A correspondent stands in rubble before the shell of a movie theater in Hiroshima about a month after the United States dropped the first atomic bomb. The wrecked building still stands as a memorial.

FOR A LONG TIME the people of Hiroshima wondered why they alone were not being pounded by American bombs. Almost daily observation planes flew overhead. Occasionally bombs fell, but they did little damage-nothing in comparison with what was happening in other Japanese cities. Fantastic rumors circulated wildly that America had something special in store for us, but no one dreamed of the reality that was to come.

August the 6th dawned bright and clear. About seven o'clock there was an air-raid alarm. A few planes appeared over the city, but no one paid any attention. About eight o'clock, the "all-clear" signal was sounded. I was sitting in my room at the Jesuit novitiate in Nagatsuka, about two and a half miles from the center of Hiroshima, half way up the side of a mountain, overlooking the bright valley which stretches down to the sea. Suddenly-the time was approximately 8:14 -- the whole valley was filled by a garish light, like a magnesium flash by a giant photographer.

All at once I became conscious of a wave of heat, but could see only a brilliant yellow light. As I made for the door, perhaps ten seconds after the first flash of light, I heard a moderately loud explosion which seemed to come from directly over our house. Instantly all the windows in the house were broken. Fragments of glass were sprayed all over me. In no time I was bleeding from cuts about the hands and head. Everything around me was confusion-all the windows broken, all the doors forced in, and book shelves tumbled down. Most of the other Jesuits were injured by fragments of glass. A few were bleeding, but none seriously so.

Down in the valley a half mile away, several peasant homes caught fire. Over the city clouds of smoke were rising, and I heard a few indistinct explosions. Perhaps a half an hour later, a long file of desperate people began to stream up the valley from the city. Some came to our house, their steps heavy and dragging, their faces blackened, all of them bleeding or suffering from burns, some with horrible wounds of the extremities and back. We brought them into the chapel, put them to rest on the straw mats, and gave them all the aid we could, but our small supply of grease was soon used up. Fr. [Pedro] Arrupe, our rector, had studied medicine before becoming a Jesuit and was everywhere among the injured as long as the bandages and drugs lasted, but at length we had to be content merely to cleanse the wounds, as more and more of the injured came pouring in to us.

Fr. Johannes Siemes, SJ, born in Cologne in 1907, joined the Jesuits in 1927. After studies and ministry in Holland, Ireland, and Japan, he was ordained in 1937. After years of service to Sophia University in Tokyo that began in 1940, he died in 1983 in Gora, Japan, as a member of the Japanese Province.

BY NOON our large chapel and library were filled, but the procession of refugees from the city continued. Among them was Fr. [Peter] Kopp, bleeding about the head and neck, and with a large burn on his right palm. He was standing in front of the convent of the Helpers of the Holy Souls at the outskirts of the city ready to go home when all of a sudden he became aware of a light, felt the wave of heat and a large blister forming on the palm of his hand. He thought the bomb had fallen on his immediate vicinity. Fire broke out at once all around him so that there was time to rescue only a few things from the convent before the whole district was swept by flames. He and the Sisters had to fight their way back to us along the shore of the river and through the burning streets.

Soon news came that the entire city had been destroyed, that the whole city was on fire. Outside, the roads were jammed with burned, bleeding, frightened people. Among them there were many who were uninjured. Distraught by the magnitude of the disaster, they rushed by without a thought of organizing help for the others. It became clear to us later that the Japanese displayed little initiative, preparedness, and organizational skill in meeting this catastrophe. They despaired of any rescue work when something could have been saved by cooperative effort, and fatalistically they let the catastrophe take its course. When we urged them to take part in the rescue work, they did everything we told them willingly, but on their own they did very little.

Down in the center of the city we knew that Fr. [Hugo] LaSalle, our superior, and three of the Fathers were trapped. About four o'clock in the afternoon, we learned that the church, the parish house, and the adjoining buildings had all burned down, and that Fr. LaSalle and Fr. [Wilhelm] Schiffer had been seriously injured and were unable to walk. Six of us hurried with Fr. Rector down to the city. The closer we got to the city, the greater the destruction, and the more difficult it became to make our way. Twice we were forced down into the river itself to escape the flames.

A LARGE NUMBER of the people had taken refuge in the park, though all the paths and bridges were blocked by fallen trees. Fires still flared up in the distance giving out an eerie light, but finally at the far corner of the park on the river bank itself, we came upon our colleagues. Fr. Schiffer was lying on the ground, deathly pale. He had lost so much blood from a deep cut behind his ear that we feared for his life. Fr. Superior had a deep wound on his leg. Fr. [Hubert] Cieslik and Fr. [Wilhelm] Kleinsorge had minor injuries but were completely exhausted.

Bit by bit they told us of their experiences. At a quarter after eight, they saw the intense light, and immediately heard the sound of breaking windows, walls and furniture. They were showered with glass splinters and fragments of wreckage. Fr. Schiffer was buried beneath a portion of wall and suffered a severe head injury. Fr. Superior was sprayed with splinters in his back and legs which made him bleed copiously. They, too, had the impression that the bomb burst in their immediate vicinity. All the buildings around them collapsed at once, and from every pile of ruins there arose piteous cries for help. Frs. LaSalle and Schiffer, despite their wounds, aided as many as they could and lost a great deal of blood in the process, but when fires swept closer and closer, they had to flee for their lives.

