The Silent Witness is an 18-minute documentary produced by Life Stories that centers on the testimony of Tomiko Morimoto West, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Born in Hiroshima in 1932, Tomiko was just thirteen years old on August 6, 1945, when the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on her hometown. Her story is both a personal account of unimaginable loss and a powerful call for peace.

At the moment of the bombing, Tomiko was working at a military factory and witnessed a blinding white flash… no sound… before being thrown to the ground. The wall of the building shielded her from the worst of the blast. In the chaos that followed, she fled to a nearby mountain and took shelter in a cave. Over the following days, she returned to the devastated city to search for her family. She eventually found her grandfather’s remains and cremated them herself using gathered wood, determined to give him dignity in death.

Tomiko’s story is a rare firsthand account of the bombing’s immediate aftermath, told with clarity, restraint, and emotional depth. In the documentary, she describes walking through the city among the wounded and the dead, seeing people with melted skin and hearing desperate cries for water. These experiences, she explains, shaped her lifelong commitment to opposing war and nuclear weapons. “I just want to make my point that war is not good,” she says in the film. Her testimony is not only a warning to future generations but also an invitation to reflect on human resilience and the value of peace.

After the war, Tomiko moved to the United States, where she married an American soldier and eventually became a professor of Japanese at Vassar College in New York. Though she rarely spoke publicly about her experience in Hiroshima for many years, in recent decades she began sharing her story with students, peace organizations, and the public. Her voice has become especially important as the number of living hibakusha—atomic bomb survivors—continues to decline.

The Silent Witness is part of the Kunhardt Film Foundation’s “Life Stories” series and is used in educational settings across the country. The film includes a companion guide for middle and high school teachers, helping students engage with the historical, ethical, and emotional dimensions of the atomic bombings.

Now in her 90s, Tomiko Morimoto West continues to be a quiet but powerful advocate for peace. Her life bridges continents and generations, and her story preserves the memory of Hiroshima not only as a site of destruction, but also as a call to conscience.

Credits:
Courtesy of the Life Stories
Film: The Silent Witness: A Survivor’s Story of Hiroshima.
More information: https://www.lifestories.org/films-series/the-silent-witness