Dear friend,

At 8:15, on 6th August 1945, I, then a 13-year-old schoolgirl, witnessed my city of Hiroshima blinded by the flash, flattened by the hurricane-like blast, burned in the heat of 4000 degrees Celsius and contaminated by the radiation of one atomic bomb. A bright summer morning turned to dark twilight with smoke and dust rising in the mushroom cloud, dead and injured covering the ground, begging desperately for water and receiving no medical care at all. The spreading firestorm and the foul stench of burnt flesh filled the air.

Many survivors of the nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki have died in recent years with their dreams of nuclear abolition unfulfilled. Their motto was, “abolition in our lifetime”.

A month ago, I took a part in a truly extraordinary event. On 7th July 2017, a majority of countries in the world adopted a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. I had been waiting for this day for seven decades and I am overjoyed that it has finally arrived.

The treaty categorically prohibits nuclear weapons and creates obligations to support the victims of nuclear weapons use and testing, as well as to remediate the environmental damage caused by nuclear weapons. This is a historic breakthrough – the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons.

On 20 September, this treaty will open for signature at the United Nations, and all governments are invited to join it.

You can find out more information about the treaty and the signing and ratification process on

Will you help us get your government to sign the treaty?

You can send an email to your government here, telling them you want them to sign the treaty!

The number of people who remember the catastrophic humanitarian suffering caused by nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are dwindling. For those of us who remain, we are proud that we have banned nuclear weapons in our lifetime.

Yours sincerely,

Setsuko Thurlow
Peace activist and survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima