Nobel panel head hails A-bomb survivors' stories as "inspirational"
The testimonies of the aging survivors are "a force for change and a force for peace," the 40-year-old, who took part in the process of awarding the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading group of such survivors, said in an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo.
He emphasized the importance of hearing their stories before it is too late and taking action to ensure the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons are not forgotten.
Amid rising geopolitical instability, Frydnes noted that the "nuclear taboo," which survivors have been instrumental in establishing, is under threat.
He described awarding the Nobel Peace Prize as both sounding an "alarm bell" and "honoring those who have done a tremendous job of establishing the taboo."
Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, received the prestigious award for what the Nobel committee called "efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again."
The United States dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and detonated a second one above Nagasaki three days later. Japan surrendered six days after the Nagasaki bombing, bringing an end to World War II.
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