills would likely have an effect on the concentration of the strike, which would greatly increase the damage from the explosion.

The other cities are Yokohama, Kokura and Nabigla, but the choice fell in the end on Hiroshima, especially after some leaders expressed their fear that the targeting of Kyoto would change the world's view of the United States and consider it more brutal even than the German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

to give in

The scientists involved in building this bomb suggested not to use it against Japan, and some suggested conducting an experiment in front of the United Nations representatives to show the strength of America and the extent of its humanity as it refrains from using this weapon for its power to destroy it.

But the military leaders and President Truman decided in the end to proceed with this process, especially since they believe that it will enable the rescue of tens of thousands of American soldiers in the event of the surrender of Japan. Indeed, Truman estimated in his memoirs that the surrender of Japan saved the lives of about 250 thousand American soldiers.

At first the Japanese did not accept total surrender, which prompted Truman to give his orders to strike the city of Kokura, but the bomb fell on the small port of Nagasaki, so it wiped it off the map, and then confirmed that if Japan did not surrender unconditionally, it would strike Tokyo this time with a nuclear bomb, which prompted the Emperor of Japan To announce on the radio that he accepts all the American conditions.