Eighty years ago, Hiroshima, and then Nagasaki, became symbols not only of war’s horror, but of its devastating escalation.

They were the first - and the only - cities in history to suffer the devastation of nuclear weapons. Tens of thousands of people were killed instantly; hundreds of thousands more would suffer the consequences for years, decades, and generations to come.

In Hiroshima, 92% of nurses and 90% of doctors were killed. Eighty percent of the city’s medical infrastructure was destroyed. Those who survived were left with severe injuries, radiation sickness, and little to no medical care.

Yet, almost unbelievably, the atomic bombs dropped on those cities were, by today’s standards, relatively small.