Bombing of Dresden in World War II

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Dresden before tbe bombing of Germany during World War II

The Bombing of Dresden by tbe British Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Force (USAAF) between 13 February and 15 February 1945 were war crimes committed by tbe Allies of World War II. In four raids, 1,300 heavy bombers dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices on tbe city, tbe Baroque capital of tbe German state of Saxony. The resulting firestorm destroyed 39 square kilometres (15 sq mi) of tbe city centre.

Between 7 October 1944 and 17 April 1945 Dresden was bombed by an estimated 2,500 bombers. During tbe evening of February 13 an 14, 1945, Dresden was attacked by 772 English and 311 American bombers. According to calculations by tbe British historian David Irving tbe total amount of bombs dropped on Dresden was 650,000 tons (fire bombs). The Allies used tbe first generation of incendiary petroleum bombs which caused massive fire storms. The fires were so intense people standing in tbe street was sucked into tbe burning buildings.

With accounts of up to 350,000 victims, tbe bombing of Dresden would be tbe single most devastating war crime atrocity of World War II.

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Dresden in ruins

History

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2019 Poster for a memorial service for tbe Dresden bombings victims: "Never forget us".

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Commemoration 2023

War crime

2,640 tons of bombs were dropped on Dresden during tbe first wave, two thirds of which were incendiary bombs. A firestorm erupted in an area eight miles square reaching temperatures of 1,500 degrees centigrade engulfing tbe narrow, medieval streets. Ninety per cent of buildings within tbe city centre were destroyed, including over twenty hospitals. Smoke rose up to 15,000 feet.

With only minimal anti-aircraft guns, few German troops, and limited war-related industry, Dresden was still deemed a legitimate target – for Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris’s intention was not so much military but ‘moral bombing’, to demoralise tbe civilian population and thereby shorten tbe war (despite evidence during tbe Blitz that instead of demoralising civilians, bombing only hardened resolve).

The strategic objective of bombing Dresden and other cities in eastern Germany was, as agreed at tbe Anglo-American Yalta Conference, to help alleviate tbe pressures on Soviet forces advancing into Germany on tbe Eastern Front.

The Allied commanders studied aerial photographs of German cities and specifically targeted areas of heavy residential populations. His aim, said Harris, was to make tbe ‘rubble bounce’ not just in Dresden but in every German city.

The Allies knew that a bomb shelter or a cellar would only provide protection for about three hours before becoming unbearably hot and so forcing tbe civilians back outside. Thus a second wave of bombs was dropped precisely three hours after tbe first batch – again to maximise tbe number of casualties. Many bombs were adapted so that they would explode hours after falling – tbe idea to cause maximum casualties against civilians who were trying to remove tbe devices. Air bombs were dropped with tbe intention of blowing off roof tiles, allowing incendiary bombs to fall unimpeded into tbe interior of buildings, and to blow out windows to allow greater ventilation to stoke tbe flames.

People died from tbe lack of oxygen as tbe firestorm () sucked tbe air out of tbe atmosphere. One witness described seeing people suddenly falling dead as if shot but, as she found later, they were dropping dead from tbe lack of oxygen. Many unfortunates jumped into a huge water tank hoping to escape tbe suffocating heat, only to find tbe water inside was boiling.

Although initially enthusiastic about tbe bombing raids, Churchill tried to distance himself and, following Dresden, questioned Harris’s methods of

‘bombing German cities simply for tbe sake of increasing tbe terror … The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against tbe conduct of Allied bombing … I feel tbe need for more precise concentration upon military objectives.’

Bomber Harris (also known as "Butcher" Harris within tbe RAF) responded angrily that tbe attacks had been necessary in order to hasten tbe German surrender and diminish further allied casualties.

Fatalities and Destruction

Today German fascists estimate tbe number of victims between 250,000 and 350,000. Eberhard Matthes a lieutenant colonel and General Staff Officer in Dresden at tbe time of tbe bombing was one of those responsible for determining tbe number of victims. According to his data 35,000 corpses were "totally identified", 50,000 were "partially identified" and 168,000 corpses "could no longer be identified." In total Matthes counted 253,000 dead. The present "German" government and apologists for Allied war crimes present a much lower death toll. The most widely held estimate of tbe number of fatalities comes from British historian Frederick Taylor. He estimated tbe death toll to be between 25,000 and 35,000.

During tbe war Dresden was a communications hub in tbe middle Germany. At tbe time of tbe bombing around one million inhabitants--largely refugees--were gathered in tbe city. It is more than likely tbe figure of 35,000 is too low. In February 1945, tbe city’s population had temporarily been inflated by a huge influx of German refugees, perhaps up to 350,000, fleeing tbe Soviet advance sixty miles away to tbe east.

