Dresden bombardment. The dispute is on the order

Dresden bombardment

Destroyed Dresden. Photos from German archives, 1945

The burned corpses of the dead residents. Photo from German archives, February 1945

Dresden bombardment (it. Luftgriffe auf dresden., eng. Bombing of Dresden.) - A series of bombing of the German city of Dresden, implemented by the Royal Air Forces of Great Britain and the US Air Force on February 13-15, 1945 during World War II. As a result of the bombardments of about a quarter of industrial enterprises of the city and about half of the rest of the buildings (city infrastructure and residential buildings) were destroyed or seriously damaged. According to the statements of the US Air Force, several weeks were paralyzed by traffic through the city. Estimates of the deaths of the dead differed from 25 thousand in official German reports of the time of war up to 200 and even 500 thousand. In 2008, the Commission of German historians who worked on the order of Dresden, estimated the number of dead in the range from 18 to 25 thousand people. On March 17, 2010, the official report of the Commission operating since 2004 was submitted. According to the report, as a result of the bombardment of Dresden Aviation of Allies in February 1945, 25 thousand people were killed. The official report of the Commission was laid out in open access to the Internet.

The question of whether the bombing of Dresden was caused by military necessity, there is still a dispute. With the Soviet side, Berlin and Leipzig bombing were agreed; According to the explanation of the Anglo-American allies, Dresden as an important transport center was bombed by them to make it impossible to move the traffic by way of these cities. According to the US Air Force, which conducted a bombardment, the value of the conclusion of the transportation hubs of Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden is confirmed by the fact that it was under Leipzig, in Torgau, on April 25, the advanced parts of the Soviet and American troops met, cutting the territory of Nazi Germany. Other researchers call the bombing unjustified, believing that Dresden had low military importance, and the destruction and victims among civilians were extremely disproportionately achieved by military results. According to a number of historians, the bombardment of Dresden and other German cities leaving the Soviet zone of influence pursued their goals not to assist Soviet troops, but exclusively political goals: a demonstration of military power to inttenute the Soviet leadership in connection with the planned operation. According to the historian John Fuller, to block the communications, it was enough to continuously bomb exits from the city, instead of bombarding Dresden himself.

Dresden bombardment was used by Nazi Germany in propaganda purposes, while the number of dead was overshadowed by Goebbels up to 200 thousand people, and the bombardment itself was absolutely unjustified. In the USSR, an assessment of the victims of 135 thousand people was adopted.

The reasons

On December 16, 1944, German troops on the Western Front began an offensive in Ardennes, the purpose of which was the defeat of the Anglo-American forces in Belgium and the Netherlands and the release of the German parts for the Eastern Front. In just 8 days, the offensive of the Wehrmacht in Ardennes as a strategic operation ended with a complete failure. By December 24, the German troops have advanced 90 km, but their offensive has exhausted without reaching the Maas River when American troops moved to counteroffensive, attacked with flanks and stopped the offensive of the Germans, and the Wehrmacht victim defeated in Ardennes, finally lost the strategic initiative on the Western front and He began to retreat. To facilitate its retreat on January 1, 1945, the Germans switched to local counteroffensive, conducted by small forces this time in Strasbourg in the area of \u200b\u200bAlsace in order to distract the allies' forces. These local counterattacks could no longer change the strategic situation on the Western Front, besides, the Wehrmacht experienced a critical lack of fuel caused by the strategic bombing of the allied aviation, which destroyed the German oil refineries. By the beginning of January 1945, the position of the Wehrmacht on the West Front, especially in Ardennes, became hopeless.

In connection with these events, on January 12-13, the Red Army launched an offensive in Poland and East Prussia. On January 25, in the new report, English intelligence noted that "the success of the current Russian attack apparently will have a decisive influence on the duration of the war. We consider it appropriate to urgently consider the help of the United Kingdom and the United States with Russian strategic aviation for the next few weeks. " In the evening of the same day, Winston Churchill, having familiarized himself with the report, addressed to the Minister of Air Force Archibald Sinclair (Eng. Archibald Sinclair. ) The dispatch, asking what can be done to "how to separate the Germans when they are retreating from Breslau" (200 km east of Dresden).

