“Newborn death rates skyrocketed in the nine months after the bombing: 43% of pregnancies in which the fetus was exposed within a quarter-mile of the hypocenter ended in spontaneous abortion, stillbirth or infant death. Young mothers giving birth in the ruins did not know it yet, but even those infants who survived would face severe physical and mental disabilities. For years, tens of thousands of hibakusha (‘atomic bomb-affected people’) suffered agonizing radiation-related illnesses. Many died. Meanwhile, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s occupation press code censored Japanese news accounts, personal testimonies, photographs and scientific research on the survivors’ conditions.”

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0809-southard-atomic-bomb-survivors-20150806-story.html

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