Tuesday, September 14, 2010

postheadericon Atomic Bomb Survivors

At 8:15 am on the 6th of August 1945, The United States of America intentionally detonated an atomic bomb about 1,900 feet above the Japanese city of Hiroshima directly killing about 80,000 citizens. Thousands more were also killed over the following year due to radiation sickness.

At the centre point, the destruction from the blast was particularly severe (which is expected) however, a community of Jesuit Fathers who were living in a presbytery near the church and situated less than a mile from the point of detonation were left unharmed from the explosion. The whole of eight priests lived the rest of their lives with absolutely no symptoms of any form of radiation illness. The building in which the priests were inside stood standing whereas every other structure around it was completely destroyed.

Father Hubert Shiffer, one of the eight Jesuit survivors recounted the event during a Eucharistic Congress in 1976. He stated that he had just finished mass, and had sliced a grapefruit. Immediately after placing his spoon in the fruit, there was a flash of light. He said “Suddenly, a terrific explosion filled the air with one bursting thunderstroke. An invisible force lifted me from the chair, hurled me through the air, shook me, battered me, whirled me ‘round and round like a leaf in a gust of autumn wind.”. The priest stated that when he opened his eyes, all buildings in every direction were levelled to the ground.
Scientists told Schiffer that his body would soon deteriorate and doctors informed him that he would not live for long. The same outcome was also predicted for the other priests however, despite the odds, each of the eight Priests bodies contained no radiation and they did not suffer any symptoms.