“I poured the water I was carrying, over my head then poured the water into my hand and put my hand to my lips. We helped each other and endured the suffocation. Gradually, the burning heat had gone.”
-Hiroo Fujima, Tokyo firebombing survivor
On the night of March 10th, 1945 Tokyo was pummeled into ash. The men, women and children in one of the world’s largest cities, crumbled under a calculated reign of fire. More civilians died that night in Tokyo than both atomic bombings combined.
A small selection of From Above is being exhibited at Gallery èf in Tokyo to commemorate the people who perished in the destruction of Tokyo. The exhibition is open until March 10th.
“In November 1944, as the eastern front began to move west, my mother, brother (age 3) and I ( age 11) were then taken by open cattle car to Dresden. The weather was frigid. With about 500 others we were forced to work in a cigarette factory at Schandauerstraße 68 which had been converted to an ammunition factory. I worked twelve hours everyday on a milling machine cutting metal that was made into ammunition encasements for the Wehrmarcht. If our daily quotas weren’t met we had to work longer hours but we made sure not to exceed the quotas as a sudell form of resistance. Any sabotage would have been dealt with harshly.
We were never allowed to leave the factory. On the afternoon of February 13th, just hours before Dresden was firebombed, an SS officer declared that my younger brother was to be executed the next day because he was too young to work and was “a useless eater.” That night Dresden was bombed. The workers and guards sat in the large cellar all night. The workers who were sick stayed above in the factory dormitories. The factory was hit by incendiary bombs and the upper floors of the building burned. Only those in the cellar survived. My nerves broke down during the bombings. Everytime I heard a plane I went diarrhea. For a while after I was extremely traumatized and stuttered while I spoke.
When we left the cellar in the morning, white ash was everywhere. There were a lot of dead bodies, buildings were damaged, trees were on fire and even the streets had melted. I was ordered to clean up the rubble that was blocking streets and railway tracks while adults had to carry corpses.
In April we were put on a forced death march south west because the SS were fearful of the advancing Red Army. We were given no food and many of us were emaciated. At one point we were attacked by an Allied plane. The SS officers, who were guarding us, ordered us to jump into a ditch on the side of the road. After the plane flew away my mother, brother and I stayed on the ground and didn’t move while the SS officers quickly forced the others to continue. In their rush to flee they must have thought we were dead. After they left I went to a farmer in Pilsen, who gave me food. The first ten years after the war we didn’t speak about it.
The first time I came back to Dresden was in 1955 to meet with the others who had been forced to work in the factory. During the time of the GDR, I wrote to East German officials about my experiences at the factory but they denied that such a factory existed. After reunification a plaque was placed outside the factory saying that a lot of people were forced to work there during the Second World War.”
-Michal Salomonovič, Dresden firebombing survivor
Mr. Salomonovič is photographed outside the factory at Schandauerstraße 68. His family was originally from Ostrava, Czech Republic and were deported by the Nazis from Prague when he was 8 years old to Lodz ghetto then to several concentration camps before being sent to Dresden to work as a forced laborer.On February 13th, 1945 the baroque city of Dresden, Germany was firebombed into cinder by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force. The attack was divided into three bombing raids dropping over 4,500 tons of high explosives, including incendiary bombs, onto the city known as “Florence on the Elbe.”
“It’s hard to put into words, it left a mark on our lives”
-Anita John, Dresden firebombing survivor
Anita John was twelve years old at the time of fire bombings. She lived with her family in Dresden-Johannstadt. Her family took shelter in a cellar with the other residents in the building. They did not evacuate the area and were caught unaware by the second attack. Fire was raging outside the steel cellar door. It was producing extremely high temperatures inside the cellar. Oxygen was quickly becoming scarce.
Anita and her family lay down on the floor together with the others. She covered her mouth with a damp bathrobe that helped her to breathe whilst smoke filled the cellar. At first they all survived the attacks, until the immense heat from the raging firestorm consumed all the oxygen inside the cellar. All, but one, died of smoke inhalation.
Sixteen hours later, a soldier looking through the ruins for his wife broke a small window accessible from the street. Oxygen came into the bunker. Only Anita woke up amongst the dead. Her parent’s bodies lay silent, close by on the floor. The soldier saw Anita’s body move and took her to the aid station. The water in the damp bathrobe had allowed just enough oxygen to keep Anita breathing.
The last memory Anita has of her parents is telling her father “I want to lie here”. Her mother responded, “Then let’s stay”. Anita grew up with her uncle.
Mrs. John was one of the few survivors I met who continued to live close to where she lived at the time of the bombings. I believed in some way it was a way for her to still be close to her parents. She is photographed in front of the destroyed Trinitatiskirche, where her parents were married and she was baptized.
On February 13th, 1945 the baroque city of Dresden, Germany was firebombed into cinder by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force. The attack was divided into three bombing raids dropping over 4,500 tons of high explosives, including incendiary bombs, onto the city known as “Florence on the Elbe.”
