HIROSHIMA (ANN/YOMIURI SHIMBUN) — Charles Oppenheimer, grandson of Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” visited Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima for the first time on Saturday.
Oppenheimer, 49, met atomic bomb survivor Keiko Ogura, 86, who at the park had shared her experience with the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit held in the city of Hiroshima last May.
Oppenheimer asked Ogura about her experiences during the atomic bombing while they toured the G7 Hiroshima Summit Commemorative Gallery together. He also wrote a message of hope for peace and words of gratitude in her notebook that she received as a gift from US President Joe Biden.
Oppenheimer said that when he saw the city of Hiroshima, he felt hope about the fact that even after the terrible war and bombing, it was restored to such a beautiful state.
Concerning the increasingly tense international situation, including Russia’s prolonged aggression against Ukraine, Oppenheimer said that we need to avoid a nuclear war, and should start with dialogue between nations to see how we can take constructive steps toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Ogura said, “He told me that it was very difficult for him to identify himself as Oppenheimer. It also took me decades to tell my atomic bomb experience. I felt that we are connected to each other, even if it is only through this one point in history.”
Oppenheimer lives in San Francisco and came to Japan to give a lecture and meet with atomic bomb survivors.
