Bikini Atoll is known for two things: nuclear testing and the women's swimsuit of the same name. However, few people know that Bikini was the site of one of the most cynical acts of genocide of the mid-20th century. After all, the Bikini atoll was not uninhabited, a tribe of Bikinians lived on it safely and peacefully, who from ancient times were engaged in copra and fishing.
This atoll was discovered by the Russian navigator Otto Evstafievich Kotzebue in 1825. Since then, this atoll, which is part of the Marshall Islands, or rather, the Ralik chain, passed from hand to hand. At first, the Spaniards encroached on its territory. They later sold the island to Germany along with the rest of the Marshall Islands. At the beginning of the 20th century, the islands were invaded by the Japanese, and in 1944 Bikini Island was "liberated" by the Americans. Ironically, no occupier has played a more destructive role in Bikini's life than the liberators.
Tragic visit
One cloudless day in February 1946, when the natives out of habit were fishing and enjoying the tropical sun, US Navy warships appeared on the horizon. They did not cause any concern. The Bikinians were well acquainted with the American sailors, who for years convinced them of mutually beneficial friendship and alliance against militaristic Japan. On the part of the natives, this alliance was simply to agree to any requests from the Yankees.
This time, Commodore Ben Wyatt and his retinue stepped onto the beach sand. King Ralik Jamata was among her. Naturally, this was an absolutely puppet and nominal figure who was simply "respected". And the commodore dragged him along because of the delicacy of the issue that needed to be resolved.
By tradition, the guests were seated at an impromptu table and fish was served. After the gala banquet, we got down to business. The Commodore first boasted to the natives of how the Yankees dealt with the evil Japanese by dropping two nuclear bombs on them. Then he explained to the “savages” that all this was only for the sake of protecting such modest peoples as the Bikinians and the Marshalls in general. And finally, he told the good-natured aborigines that a "big boat" would come for them and take them away to another island, since the atoll is needed by the United States to test a new bomb. Of course, for the sake of peace on earth.
The islanders were completely dazed. The situation was further complicated by the fact that King Jemite, who was brought in with his luggage, was considered king, but each island had its own leader, whose voice mattered. In addition, Bikini was the real and only true homeland for the islanders, because most of the natives of other islands did not see their archipelago, and did not particularly seek to see.
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The Commodore made it clear that it was time for the wedding general to work, i.e. King Jamate. The king repeated about the same words, reminding that Americans know how to be generous and will thank the Bikini people. And for a while they will be given another island to live.
It should also be added that in the language of the natives there was no concept of emigration, i.e. "Departure forever". For them, any departure was temporary and assumed a mandatory return, but the Yankees did not want to delve into these subtleties at all. And without that, the "exceptional nation" spent too much time on some "Papuans". In addition, the Americans were not sure whether the Bikini Atoll would remain “afloat” after the nuclear bombing.
Finally, the leader of the Bikinians, who by that time numbered no more than 200 people, after consulting with the elders, agreed to move. And he had no choice. The natives were extremely small in number, peace-loving and, of course, they could not think that big people on big ships could covet their piece of paradise.
The beginning of a terrible path
At first, the natives were offered two islands: Lae and Udzhae, on which the tribe was to settle separately. But the tribe showed remarkable tenacity, declaring that they did not want to be divided. Finally, the Yankees offered the Bikinians to move to Rongerik, which is 220 km east of their home. No one was interested in the fact that, according to local beliefs, the island was cursed, the fish was considered poisoned there, and an evil spirit lived on the island itself. Prejudice is prejudice, but it never occurred to anyone to pay a little attention to their sources.
The elders agreed to this. Soon a landing ship moored at Bikini, and the loading of the population began. In advance, on Rongerik, a detachment of sappers built four pools for the natives to collect rainwater, dug a couple of cesspools and set up 26 tents, and this was the end of the "improvement" of the island.
