Connect the Dots

Event

Removal of Bikini's inhabitants

In March 1946 the U.S. moved the 167 people of Bikini Atoll to Rongerik for atomic tests; they moved on to Kwajalein in March 1948 and Kili in November 1948, and have not returned to live on Bikini.

5 links, 1 backed by primary records

Play the story Explore connections On the map ›

Dates
Mar 1946 – Nov 1948
Place
Bikini Atoll

Connections 5

involved

  • United States government its military governor, Commodore Ben Wyatt, asked them to leave; it left food for several weeks Scholarship & press 1
  • Juda answered the request for his people Scholarship & press 1
  • Kwajalein Atoll housed in tents beside the airport, 1948 Scholarship & press 1
  • Kili Island their third home in two years, from November 1948 Primary record 123

caused by

Timeline 1 date
  1. Mar 1946 – Nov 1948 Removal of Bikini's inhabitants
Proof 3 sources
  1. A history of the people of Bikini following nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands: with recollections and views of elders of Bikini Atoll, Health Physics, vol. 73, no. 1 (July 1997), 1997. Scholarship & press
    In February of 1946, Commodore Ben H. Wyatt
    traveled to Bikini and, on a Sunday after church, assembled the Bikinians to ask if they would be willing to leave their atoll temporarily
    the United States could begin testing atomic bombs for “the good of mankind and to end all world wars.”
    In preparation for Operation Crossroads, the Bikinians were sent 125 miles eastward across the ocean on a U.S. Navy LST landing craft to Rongerik Atoll.
    The Administration left the Bikinians food stores sufficient only for several weeks.
    The natives are actually and literally starving to death
    King Juda, then the leader of the Bikinian people, stood up after much confused and sorrowful deliberation among his people
    If the United States government and the scientists of the world want to use our island and atoll for furthering development, which with God’s blessing will result in kindness and benefit to all mankind, my people will be pleased to go elsewhere
    No one dissented in front of the Americans when they
    While the 167 Bikinians were preparing for their exodus, preparations for the U.S. nuclear testing program advanced rapidly.
    In March of 1948, after two unpleasant years on Rongerik, the Bikinians were transported to Kwajalein Atoll and housed there in tents on a strip of grass beside the airport.
    the 184 Bikinians set sail once again. This time the destination was Kili Island, their third community relocation in 2 y.
    The nuclear legacy of the Bikinians began in March of 1946, when they were first removed from their islands for the preparations of Operation Crossroads.
  2. Report of the Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes, Calin Georgescu, Addendum: Mission to the Marshall Islands and the United States of America (A/HRC/21/48/Add.1), United Nations Human Rights Council, 3 Sep 2012. Primary record
    Indeed, in 1998, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommended that the Atoll not be permanently resettled under the present radiological conditions or until certain specified remediation action had been taken.
  3. Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, Final Report, Chapter 12: The Marshallese, U.S. Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (copy on the U.S. Department of Energy Openness site), 1995. Primary record
    Today, the Bikinians remain scattered around the Marshall Islands, while a new radiological cleanup of their atoll is in progress.
Page history 1 change
  1. Add 55 stories, each checked against its sourcesAlibek96e92fe6

Something wrong or missing? Tell us, with a source, or edit this page.