Group from Hiroshima University to visit Czech Republic and donate fragments of A-bomb Dome to relative of architect
Aug. 30, 2016
by Eriko Shintani, Staff Writer
From September 12 to 18, members of a student group from Hiroshima University will visit the Czech Republic, the homeland of Jan Letzel, the architect who designed the former Hiroshima Commercial Exhibition Hall, a building which became the A-bomb Dome after the atomic bombing. The members of the group will meet a relative of the late Mr. Letzel for the first time and donate several fragments of the building to him. The group is now gathering these fragments.
Four people, including Rebun Kayo, 38, a researcher at the university and the head of the group, will travel to the Czech Republic. A local guide, who the group members became acquainted with when they visited that nation two times previously, will introduce them to the son of Mr. Letzel’s niece, a man in in his 70s. Their travel expenses will be covered by the university.
According to the university, the group has been retrieving fragments of the A-bomb Dome from the nearby Motoyasu River since around 2010. The A-bomb Dome, located in Naka Ward, was the Hiroshima Commercial Exhibition Hall at the time of the atomic bombing. The members of the group have been sending fragments of the building to universities overseas as material evidence to convey the tremendous damage caused by the atomic bombing. There are also fragments on display at the Hiroshima University Institute of the History of Medicine located in Minami Ward.
(Originally published on August 30, 2016)
From September 12 to 18, members of a student group from Hiroshima University will visit the Czech Republic, the homeland of Jan Letzel, the architect who designed the former Hiroshima Commercial Exhibition Hall, a building which became the A-bomb Dome after the atomic bombing. The members of the group will meet a relative of the late Mr. Letzel for the first time and donate several fragments of the building to him. The group is now gathering these fragments.
Four people, including Rebun Kayo, 38, a researcher at the university and the head of the group, will travel to the Czech Republic. A local guide, who the group members became acquainted with when they visited that nation two times previously, will introduce them to the son of Mr. Letzel’s niece, a man in in his 70s. Their travel expenses will be covered by the university.
According to the university, the group has been retrieving fragments of the A-bomb Dome from the nearby Motoyasu River since around 2010. The A-bomb Dome, located in Naka Ward, was the Hiroshima Commercial Exhibition Hall at the time of the atomic bombing. The members of the group have been sending fragments of the building to universities overseas as material evidence to convey the tremendous damage caused by the atomic bombing. There are also fragments on display at the Hiroshima University Institute of the History of Medicine located in Minami Ward.
(Originally published on August 30, 2016)
