Wilfred Burchett Quotes

Powerful Wilfred Burchett for Daily Growth

About Wilfred Burchett

Wilfred Burchett (1911-1983) was an Australian journalist and communist who became renowned for his reporting on the Korean War and Vietnam War. Born on August 4, 1911, in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, he grew up in a working-class family that instilled in him a strong sense of social justice. After leaving school at the age of 15, Burchett found work as a laborer before joining the Australian Communist Party (ACP) at age 20. This political alignment significantly influenced his worldview and journalistic career. He began working for communist-affiliated newspapers such as the Daily Tribune and Australian Worker, honing his investigative reporting skills. In 1939, Burchett traveled to Europe to cover World War II and reported on the bombing of Guernica by the German Condor Legion. After the war, he relocated to Asia where he covered the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and China's civil war. It was during this time that he befriended Mao Zedong and witnessed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Burchett gained global recognition in 1950 when he became one of the first Western journalists to reach North Korea after the start of the Korean War. His account, "This is Japan Burning," reported on the devastating effects of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was criticized by many in the West for his sympathetic portrayal of North Korea and China during the war. Despite facing censorship, Burchett continued to report on events in Asia, including the Vietnam War. His book, "The Ramparts We Shall Not Breach," published in 1964, provided a critical perspective on the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Burchett's life and work were marked by his unwavering commitment to social justice and his willingness to challenge dominant narratives. He passed away on February 3, 1983, in Hanoi, Vietnam. His legacy continues to inspire journalists who seek truth and fairness in their reporting.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The Vietnam war is a holocaust."

Wilfred Burchett's quote, "The Vietnam War is a holocaust," was his powerful statement that the devastation and loss of life during the Vietnam War were on par with the horrors of the Holocaust. He aimed to draw attention to the extreme brutality, suffering, and destruction inflicted upon the Vietnamese people by both sides in this conflict, particularly the US-led coalition. The quote underscores the profound impact that the war had on Vietnam's population and environment, making a strong argument for it being remembered as one of the most devastating events in human history.

"It is not the voice of the people that is heard in the United Nations, but the sound of dollars."

This quote by Wilfred Burchett suggests a critique of the influence and power dynamics within the United Nations. Burchett implies that while the UN is intended to be a platform for all nations to have an equal voice, in reality, decisions are often swayed or influenced by financial contributions, i.e., dollars. This highlights a potential discrepancy between the UN's stated democratic principles and its actual functioning.

"The atomic bomb is a weapon which has no military justification and is simply a device for blackmail."

The quote suggests that the atomic bomb, while a powerful weapon of destruction, does not serve any legitimate military purpose. Instead, it functions as a means to coerce or intimidate, essentially using fear as a diplomatic tool. This interpretation underscores the idea that nuclear weapons are more about political and psychological control than tactical combat effectiveness.

"For the first time in history, imperialism has found a weapon which can kill the spirit of a whole nation by a single blast."

This quote by Wilfred Burchett suggests that modern imperialism, or colonialism, has developed means to destroy not just the physical body, but also the cultural identity, pride, and resilience (spirit) of an entire nation. The "weapon" he refers to could symbolize any devastating tool used by oppressors to suppress indigenous cultures and values, such as nuclear weapons, propaganda, or cultural assimilation. This quote underscores the importance of preserving national identity and resisting forces that aim to erase it.

"The war on Korea was waged to protect South Korean capitalism against North Korean socialism."

This quote by Wilfred Burchett suggests that the Korean War, which took place from 1950 to 1953, was not primarily a conflict for the sake of peace or freedom, but rather a proxy war between two ideological systems: capitalism in South Korea and socialism in North Korea. The United States and its allies supported South Korea's capitalist system, while North Korea was backed by the Soviet Union and China. The war served as a battleground for these competing political and economic systems, highlighting the geopolitical tensions of the Cold War era.

Of thousands of others, nearer the centre of the explosion, there was no trace. They vanished. The theory in Hiroshima is that the atomic heat was so great that they burned instantly to ashes - except that there were no ashes.

- Wilfred Burchett

Heat, Nearer, Vanished, Centre

The police chief of Hiroshima welcomed me eagerly as the first Allied correspondent to reach the city.

- Wilfred Burchett

Police, Hiroshima, Welcomed, Eagerly

Hiroshima does not look like a bombed city. It looks as if a monster steamroller had passed over it and squashed it out of existence.

- Wilfred Burchett

Over, Over It, Like, Bombed

France turned a deaf ear to the demands, but Ho had succeeded in attracting great publicity in progressive French circles to the situation in Indochina.

- Wilfred Burchett

Deaf, Circles, Turned, Progressive

When you arrive in Hiroshima you can look around and for 25 and perhaps 30 square miles you can see hardly a building. It gives you an empty feeling in the stomach to see such man-made devastation.

- Wilfred Burchett

Look, Feeling, Stomach, Hardly

Vietnamese must be made to feel that they are racial inferiors with no right to national identity.

- Wilfred Burchett

Identity, Feel, Made, Vietnamese

And just as there was something of every Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh so there is something of Ho Chi Minh in almost every present-day Vietnamese, so strong is his imprint on the Vietnamese nation.

- Wilfred Burchett

Strong, Chi, Almost, Vietnamese

Ho joined the French socialist party, the first Vietnamese to be a member of a French political party.

- Wilfred Burchett

Socialist, Socialist Party, Vietnamese

It was necessary to bluff the Japanese camp commanders, with whatever authority I could muster, that I had come officially to ensure that the surrender terms were being complied with and that living conditions for the POWs were being immediately improved.

- Wilfred Burchett

Had, Immediately, Improved, Surrender

In this first testing ground of the atomic bomb I have seen the most terrible and frightening desolation in four years of war. It makes a blitzed Pacific island seem like an Eden. The damage is far greater than photographs can show.

- Wilfred Burchett

Show, Bomb, Damage, Desolation

Could anything justify the extermination of civilians on such a scale?

- Wilfred Burchett

Scale, Could, Civilians, Justify

As in all his subsequent dealings with France, Ho Chi Minh's demands were a model of modesty.

- Wilfred Burchett

Modesty, His, Chi, Demands

Hundreds and hundreds of the dead were so badly burned in the terrific heat generated by the bomb that it was not even possible to tell whether they were men or women, old or young.

- Wilfred Burchett

Heat, Young, Badly, Burned

My emotional and intellectual response to Hiroshima was that the question of the social responsibility of a journalist was posed with greater urgency than ever.

- Wilfred Burchett

Question, Emotional, Social, Greater

Hiroshima had a profound effect upon me.

- Wilfred Burchett

Me, Profound, Effect, Hiroshima

My anger with the US was not at first, that they had used that weapon - although that anger came later.

- Wilfred Burchett

Later, Although, Came, Weapon

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