were almost
daily observation planes over the city but none of them dropped a bomb.
The citizens wondered why they alone had remained undisturbed for so
long a time. There were fantastic rumors that the enemy had something
special in mind for this city, but no one dreamed that the end would
come in such a fashion as on the morning of August 6th.

August 6th began in a bright, clear, summer morning. About seven
o'clock, there was an air raid alarm which we had heard almost every
day and a few planes appeared over the city. No one paid any attention
and at about eight o'clock, the all-clear was sounded. I am sitting in
my room at the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Nagatsuke; during
the past half year, the philosophical and theological section of our
Mission had been evacuated to this place from Tokyo. The Novitiate is
situated approximately two kilometers from Hiroshima, half-way up the
sides of a broad valley which stretches from the town at sea level into
this mountainous hinterland, and through which courses a river. From
my window, I have a wonderful view down the valley to the edge of the
city.

Suddenly--the time is approximately 8:14--the whole valley is filled by
a garish light which resembles the magnesium light used in photography,
and I am conscious of a wave of heat. I jump to the window to find out
the cause of this remarkable phenomenon, but I see nothing more than
that brilliant yellow light. As I make for the door, it doesn't occur
to me that the light might have something to do with enemy planes. On
the way from the window, I hear a moderately loud explosion which seems
to come from a distance and, at the same time, the windows are broken
in with a loud crash. There has been an interval of perhaps ten
seconds since the flash of light. I am sprayed by fragments of glass.
The entire window frame has been forced into the room. I realize now
that a bomb has burst and I am under the impression that it exploded
directly over our house or in the immediate vicinity.

I am bleeding from cuts about the hands and head. I attempt to get out
of the door. It has been forced outwards by the air pressure and has
become jammed. I force an opening in the door by means of repeated
blows with my hands and feet and come to a broad hallway from which
open the various rooms. Everything is in a state of confusion. All
windows are broken and all the doors are forced inwards. The
bookshelves in the hallw