Mr. Fukai, secretary of the mission, went almost out of his mind and would not leave the scene until Fr. Kleinsorge dragged him out of the house on his back and forcibly carried him away. Beneath the wreckage of houses all along the streets many were trapped and screamed to be rescued. They were beyond hope, for the flames would be upon them before anyone could dig them out of the ruins. Mr. Fukai refused to go further, and has not been heard from since.

We were fortunate to have a rescuing angel who saved us-a Japanese Protestant pastor [Rev. Kiyoshi Tanimoto of the Hiroshima Methodist Church, according to John Hersey in a New York Times article] came by in a boat and insisted on taking our wounded upstream to safety. Fr. Schiffer, who was more seriously wounded, was taken first. Several children were rescued from the river on the way, but soon died. They had been severely burned. Fr. Cieslik offered to go home by foot to make room for others in the boat.

By midnight we were still working, caring for the wounded and trying to carry our own back to Nagatsuka [the novitiate]. Wires, beams, ruins, and rubble blocked every street and every passage. In the dark it was impossible to see. Again and again we fell, carrying the stretchers with us to the ground. Fr. Schiffer became unconscious. Fr. LaSalle joked each time he fell, though it must have been very painful because his back was full of fragments of glass. The expedition had taken almost twelve hours. Normally we could have gone into the city and back in two hours. Early in the morning I had two hours' sleep, then said Mass in thanksgiving, for it was the 7th of August, the anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus.

Military medics offer medical assistance to survivors of the bomb in Hiroshima. More than 60,000 were killed by the explosion; tens of thousands of others died later from the radioactive fallout.

The next day was spent rescuing victims along the roads. There were no rescue parties in evidence anywhere in the city. People we had helped to safety the day before were sitting and lying in the same places we had put them. More than 30 hours passed before the first official rescue party arrived.

By the time we got back to Nagatsuka it was dark again. We had with us 50 refugees, most of whom were wounded, many of them dangerously burned, all of them, even those with less serious burns, very weak and helpless. Our relief work was a greater boost for Christianity in the eyes of the people than all our work in the preceding long years. Few of those whom we cared for died. In the official aid station a good third or a half of those who had been brought in died. They lay about almost without care-everything was lacking, doctors, assistants, dressings, drugs, etc.

THE MAGNITUDE OF THE DISASTER that befell Hiroshima on August 6th was only slowly pieced together in my mind. What happened, now that I have a chance to see the whole picture, is this: As a result of the explosion of the bomb at 8:15 almost the entire city was destroyed at a single blow. Only small outlying districts in the southern and eastern part of the town escaped complete destruction. The bomb exploded over the center of the city. As a result of the blast, small Japanese houses which made up 99 percent of the buildings in the city collapsed at once or were blown away. Those who were in the houses were buried in the ruins. Those who were in the open sustained burns, resulting from contact with a substance or rays emitted by the bomb. When the substance struck in quantity, fire sprang up and spread rapidly. The heat which arose from the ground was so intense as to create a minor whirlwind sweeping the fire across the whole city. Those who had been caught beneath the ruins could not be freed in time to escape. Up to three miles from the center of the explosion, all houses were damaged, and many collapsed and caught fire. Even seven miles away windows were broken.

How many people fell victims of this one bomb? Hiroshima had a population of 400,000. Official statistics up to September 1st place the number of dead at 70,000, 130,000 wounded, among them 43,500 seriously so, and many thousands missing.

Thousands of wounded who died later could have been saved if they had received proper treatment, but there was no adequate rescue work during that catastrophe. Many of the wounded died because they had been weakened by undernourishment. Those who had normal strength and who had received good care slowly recovered from the burns occasioned by the Atomic bomb. There were also cases of wounded people, however, who started to recover and then died suddenly. Some who had only small external burns died within a week after inflammation of the pharynx and mouth.

Several cases are known to me personally where individuals, who did not have any external burns, later died. Frs. Kleinsorge and Cieslik, who were near the center of the explosion, were badly cut but did not suffer any burns.

Fourteen days after the explosion, their simple cuts had healed normally, but the ones which were still unhealed became worse, and in October were still incompletely healed. There cannot be any doubt but that the rays, whatever they were, had some effect on the blood. I am of the opinion, however, that the general undernourished and weakened condition of so many people was apparently responsible for the large number of deaths. It was rumored that the ruined city would emit deadly rays for some time. I doubt that, because I myself and many others who worked in the ruined area for several hours after the explosion suffered no ill effects whatsoever.

It was an incredible catastrophe, and yet almost strangest of all, the Japanese people here showed no bitterness toward America. Great good can yet be brought out of all this tragedy, and of all the nations on earth today, America is in the best position to help us lead these people to the knowledge, love, and service of the one true God.