On January 26, Sinclair noted in his response that "the best use of strategic aviation is bombing of German oil production factories; The German units retreating from Breslau should be bombing front-line aviation (from small heights), and not strategic (from large) "; Noting, however, that "with favorable weather conditions, you can consider the bombings of large cities of East Germany, such as Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz." Churchill expressed displeasure with a restrained response tone and demanded to consider the possibility of bombardments of Berlin and other major cities in East Germany. The wishes of Churchill about the development of concrete plans of strikes around the cities of East Germany Sinclair overtightened the head of the headquarters of the Air Force Charles Portal (English. Charles Portal ), who in turn redigible him to his deputy Norman Bottomley (English. Norman Bottomley ).

On January 27, Bottomli sent the head of the bombardment command of the Royal Air Force Arthur Harris, an order to apply bombing strikes on Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, as soon as the weather conditions allow. Sinclair reported Churchill about the measures taken, noting that "a sudden massive bombardment would not only make a mess into evacuation from the East, but also make it difficult to transfer troops from the West." January 28, Churchill, having familiarized himself with the answer of Sinclair, did not express new comments.

The royal Air Force Memorandum, with whom British pilots were acquainted on the night before attacking (February 13), reported:

Bombarding

Tonnage bombs, discarded by allies on the 7 largest cities in Germany, including Dresden, is shown in the table below.

Moreover, as the table shows below, by February 1945, the city was practically not bombed.

The operation was to start from the 8th Air Force Air Force Air Force Air Force on February 13, but bad weather conditions were prevented over European aircraft. In this regard, the first strike was shown by the aircraft of British aviation.

On the evening of February 13, 796 Avro Lancaster and 9 de Havilland Mosquito aircraft flew in two waves and dropped 1478 tons of fugasic and 1182 tons of incendiary bombs. The first attack was held by the 5th group of royal Air Force, which used its own guidance methods and tactics. Guidance aircraft marked stadium Ostragehege. as a starting point. All bombers took place through this point, disagreeing the fan of predetermined trajectories and throwing bombs at a certain time. The first bombs were reset at 22:14 in Central European time time by all bombers, except for one who dropped bombs at 22:22. At this moment, the clouds closed the land, and the attack, during which 244 "Lancaster" dropped 800 tons of bombs, had moderate success. The zone subjected to bombardments had a fan-shaped form in 1.25 miles long and 1.3 miles wide.

After three hours, the second attack took place, conducted by 1, 3, 5 and the 8th groups of the British Air Force, the latter provided with standard methods. The weather has improved by that time, and 529 "Lancaster" dropped 1800 tons of bombs between 01:21 and 01:45. .

After that, the US Air Force held two more bombing. On March 2, 406 B-17 bombers dropped 940 tons of fugasic and 141 tons of incendiary bombs. On April 17, 580 B-17 bombers dropped 1554 tons of fugasal and 165 tons of incendiary bombs.

The bombing was carried out according to the methods adopted at that time: first fugasic bombs were reset, to destroy the roofs and expose wooden buildings designs, then incendiary bombs, and again - fuhaasny to difficulty working fire services. As a result of the bombardment, a fiery tummy was formed, the temperature in which reached 1500 ° C.

Destruction and sacrifice

Type of destruction. Photos from German archives, 1945

According to the report of the Dresden Police, compiled shortly after the raids, 12,000 buildings burned out in the city. The report reported that it was destroyed "24 Bank, 26 buildings of insurance companies, 31 trading shops, 6470 stores, 640 warehouses, 256 shopping halls, 31 hotels, 26 public houses, 63 administrative buildings, 3 Theater, 18 cinemas, 11 churches, 60 chapels, 50 cultural and historical buildings, 19 hospitals (including auxiliary and private clinics), 39 schools, 5 consulates, 1 zoological garden, 1 plumbing station, 1 Railway depot, 19 post offices, 4 tram depots, 19 ships and barges. " In addition, the destruction of military purposes was reported: a team point in the palace Taschenberg., 19 military hospitals and many less significant buildings of military services. Almost 200 factories received damage, of which 136 suffered serious damage (including several Zeiss enterprises for the production of optics), 28 - the average damage and 35 are small.

