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NHK
11 hours ago
- General
- NHK
Japan's Emperor and Empress visit 2014 Hiroshima mudslide disaster site
Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako have visited an area in the city of Hiroshima that was devastated by a rain-triggered disaster 11 years ago. Localized downpours in August 2014 caused mudslides and landslides at a total of 166 locations in the city. Currents of mud and debris struck residential communities at the foot of the hills, resulting in 77 fatalities, including those who died later due to related causes. The couple visited the Yagi district in Asaminami Ward on Friday. The area suffered great losses of life from the disaster. Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko visited the district as reigning emperor and empress in 2014, four months after the catastrophe. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako were briefed by land ministry officials on the sand-control dam built at the site where houses had been swept away. The couple bowed in the direction of where 23 lives were lost. They went on to visit the Hiroshima City Torrential Rain Disaster Memorial Center, which exhibits the testimonies of survivors and documents rebuilding efforts based on the lessons learned from the disaster. The center was built in 2023. The Empress asked the director of the facility, who is a survivor himself, if his house had been completely destroyed. The Emperor asked how the survivors' accounts were collected. The couple also met with people who were affected by the disaster. The Emperor offered encouraging words to a survivor who lost his mother and his house in a mudslide.
CBS News
05-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
Holocaust survivors gather in Cooper City to share stories, warn of rising antisemitism
On Holocaust Survivor Day, more than 125 Holocaust survivors gathered in Cooper City, brought together by the Goodman Jewish Family Services organization. They got together to reflect on their harrowing pasts and express growing concern over the resurgence of antisemitism. Memories of a traumatized childhood Izabella Markovskaya and Willy Lipschutz, both infants during World War II, shared memories of lives uprooted by the Nazis. "We were running. We were trying to hide. That was my life. Many years again and again and again," said Markovskaya. "By the time I was six months old my father was taken away. Most my family was taken away. Somehow by miracle my mother was able to escape with me to Switzerland," Lipschutz recalled. After the war, he and his mother were the only family members to return to Belgium. "The [city] was just in a state of panics. Very very depressed. You know and I was put into a Jewish orphanage," he said. A warning for the future Despite the music and dancing with children at the commemorative event, both survivors say today's growing antisemitism is deeply disturbing. "Oh my God, I feel that I am about to die, and I am experiencing the same horrible situation I experienced as a baby. The antisemitism is growing. It's growing. It's growing. It's unbelievable," said Lipschutz. "I am thinking all the time about God. God give us freedom. Give us that freedom in the world," said Markovskaya. According to the Goodman Jewish Family Services, this event represents only a small portion of Broward County's approximately 1,500 Holocaust survivors.
