Embedded in the ground near a bench within the square.

The monument consists of two memorial stones, both carved from Norwegian Syenite. One nine-meter-long 3.6-ton horizontal stone symbolizes an Altar of Remembrance, with its weight and size highlighting its great importance and inner power. A stone slab measuring 2.86 meters by 1.83 meters includes inscriptions in English, German, and Japanese languages and is embedded with stones initially contaminated by atomic bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The stone from Hiroshima (at the right side) came from a support to a streetcar track there, and that from Nagasaki (at the left side) was from the Shinto shrine Sann, about 800 meters from ground zero there - neither poses any radioactivity hazard now.

The monument is situated across the street from the so-called Truman House (now headquarters of the international organization Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom), where U.S. President Harry S. Truman lived while participating in the Potsdam Conference at the end of World War II.

At that house on 25 July 1945, President Truman reportedly decided to employ atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and force an end to the War with Japan. Both cities were leveled by the strikes, and this forced the Japanese Emperor, without his Cabinets consent, to decide on unconditional surrender to end the Pacific war on 10 August 1945.

The main initiators and coordinators for this memorial were the organization Hiroshima-Platz e.V. and Professor Doctor Hideto Sotobayashi, an eyewitness to the atomic blast in Nagasaki. Japanese artist Professor Makoto Fujiwara designed the memorial, and student artists from an exchange program between Hiroshima State University and Hannover University of Applied Sciences helped create it, supported by donations from Germany and primarily Hiroshima in Japan.

The complete monument and square where it is located were dedicated on 25 July 2010, on the 65^th anniversary of Trumans decision to conduct atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

Source of information: hiroshima-nagasaki-platz.de, www.potsdam-wiki.de, www.atlasobscura.com

First column text:

IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE ATOMIC BOMBS

THAT FELL ON HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI ON

AUGUST 6 AND AUGUST 9, 1945.

U.S. PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN RESIDED AT THE

VILLA OPPOSITE THIS MEMORIAL DURING THE

POTSDAM CONFERENCE OF THE ALLIED FORCES

FROM JULY 17 UNTIL AUGUST 2, 1945.

ON JULY 25, 1945 THE MILITARY ORDER TO DROP THE

ATOMIC BOMBS WAS ISSUED FROM WASHINGTON

D.C. WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE U.S. PRESIDENT.

THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF THE WEAPONS

BROUGHT DEATH TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF

PEOPLE AND DREADFUL SUFFERING TO MANY

MORE.

IN THE HOPE OF A NUCLEAR WEAPONS-FREE

WORLD.

OF THE STONES EMBEDDED ABOVE, THE LEFT IS

FROM NAGASAKI, THE RIGHT FROM HIROSHIMA. THE

STONES WERE CONTAMINATED WITH RADIATION

FROM THE ATOMIC BOMBS OF THOSE DAYS. NOW

THEY NO LONGER PRESENT ANY DANGER.

Second column text:

ZUM GEDENKEN AN DIE OPFER DER

ATOMBOMBENABWÜRFE AUF HIROSHIMA UND

NAGASAKI AM 6. AUGUST UND 9. AUGUST 1945

WÄHREND DEN POTSDAMER KONFERENZE DER

ALLIERTEN GROSSMÄCHTE VOM 17. JULI BIS ZUM 2.

AUGUST 1945 WOHNTE DER DAMALIGE PRÄSIDENT

DER VEREINIGTEN STAATEN VON AMERIKA HARRY S.

TRUMAN IN DER GEGENÜBERLIEGENDEN VILLA.

AM 25. JULI 1945 WURDE DIE MIT ZUSTIMMUNG DES

AMERIKANISCHEN PRÄSIDENTEN AUS WASHINGTON

D.C. DER MILITÄRISCHE BEFEHL ZUM ABWURF DER

ATOMBOMBEN ERTEILT.

DIE ZERSTÖRERISCHE KRAFT DER BOMBEN

BRACHTE HUNDERTTAUSENDFACHEN TOD UND

ENTSETZLICHES LEID UBER DIE MENSCHEN

IN DER HOFNUNG AUF EINE ATOMWAFFENFREIE

WELT

VON DEN OBEN EINGEBETTETEN STEINEN STAMM

DER LINKE AUS NAGASAKI, DER RECHTE AUS

HIROSHIMA. DIE STEINE WURDEN AN JENEN TAGE

DURCH DIE ATOMBOMBEN VERSTRAHLT. HEUTE

GEHT VON IHNEN KEINE GEFAHR MEHR.

Third column text:

( written in Japanese )