Not So Long Ago
A group of high school students is visiting a photo exhibition/featuring the 20th century. A museum guide speaks to the students.
Today I’m going to take you/back to the 20th century. It may seem to you like ancient history,/but in fact,/it really was not so long ago. The 300 photographs in this exhibition/show us the history of the past century.
The 20th century was an age of great progress/in science and communications. People’s lives became richer and more comfortable. People achieved greater freedom and equality,/and seemed to be closer/to the dream of living a happy life.
But it was also an age of terrible wars,/and tens of millions of people lost their lives. The photos here will show you/what people like you and me went through/in the 20th century. As you look at them,/ask yourself:/“How would you feel/if these were photos of your own family and friends?” Some will shock you;/some may make you sad or angry. But they will also give you a message for our future. First of all,/I would like to show you two photographs/which are particularly important to us.
This photograph was taken by an American photojournalist,/Joe O’Donnell,/in Nagasaki in 1945. He spoke to a Japanese interviewer about this picture:
“I saw a boy about 10 years old/walking by. He was carrying a baby/on his back. In those days in Japan,/we often saw children/playing with their little brothers or sisters on their backs,/but this boy was clearly different. I could see/that he had come to this place/for a serious reason. He was wearing no shoes. His face was hard. The little head was tipped back/as if the baby were fast asleep.
“The boy stood there/for 5 or 10 minutes. The men in white masks walked over to him/and quietly began to take off the rope/that was holding the baby. That is when I saw/that the baby was already dead. The men held the body by the hands and feet/and placed it on the fire.
“The boy stood there straight/without moving,/watching the flames. He was biting his lower lip so hard/that it shone with blood. The flame burned low/like the sun going down. The boy turned around/and walked silently away.”
Years later,/O’Donnell said:/“Children and their mothers/did not deserve to die to win a war.”
Now let’s take a look at this picture. I’m sure some of you have seen it before. It was taken at the time of the Vietnam War/in 1972. Here/a young girl,/Kim Phuc,/is running down a road in pain,/with her clothes burned off. This is what she once said/about the experience:
“I didn’t hear anything,/but I saw the fire around me. And suddenly/my clothes were gone/because of the fire. And I saw the fire over my body,/especially my arm. But my feet weren’t burned. I was crying,/and I was running out of the fire. I kept running and running and running.
“I was in the hospital. Fourteen months. I went through 17 operations/to repair the burns over half my body. And that thing changed my life. It made me think about how I could help people.
“When my parents first showed me the picture from the newspaper,/I couldn’t believe that it was me,/because it was so terrible. I want everybody to see that picture,/because in that picture/people can see what war is. It’s terrible for the children. You can see everything in my face. I want people to learn from it.”
So/photographs tell us a lot. They show us what happened in the past. They sometimes show us things we may not wish to see.
The 20th century was a century of war. There were two world wars,/a cold war,/and smaller wars/all over the world. A Japanese journalist even called the 20th century/“36,000 days of suffering.” It is perhaps difficult to find any sign of hope/in the photos here,/but we can/if we try.
Kim Phuc’s story is a good example. With warm support from a great many people,/she now enjoys a happy family life in Canada. She says,/“I have to show my son what happened to his mom,/to her country,/and that there should never be war again.”
When the 21st century began,/many of us hoped/that we were entering the century of peace,/but wars go on. However,/there is still time to change. If we can learn the lessons from the past,/history need not repeat itself.
Just remember/that what you have witnessed in this exhibition today/happened not so long ago.
A group of high school students is visiting a photo exhibition/featuring the 20th century. A museum guide speaks to the students.
Today I’m going to take you/back to the 20th century. It may seem to you like ancient history,/but in fact,/it really was not so long ago. The 300 photographs in this exhibition/show us the history of the past century.
The 20th century was an age of great progress/in science and communications. People’s lives became richer and more comfortable. People achieved greater freedom and equality,/and seemed to be closer/to the dream of living a happy life.
But it was also an age of terrible wars,/and tens of millions of people lost their lives. The photos here will show you/what people like you and me went through/in the 20th century. As you look at them,/ask yourself:/“How would you feel/if these were photos of your own family and friends?” Some will shock you;/some may make you sad or angry. But they will also give you a message for our future. First of all,/I would like to show you two photographs/which are particularly important to us.
This photograph was taken by an American photojournalist,/Joe O’Donnell,/in Nagasaki in 1945. He spoke to a Japanese interviewer about this picture:
“I saw a boy about 10 years old/walking by. He was carrying a baby/on his back. In those days in Japan,/we often saw children/playing with their little brothers or sisters on their backs,/but this boy was clearly different. I could see/that he had come to this place/for a serious reason. He was wearing no shoes. His face was hard. The little head was tipped back/as if the baby were fast asleep.
“The boy stood there/for 5 or 10 minutes. The men in white masks walked over to him/and quietly began to take off the rope/that was holding the baby. That is when I saw/that the baby was already dead. The men held the body by the hands and feet/and placed it on the fire.
“The boy stood there straight/without moving,/watching the flames. He was biting his lower lip so hard/that it shone with blood. The flame burned low/like the sun going down. The boy turned around/and walked silently away.”
Years later,/O’Donnell said:/“Children and their mothers/did not deserve to die to win a war.”
Now let’s take a look at this picture. I’m sure some of you have seen it before. It was taken at the time of the Vietnam War/in 1972. Here/a young girl,/Kim Phuc,/is running down a road in pain,/with her clothes burned off. This is what she once said/about the experience:
“I didn’t hear anything,/but I saw the fire around me. And suddenly/my clothes were gone/because of the fire. And I saw the fire over my body,/especially my arm. But my feet weren’t burned. I was crying,/and I was running out of the fire. I kept running and running and running.
“I was in the hospital. Fourteen months. I went through 17 operations/to repair the burns over half my body. And that thing changed my life. It made me think about how I could help people.
“When my parents first showed me the picture from the newspaper,/I couldn’t believe that it was me,/because it was so terrible. I want everybody to see that picture,/because in that picture/people can see what war is. It’s terrible for the children. You can see everything in my face. I want people to learn from it.”
So/photographs tell us a lot. They show us what happened in the past. They sometimes show us things we may not wish to see.
The 20th century was a century of war. There were two world wars,/a cold war,/and smaller wars/all over the world. A Japanese journalist even called the 20th century/“36,000 days of suffering.” It is perhaps difficult to find any sign of hope/in the photos here,/but we can/if we try.
Kim Phuc’s story is a good example. With warm support from a great many people,/she now enjoys a happy family life in Canada. She says,/“I have to show my son what happened to his mom,/to her country,/and that there should never be war again.”
When the 21st century began,/many of us hoped/that we were entering the century of peace,/but wars go on. However,/there is still time to change. If we can learn the lessons from the past,/history need not repeat itself.
Just remember/that what you have witnessed in this exhibition today/happened not so long ago.