The next day, trembling with fear, the Bikinians saw their new home. The American sailors were even less diplomatic and caring than Commodore Wyatt. Quickly landing their passengers on the island, they left the natives with a supply of canned food for a couple of weeks and departed back to civilization, to beautiful cars, baseball and the ubiquitous cola.
Meanwhile, Operation Crossroads was unfolding on Bikini Atoll. Dozens of ships were driven into the once paradise lagoon of the atoll, among which were four battleships, two aircraft carriers, two cruisers, submarines, landing ships, etc. The crews of these ships were pigs, goats, mice, rats and harmless guinea pigs.
In addition, there is still debate about the main reason for the nuclear tests in Bikini Atoll. So, in addition to intimidating the former ally in the face of the USSR and obtaining some scientific data, the Americans, according to some historians, were solving a cynical financial “intra-clan” problem. In the highest circles of the United States, as usual, they fought a battle for budget funding. Fans of the nuclear bomb from the Air Force have been convincing for a long time that now the most expensive military toy on the planet, namely the fleet, has lost its former weight, and, therefore, it is time to divide the freed up financial resources between other branches of the military.
The Navy, of course, strongly disagreed with this statement of the question. And so the plan for Operation Crossroads was born, the results of which were to prove the importance of the fleet even after the appearance of a new type of weapon. Moreover, the "father of the atomic bomb" himself, Robert Oppenheimer, called the operation a "propaganda campaign" of the Navy, in which he, as a scientist, refused to take part.
On July 1, 1946, the "loudest" advertising campaign in all possible senses in the world took place. Test "Able" with a bomb yield of 23 kilotons raised its mushroom over the lagoon of Bikini Atoll. And already on July 25, having increased the number of target targets, the Americans conducted an underwater atomic bomb explosion. This time, an increase in radiation was recorded almost throughout the planet. However, the Yankees, now ardent advocates of ecology, were engaged in all sorts of formal replies.
New life"
Naturally, in those days, when the United States was safely polluting not only the World Ocean, but the entire atmosphere as a whole, no one remembered the Bikinians. But it was these people who were closest to the epicenter of the explosion. But even realizing this danger, the aborigines would hardly have worried about the impending general oncological ailment - they had much more pressing concerns.
It turned out that the "eternal" gratitude to the United States ended as quickly as the canned food given to them by American sailors. It soon became clear that the resources of Rongerik Island were unable to support the existing population of Bikinians. The ocean in the Rongerik region was too rough, and the powerful currents were unfamiliar to the natives. Only a year after the eviction of the natives in 1947, a doctor visited them and made the disappointing conclusion that almost all Bikinians have health problems due to chronic malnutrition.
The unfortunate natives, abandoned to their fate, even began to eat fish unfamiliar to them out of despair, so the number of severe poisoning jumped up. Anemia and rickets have become commonplace. How not to remember the evil spirit, which, according to legends, lived on the island. As the author already wrote, every "evil spirit" has a completely material and logical basis.
This is how Dr. Macmillan, who was specially sent to conduct research, described the situation with the Bikinians:
But where to transport the natives? This question irritated the new American administration of the islands to the extreme. Soon they decided to add them to the Ujelang Atoll. The natives, whose numbers had already been reduced, immediately agreed. Hurried preparations for the move began. Suddenly the leader was stunned by the news that the plan had failed. The fact is that Ujelang atoll has already been "booked" for the population of another atoll, which the Americans planned to blow up. The residents of Ujelang were supposed to be aborigines from Enewetok Atoll, whose evacuation was no longer as peaceful as on Bikini. On some of the natives of Eniwetok, the US Army eventually used force.
The Bikinians continued to die on a land alien to them. Finally, the Americans decided to relocate them, again, "temporarily", to their military base Kwajalein. The piquancy of the situation was made by the fact that the natives all this time believed that they were about to return to their home, that their "benefactors" were simply continuing their trials. Nobody told them that for decades Bikini would be fatally poisoned.
Author: East Wind