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President of Germany’s Bundesrat visits Hiroshima, grasps catastrophic consequences of atomic bombing

by Hidetoshi Arioka, Staff Writer

On July 4, Volker Bouffie, president of Germany’s Bundesrat (Federal Council), visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward, and toured the Peace Memorial Museum and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

After laying flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, Mr. Bouffie toured the museum for about an hour, guided by the director of the museum, Kenji Shiga. He studied a panoramic model of the city center which depicts the devastating aftermath of the atomic bombing, a charred lunchbox, and folded paper cranes made by Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who died of A-bomb-induced leukemia at the age of 12. He sighed in front of photographs which show badly burned victims and asked questions about the effects of radiation on the human body.

Mr. Bouffie wrote in the museum guest book that he will pray with all his heart that the A-bomb victims rest in peace. He said that he realized how miserable conditions were in the city after the atomic bomb was dropped and that he will help support the global movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Leading the economic and academic tour groups of Land Hessen, where he serves as minister-president, Mr. Bouffie visited Japan from July 1 to 5 accompanied by university professors and business managers. He met Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 2.

(Originally published on July 5, 2015)

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