Surviving Hiroshima

A Young Woman's Story

By: Douglas Wellman, Anthony Drago

Narrated by: Douglas Wellman

On August 6, 1945, 22-year-old Kaleria Pachikoff was doing pre-breakfast chores when a blinding flash lit the sky over Hiroshima, Japan. A moment later, everything went black as the house collapsed on her and her family. Their world, and everyone else's, changed as the first atomic bomb was detonated over a city.

From Russian nobility, the Palchikoffs barely escaped death at the hands of Bolshevik revolutionaries until her father, a White Russian officer, hijacked a ship to take them to safety in Hiroshima. Safety was short-lived. Her father, a talented musician, established a new life for the family, but the outbreak of World War II created a cloud of suspicion that led to his imprisonment and years of deprivation for his family.

After the bombing, trapped in the center of previously unimagined devastation, Kaleria summoned her strength to come to the aid of bomb victims, treating the never-before seen effects of radiation. Fluent in English, Kaleria was soon recruited to work with Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s occupation forces in a number of secretarial positions until the family found a new life in the United States.

Heavily based on quotes from Kaleria's memoirs written immediately after World War II and transcripts of United States Army Air Force interviews with her, her story is an emotional and sometime chilling story of courage and survival in the face of one of history’s greatest catastrophes.

©2020 Anthony Drago and Douglas Wellman (P)2021 Anthony Drago and Douglas Wellman

Hiroshima

The very personal experience of Kaleria of the atomic bomb blast, recounted in her own words makes this story unforgettable. The authors’ inclusion of the context of World War II and the Japanese ideology of no surrender helps the reader understand the larger vision. Also, the family’s aristocratic background in Russia increases the readers respect for their survival instincts. They lost everything, including their aristocratic persona, but continued pursuing life, appreciating the ordinary.

Wonderful book!

This wonderful book about a young girl that survived the bombing of Hiroshima was better than my expectations! It was very enlightening without being an awful ugly story. The author was able to draw you into the story and the characters. Well thought out, and very easy to follow the story line.
I hope you too will enjoy it as much as I did.

Incredible Story and History Brought to Life with this book

The reading was clear and the added touch of the violin and change of narrators voice reading the main character, Kaleria’s accounts, brought the story to life.

An amazing story. Thank you for sharing it!

May everyone in the world learn from it! Prayers go to all that have been affected by terrible war times.

Moving historical and personal perspectives

Well written and informative tale of one family’s journey from Russia to Hiroshima to the United States.