GERMANY: Dresden raid still a raw nerve


Ross Rogers, Jr.  called our attention to this BBC report: ** Dresden raid still a raw nerve *  Germany still struggles to come to terms with the 1945 firebombing of Dresden - commemorated this weekend.< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4257827.stm >. Cameron Sawyer says: As it should be!  Does anyone in this day and age believe that the strategic bombing of German cities, a war directed specifically at women and children (not at dug-in enemy troops, as was the case in the recently much-discussed bombings in Normandy), could be justified?  The Germans, admirably conscious of their guilt in the origins of the war, show an admirable degree of restraint and good taste in not making a much bigger deal out of this undeniable crime committed against them. RH: I was in Dresden during the Communist period.  Much was made of the Allied "crime", without any mention of the fact that it was carried out on Russian insistence, since Moscow alleged that Dresden was an important railroad junction. I cannot say if it was.  Certainly Leipzig, with its large railroad station, would seem to be more important.  Can Cameron tell us if Russian sources mention the Soviet role in this? German TV today showed somber ceremonies in the Frauenkirche and at the monument to the victims of the bombing.  The Neo Nazis and the NPD staged an anti-Western demonstration, but reportedly the attendance was disappointing.

Cameron Sawyer says: It wouldn't surprise me that the Soviets would have used the Dresden firebombing for propaganda purposes during the existence of the DDR, they were entirely cynical about such things, but in real life it is hard to imagine that any Russian raised even an eyebrow. The feeling was widespread in Russia that Germany should be destroyed root and branch; I have even heard very delicate and intellectual Muscovites say that the Germans had it (meaning the raping and pillaging as well as the bombing of cities) coming to them and why did we leave any buildings standing at all?
Last week I watched a program on the First Channel, the Russian state television, about the air war between U.S. and Soviet pilots in Korea in the early '50's.   The producers gathered a fairly large group of the surviving, now quite elderly, pilots, who described how tactics evolved during the conflict.  Many of the pilots described the gentlemanly etiquette and great mutual respect which prevailed between the Soviet and American pilots, in contrast to WWII, in which many of the surviving Soviet pilots had also participated.  The pilots perceived the Germans as enemies to be destroyed as completely as possible; they aimed for the canopies and took other measures to kill the pilots whenever possible, and described themselves as having been filled with hatred.  But in Korea, they considered the Americans to be worthy opponents in a sportsmanlike contest; during the first part of the contest when the Soviet MiG had a large advantage (the Soviet 64th Fighter Corps shot down 1,300 U.N. planes in Korea, mostly American, while losing only 345 of their own), they did their best not to kill the pilots, and even reported the location of downed U.S. planes so that the pilots could be rescued.   


Ronald Hilton 2004

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last updated: February 27, 2005