This portrait is a part of my From Above project which featured portraits of atomic bomb and firebombing survivors from WWII. My limited edition book is available at https://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=I1040&i=&i2=
“When we left the cellar our house was on fire, all the windows were shattered and we had to run. We lived on the fourth floor of a house in a poor area near the center of the city.
The worst thing wasn’t that our house was on fire – but my mother was Jewish. My father was not Jewish. So Hitler said I was mixed. Which is not true because if a mother is Jewish then the children are also Jewish. Before I was born my mother converted to Christianity but the authorities didn’t recognize this. We were a Christian family. I sang in the church choir and played with the Reverend’s kids.
In Dresden the Jewish population had been systematically persecuted, especially during Kristallnacht when 700 Polish Jews were expelled. In 1942, they wanted Dresden to be “Judenfrei”, free of the Jewish population. The remaining Jews were forced to wear a star on their clothing and work in the Zeiss Ikon armament factory which produced time fuses for the navy. They were evicted from their homes and forced to live in hastily built wooden barracks located in a camp called Judenlager Hellerberg on the outskirts of Dresden. In March 1943, they were deported to death camps. Of the 250 deported, there are 10 known survivors. It’s always easier to give the statistics but during all these deportations, I lost family and friends.
The day before Dresden was attacked the 17 remaining Jewish families received an order that they were required to report on February 16th for deportation to Theresienstadt. I still have a copy of the letter which is very rare. I only know one book that was published in the GDR times where one of these letters was printed. The journalists were courageous to have published it.”
-Norbert Schlechte, Dresden firebombing survivor
On February 13th, 1945 the baroque city of Dresden, Germany was firebombed into cinder by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force. The attack was divided into three bombing raids dropping over 4,500 tons of high explosives, including incendiary bombs, onto the city known as “Florence on the Elbe.”
Yesterday the Asahi newspaper in Nagasaki included my opinion about the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which was enacted as international law on January 22nd. A big thank you to Mizuki Enomoto for asking me to contribute to her article.
I began photographing atomic bomb survivors (hibakusha) in 2008 and will continue to do so until the last voice goes silent. In 2011 these portraits were published as a book, From Above. Everyday I think about the people I met in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Most have passed but their memory lives on when the treaty banning nuclear weapons arrives.
“Man developed nuclear weapons. We have to question the human heart. People can decide to abandon them. I believe we can abolish nuclear weapons.”
-Miyoko Matsubara, Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor
On
January 22nd the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will be enacted
as international law. I began photographing atomic bomb survivors
(hibakusha) in 2008 and will continue to do so until the last voice goes
silent.
In 2011 these portraits were published as a book, From
Above. Everyday I think about the survivors I met in Nagasaki and
Hiroshima. Most have passed but their memory lives on when the treaty
banning nuclear weapons arrives.
Mrs. Matsubara was 12 years old
when the atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima. Her story details the hard
life during and after the war and the passion she derived from living
through those years. The atomic bomb left her severely burned with
keloid scars covering most of the body. She experienced discrimination
because of her appearance. In 1953 she was selected to be part of the
Hiroshima Maidens program which made it possible for her to have
corrective and cosmetic surgeries.
After Mrs. Matsubara dedicated
her life to peace activism and helping other victims of war cope with
the aftermath. She raised her elder brother’s three young children when
he and his wife passed away. My memories of the afternoon I spent
with Mrs. Matsubara will be that she was always affable. Her spirit
instantly brightened the room. She had suffered a stroke a couple of
years prior but made it a priority to practice speaking English in the
mirror so she didn’t lose her motor skills. She spoke to me in perfect
English.
That afternoon was my only time with Mrs. Matsubara. I
still remember all the details vividly because she left a permanent
impression. She always had this glow about her. I feel lucky to have the
opportunity to call her my friend.
“When I sit to write my recollections of that time, I have to brace myself to confront my memories of Hiroshima. It is exceedingly painful to do this because I become overwhelmed by my memories of grotesque and massive destruction and death.”
-Setsuko Thurlow, Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor
On
January 22nd the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will be enacted
as international law. I began photographing Mrs. Thurlow in 2011. From
the moment we met her determination to fight for the abolition of
nuclear weapons was evident. She was 13 years old when the atomic bomb
destroyed Hiroshima. Mrs. Thurlow was a prominent advocate of the
treaty that will ban nuclear weapons. She has waited almost all her
life for this moment.
Everyday I think about the survivors I met
in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Most have passed but their memory lives on
when the treaty banning nuclear weapons arrives.
The Bowery was a Skid Row area mixed with posh fashion boutiques and art museums. Then the COVID-19 pandemic brought New York City to its knees. Nine months later it feels like a forgotten Purgatory in the armpit of the city.
