[arcis]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of ... rld_War_II

64 years later one, more occasion to think about the human nature and its consequences
and implications.

[Thunderhawk]

If we start making threads for such events, then wouldnt half of the WW2 forum be full of thread commerating the hundreds of villages, towns, cities and universities destroyed by the Germans.

As horrible as the Dresden bombing was, it was a drop in the sea of blood, itself largely created by Nazi Germany throughout the war.

[Siberian Fox]

As horrible as the Dresden bombing was, it was a drop in the sea of blood, itself largely created by Nazi Germany throughout the war.

I think Dresden can be legitimately singled out as a point for consideration since it's destruction had more to do with the politics of the USA and Britain impressing and warning the U.S.S.R. than defeating Germany.

The people of Dresden didn't die to shorten the war, they died because Britain and America wanted to make a point to the U.S.S.R. that once Germany was defeated they should not consider a war with the Western allies winnable. As such, it is possibly a war crime, but in the context of a total war it would be difficult to prove.

[Okonkwo]

I think Dresden can be legitimately singled out as a point for consideration

I do think you are right, but then again, Dresden has been (ab)used by Neo-Nazis and skinheads in Germany since the war ended. Every year, they organise this funeral march in Dresden to "commemorate" on the Allied war crimes. This year there were 6000 Nazis from all over Germany, fortunately there were (as always) about 12.000 protesters that organised a counter-demonstration, from all walks of life and different political ideologies.
So perhaps you can understand that the Dresden bombing is a very sketchy subject in Germany.

[albionfagan]

It's a difficult one.

Was it necessary? Or was it just the revenge?

I don't think, ultimately, that it was necessary and that it was excessive. However I don't think you'd ever be able to prove that, and in one of the bitterest wars ever fought, atrocities were common place(not that justifies any of them).

The fire bombings of tokyo and the use of the atomic bombs were horrific crimes that have been almost glorified, it's disgusting.

[guzzipat]

I visited Dresden in 1986 while it was still the GDR. The museum there about the raids showed the extent of human death and suffering. It also showed something I wasn't a ware of, the destruction of art and sculpture.

I believe it was a war crime, if it was judged in isolation, but we too often view it from todays viewpoint, not how it must have seemed to people at the time. The people of London or Coventry for instance, would regard it as revenge.

The whole bomber offensive by both sides was a deliberate attempt to terrify civilian populations and as such were war crimes. Dresden was a particularly bad example because it happened so late when Germany was already beaten. The complaints about it not being a military or stragegic target miss the point. The bombing was never intended to hit military targets, you can't just condem the Dresden Raids for that, you have to condem the whole concept of carpet bombing.

[Thunderhawk]

The fire bombings of tokyo and the use of the atomic bombs were horrific crimes that have been almost glorified, it's disgusting.

In comparison, the systematic destruction of cities, art and intellectual institutions by the Germans throughout occupied E.Europe is forgotten, ignored and considered irrelvent.

It is better for Germany to keep the issue of the purposeful destruction of cities burried, as Germany will loose far more then they would gain from stirring those memories.