In the documents of the US Air Force, the British estimates ... contain the conclusion that 23% of industrial buildings and 56% of non-industrial buildings were seriously damaged (not counting residential). Of the total number of residential buildings, 78 thousand are considered to be destroyed, 27.7 thousand are considered unsuitable for housing, but to repair, 64.5 thousand - received small damage and renovable repair. This later assessment shows that 80% of urban buildings were destroyed by varying degrees and 50% of residential buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged, "" As a result of the taxes on the railway infrastructure of the city, he was severely damaged that fully paralyzed communications, "Railway bridges through The Elba River is vital for the transfer of troops - remained inaccessible to move for several weeks after the fall. "

The exact number of dead is unknown. Evaluations are difficult to produce due to the fact that the population of the city, in 1939 he had 642 thousand people, at the time of the taxes increased due to the arrival of at least 200 thousand refugees and several thousand soldiers. The fate of some refugees is unknown, because they could burn until unrecognizable or leave the city, without putting the authorities.

Currently, a number of historians evaluate the number of victims in the interval of 25-30 thousand people. According to the US Air Force, from these estimates it would be that losses during Dresden bombers are similar to losses during the bombing of other German cities. Higher digits reported other sources whose accuracy was questioned.

The chronology of the statements of various sources on the number of dead is shown below.

On March 22, 1945, the municipal authorities of the city of Dresden was released official report TagesBefehl No. 47. (Also known as TV-47), according to which the number of victims taken into account was 20,204, and the total number of those who died during the bombardment were expected to be about 25 thousand people.

In 1953, in the work of the German authors "Results of the Second World War", Major General of the fire service Hans Rumpen wrote: "It is impossible to calculate the number of victims in Dresden. According to the State Department, 250 thousand inhabitants died in this city, but the actual figure of losses, of course, is much smaller; But even 60-100 thousand people of the civilian population who died on fire for one night, with difficulty fit in human consciousness. "

In 1964, Lieutenant Lieutenant General Ire Iker ( english) Also assessed the number of victims of 135 thousand dead.

In 1970, the American magazine Time estimated the number of victims from 35 to 135 thousand people.

In 1977, the Soviet military encyclopedia showed the number of those killed in 135 thousand people.

In 2000, according to the decision of the British Court, given by Irving the numbers of the number of those killed in the bombing of Dresden (135 thousand people) were named unfoundedly overestimated. The judge did not find the grounds to doubt that the number of victims differs from 25 thousand people indicated in official German documents.

In 2005, in the article on the official website of the British Air Force, it was noted that at the accepted estimates the number of dead was at least 40 thousand people, and possibly exceeded 50 thousand.

In the Encyclopedias "Colombia" ( english) And Encarta provides data on the number of killed from 35 thousand to 135 thousand people.

In 2006, the Russian historian Boris Sokolov noted that the number of those who died as a result of the bombardment of Dresden by the Allied Aviation in February 1945 hesitate from 25 thousand to 250 thousand people. In the same year, in the book of Russian journalist A. Alyabyev noted that the number of dead, according to various sources, was from 60 to 245 thousand people.

In 2008, the Commission from 13 German historians who worked on the order of Dresden, assessed the number of dead in the range from 18 to 25 thousand people. Other estimates of the number of victims that have reached 500 thousand people were named by the Commission exaggerated or based on dubious sources. The Commission was created by government agencies after the right National Democratic Party of Germany, having received places in the 2004 elections in Saxony Parliament, began to publicly compare the bombings of German cities with the Holocaust, leading the numbers to 1 million victims.

The tonnage of bombs dropped on Dresden was less than in bombing of other cities. However, favorable weather conditions, buildings with wooden structures, passages connecting the basements of adjacent houses, as well as the city's unpreparedness to the consequences of aviation facilities contributed to the fact that the results of the bombing turned out to be more destructive. At the end of 2004, the pilot of the British Air Force, who participated in the taxes, said in an interview with the BBC, that another factor was a weak barrier fire for the power of air defense, which made it possible to hit the goals with high accuracy. According to the authors of the documentary film "Dresden Drama", incendiary bombs, discarded on Dresden, contained napalm.