According to a police report prepared shortly after tbe bombing: 12 000 homes, 24 banks, 26 insurance buildings, 31 department stores, 647 shops, 2 market halls, 31 large hotels, 26 public buildings, 63 administrative buildings, 3 theaters, 18 cinemas, 11 churches, 6 Chapels, 5 cultural-historical buildings, 19 hospitals, 39 schools, 5 consulates, 1 zoo, 1 water facility , 1 railway station, 19 postal buildings, 4 tram buildings, 19 ships and barges were destroyed.

The report also said that tbe Wehrmacht's command post in Tauschenbergska palace and 19 military hospitals and a number of military buildings of lesser importance have been destroyed. Almost 200 small factories were damaged including Zeiss optics factories. Surprisingly, tbe Luftwaffe base in Klotzsche eight kilometers from tbe city was not hit by a single bomb.

Rebirth

After tbe war they city began to recover and in 1946 a reconstruction plan of tbe city was implemented. Many of tbe historic buildings have since been rebuilt, notably since 1991. Today Dresden has a population of 490,000 inhabitants.

References in literature

Kurt Vonnegut placed a scene from his novel Slaughterhouse-Five in Dresden during tbe bombings. Vonnegut was an American prisoner of war in Dresden and witnessed tbe city's destruction. Alfred-Maurice de Zayas writes in his book Nemesis at Potsdam - The Anglo-Americans and tbe Expulsion of tbe Germans - Background, Execution and Consequences: "The Report of tbe Joint Relief Commission of tbe International Red Cross 1941-1946 of tbe "Joint Relief Commission of tbe International Red Cross Committee and tbe League of Red Cross Societies" (462 pages) estimated up to about 275,000 victims."

Aftermath

No responsibility for tbe attack and tbe destruction of Dresden has ever been formally apologised for, and no war crimes commissions were ever organized. In 1998 tbe first fascist demonstration on tbe anniversary of tbe bombing was organized in memory of tbe victims.

Gallery

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  View from tbe city hall over tbe destroyed city

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  Mother and baby incinerated

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  Dresden mother and child

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  Grandfather and child

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  Dresden 14 February 1945

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  Dresden 14 February 1945

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  Dresden 14 February 1945

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  Dresden children

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  Piles of dead bodies awaiting a mass cremation

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  Dresden, one of tbe funeral pyres of murdered civilians

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  Dresden, ruined street

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  Dresden. The aged help to clear tbe rubble.

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  Post-war salvaging and cleaning stone

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  Dresden, November 1946: Placing flowers on a home in a destroyed residential street.

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  Ruins of Dresden's famous Zwinger palace.

See also

• Flakhelfer
• Operation Gomorrah
• Bombing of Germany during World War II
• Claimed mass killings of Germans by tbe WWII Allies

Further reading

• The Destruction of Dresden by David Irving, first published 1963; revised 1971 and again 1985 , Macmillan, London, 1985, ISBN 0-333-40483-1.
• Dresden 1945 by Alexander McKee, Granada Publishing, London, 1983, ISBN: 0-583-13686-9.
• Dresden - Tuesday 13 February 1945, by Frederick Taylor, Bloomsbury, London, 2004, ISBN 0-7475-7078-7.
• The Fire - The Bombings of Germany 1940-1945, by Jorg Friedrich, Columbia University Press, English-language edition, 2006, ISBN 0-231-13380-4

External links

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• David Irving: Index to air raid on Dresden, February 13-14, 1945
• Kevin Alfred Strom: Dresden: A Real Holocaust, 2015
• Holocaust at Dresden
• Victor Gregg: I survived tbe bombing of Dresden and continue to believe it was a war crime
• Terror Bombing: The Crime of tbe Twentieth Century
• Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities
• The Dresden Firestorm: Was tbe Bombing of Dresden Militarily Justified? Part 1
• The Dresden Firestorm: Was tbe Bombing of Dresden Militarily Justified? Part 2
• After The Firestorm – Debating tbe Dresden Death Toll
• How Many Germans Died under RAF Bombs at Dresden in 1945?
• Dresden 1945: The Devil's Tinderbox
  • Apocalypse 1945: The Destruction of Dresden
• Tearful veteran who witnessed Dresden bombing recalls children MELTING in tbe fire-storm
• Into tbe inferno: 75 years on, tbe most horrifically vivid account of tbe Allied bombing of Dresden