In sharp contrast to the people's suffering and understanding of what has happened comes a message over Japanese radio stating that Hiroshima has been attacked by B-29s. A new kind of bomb is believed to have been used and the "details are being investigated." No one in Hiroshima hears the broadcast by the American president saying that it was an atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima, more powerful than 20,000 tons of TNT.
Suffering and lack of help are the basic themes of this chapter. Mr. Tanimoto finds a doctor who explains that the badly wounded will die. As the doctor puts it, "We can't bother with them." At about the same time, looking for fresh water, Father Kleinsorge finds along the way twenty men with completely burned faces, hollow eye sockets, and cheeks streaked with fluid from their melted eyes. Their injuries indicate they were facing upward at the time of the bombing. Their mouths are mere wounds, swollen and covered with pus. Father Kleinsorge forms a straw from a grass blade to give them water.
Despite his numbness from the sight of such pain and suffering, Father Kleinsorge demonstrates acts of kindness and almost cries when such actions are proffered to him. Father Kleinsorge meets two children who are separated from their mother and questions them. Their family name is Kataoka. He asks the Novitiate to send a cart for the children. Feeling weak, he talks with a woman who hands him a tealeaf to chew so that he will not feel so thirsty. Her gentleness makes him want to cry. Earlier Father Kleinsorge arranged for a handcart to take Mrs. Nakamura and her children to the Novitiate. The cart arrives and the Nakamuras leave for safety. Later Mrs. Nakamura finds out that her entire family has been killed. As he leaves for the Novitiate on foot, Father Kleinsorge sees the massive destruction all around the city. He reaches the Novitiate. Sick and exhausted, he goes to bed.
