The Nagasaki Kid

Paul Abraham, watercolour - Apart from the compassion felt for this child before his fate and his sadness,

I was hit by his standing to attention posture, which indicates quite well the military yoke 

under which the Japanese civilian population was at the time.

A Boy Standing at a Crematory in Nagasaki, 1945
Watercolour from a photograph of Joe O’Donnell (USA 1922-2007)*

“Joe O’Donnell took photographs of Japan after the Second World War as a news photographer for the American military. Recently, he spoke to a Japanese interviewer about this picture of a boy standing amid burned ruins next to a crematory. The following is a paraphrase of what he said:
When I arrived at Nagasaki from Sasebo, I looked down at the city from the top of a low hill. I saw some men wearing white masks. They were working near a ditch full of burning coal. I noticed a boy about ten years old walking by. He was carrying a baby slung on his back. In those days, in Japan, it was common to see children playing in vacant lots with their little brothers or sisters on their backs, but this boy was clearly different. I could see that he had come to this burning ground for a serious purpose. He was barefoot. When he reached the edge of the crematory, he stopped and peered ahead with a fixed expression. The infant’s head was tipped back as if the baby was fast asleep.
The boy stood there, next to the area, for about ten minutes. The men in white masks walked over to him and gently began undoing the cords that were holding the baby. Then, I finally realized that the baby was already dead. The men held the baby by the hands and feet and placed him gently on the hot coals.
The infant’s body made a hissing sound as it was placed on fire. Then it lit up in brilliant flames like a deep red of the setting sun. The boy stood there erect and motionless with his innocent cheeks shining scarlet. I noticed that the lips of the boy were also streaked with red as he watched the flames. He was biting his lower lip so hard that it shone with blood. The flames burned low like the sun going down, and the boy turned around and walked silently away from the burning pit.”
 (Interview by Seiko Ueda) Nagasaki museum of the Atomic Bomb.

* Joe O’ Donnell War Photographer 1945 Japan. Link for other pictures
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/224546731395846700/
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