EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT - 2

At about four o’clock in the afternoon, a theology student
and two kindergarten children, who lived at the Parish
House and adjoining buildings which had burned down,
came in and said that Father Superior LaSalle and Father
Schiffer had been seriously injured and that they had taken
refuge in Asano Park on the river bank. It is obvious that
we must bring them in since they are too weak to come
here on foot.
Hurriedly, we get together two stretchers and seven of
us rush toward the city. Father Rektor comes along with
food and medicine. The closer we get to the city, the greater
is the evidence of destruction and the more difficult it is to
make our way. The houses at the edge of the city are all
severely damaged. Many have collapsed or burned down.
Further in, almost all of the dwellings have been damaged
by fire. Where the city stood, there is a gigantic burnedout
scar. We make our way along the street on the river
bank among the burning and smoking ruins. Twice we are
forced into the river itself by the heat and smoke at the
level of the street.
Frightfully burned people beckon to us. Along the way,
there are many dead and dying. On the Misasi Bridge, which
leads into the inner city we are met by a long procession of
soldiers who have suffered burns. They drag themselves
along with the help of staves or are carried by their less
severely injured comrades...an endless procession of the
unfortunate.
Abandoned on the bridge, there stand with sunken heads
a number of horses with large burns on their flanks. On the
far side, the cement structure of the local hospital is the
only building that remains standing. Its interior, however,
has been burned out. It acts as a landmark to guide us on
our way.
Finally we reach the entrance of the park. A large proportion
of the populace has taken refuge there, but even
the trees of the park are on fire in several places. Paths and
bridges are blocked by the trunks of fallen trees and are

almost impassable. We are told that a high wind, which
may well have resulted from the heat of the burning city,
has uprooted the large trees. It is now quite dark. Only the
fires, which are still raging in some places at a distance,
give out a little light.
At the far corner of the park, on the river bank itself, we
at last come upon our colleagues. Father Schiffer is on the
ground pale as a ghost. He has a deep incised wound behind
the ear and has lost so much blood that we are concerned
about his chances for survival. The Father Superior
has suffered a deep wound of the lower leg. Father Cieslik
and Father Kleinsorge have minor injuries but are completely
exhausted.
While they are eating the food that we have brought along,
they tell us of their experiences. They were in their rooms
at the Parish House—it was a quarter after eight, exactly
the time when we had heard the explosion in Nagatsuke—
when came the intense light and immediately thereafter the
sound of breaking windows, walls and furniture. They were
showered with glass splinters and fragments of wreckage.
Father Schiffer was buried beneath a portion of a wall and
suffered a severe head injury. The Father Superior received
most of the splinters in his back and lower extremity from
which he bled copiously. Everything was thrown about in
the rooms themselves, but the wooden framework of the
house remained intact. The solidity of the structure which
was the work of Brother Gropper again shone forth.
They had the same impression that we had in Nagatsuke:
that the bomb had burst in their immediate vicinity. The
Church, school, and all buildings in the immediate vicinity
collapsed at once. Beneath the ruins of the school, the children
cried for help. They were freed with great effort. Several
others were also rescued from the ruins of nearby
dwellings. Even the Father Superior and Father Schiffer
despite their wounds, rendered aid to others and lost a great
deal of blood in the process.
In the meantime, fires which had begun some distance
away are raging even closer, so that it becomes obvious
that everything would soon burn down. Several objects
are rescued from the Parish House and were buried in a
clearing in front of the Church, but certain valuables and
necessities which had been kept ready in case of fire could
not be found on account of the confusion which had been
wrought. It is high time to flee, since the oncoming flames
leave almost no way open. Fukai, the secretary of the Mission,
is completely out of his mind. He does not want to
leave the house and explains that he does not want to survive
the destruction of his fatherland. He is completely
uninjured. Father Kleinsorge drags him out of the house
on his back and he is forcefully carried away.
Beneath the wreckage of the houses along the way, many
have been trapped and they scream to be rescued from the

oncoming flames. They must be left to their fate. The way
to the place in the city to which one desires to flee is no
longer open and one must make for Asano Park. Fukai
does not want to go further and remains behind. He has
not been heard from since. In the park, we take refuge on
the bank of the river. A very violent whirlwind now begins
to uproot large trees, and lifts them high into the air. As it
reaches the water, a waterspout forms which is approximately
100 meters high. The violence of the storm luckily
passes us by. Some distance away, however, where numerous
refugees have taken shelter, many are blown into the
river. Almost all who are in the vicinity have been injured
and have lost relatives who have been pinned under the
wreckage or who have been lost sight of during the flight.
There is no help for the wounded and some die. No one
pays any attention to a dead man lying nearby.