According to the American Air Force, which conducted bombardment, during the post-war time, the Dresden bombing was used by the "Communists for Anti-Pad Propaganda".

The total number of victims of allied bombing among the civilian population of Germany is estimated within 305-600 thousand people. The question of whether these bombards contributed to the early end of the war, is a discussion.

Losses of Anglo-American Aviation

The losses of the Royal Air Force during the two raids on Dresden on February 13-14, 1945 amounted to 6 aircraft, in addition, 2 aircraft were wreking in France and 1 in England.

The available sources provide details of the loss of 8 aircraft (including five British, one Australian, one Canadian, alone Polish):

American aviation in the course of the Dresden ramp and additional goals permanently lost 8 B-17 bombers and 4 P-51 fighter.

Evidence testimonies

A resident of Dresden Margaret Freier remembered:

"In the fiery squall, moans and cries of help were heard. Everything around turned into a solid blood pressure. I see a woman - she still has before my eyes. In her hands, the cooler. This is a child. She runs, falls, and a baby, describing the arc, disappears in the flame. Suddenly, two people arise right. They shout, make up, and suddenly, to my horror, I see how one after another these people fall to the ground (today I know that the unfortunate has become victims of the lack of oxygen). They lose consciousness and turn into ash. Mad fear covers me, and I always repeat: "I don't want to burn alive!" I don't know how many more people fell on my way. I know only one thing: I should not burn. "

Dancer and Teacher of Dance Gret Palucca in 1925 founded the school of modern dances in Dresden and from that time lived in Dresden:

"Then I experienced something terrible. I lived in the city center, in the house where I lived, almost all died, including because they were afraid to go out. We were in the basement, about sixty-three people, and there I told myself - no, so here you can die, because it was not a real bomb shelter. Then I ran straight into the fire and jumped over the wall. I and one more schoolgirl, we were the only one who came out. Then I survived something terrible, and then in Grossen Garten (Park within the city) survived even greater horror, and I needed two years to overcome it. At night, if in a dream I saw those pictures, I always started screaming. "

According to the memoirs of the Radarist of the British Air Force, which participated in the fall on Dresden:

"At that time, I was struck by the thought of women and children below. It seemed that we flew over the sea of \u200b\u200bthe fire, raging down - on top it looked like an ominous red glow with a thin layer of hassle over it. I remember, I told other crew members: "My God, these poor people down." It was completely unreasonable. And it is impossible to justify. "

Reaction

Destroyed Opera House. Photos from German archives, 1945

On February 16, a press release was issued, where the German side stated that Dresden did not have enterprises of the military industry, he was the location of cultural property and hospitals. On February 25, a new document was published with photos of two burnt children and with the headline "Dresden - a slaughter of refugees," where it was said that the number of victims was not a hundred, but two hundred thousand people. March 4 in the weekly newspaper Das Reich. An article was released exclusively to the destruction of cultural and historical values.

Historian Frederick Taylor notes that German propaganda was successful, not only formed a position in neutral countries, but also reaching the British House of Commons, where Richard Stokers ( english) Operated by messages of the German news agency.

Churchill, who had previously supported the holding of bombardments, was distant from them. On March 28, in the project of the Memorandum sent by the telegram General Gastings Ismay, he said: "It seems to me that the moment comes when the issue of the bombings of the German cities held under various pretexts for the increasing terror. Otherwise, we will get a completely ruined state under our control. Dzresden's destruction remains a serious pretext against the bombing allies. I adhere to the opinion that the military goals should continue to be determined more strictly in our own interests than in the interests of the enemy. The Minister of Foreign Affairs told me about this problem and I believe that it is necessary to more carefully focus on such military goals as oil and communications directly behind the hostilities area, rather than above obvious acts of terror and meaningless, albeit impressive, destruction. "

After reading the contents of Cherchilla's telegram, on March 29, Arthur Harris sent a response to the Ministry of Aviation, where he stated that the bombing was strategically justified and "all the remaining German cities do not have the lives of one British Grenader." After protests from the military Churchill on April 1, he wrote a new text in soften form.

The question of attributing to war crimes

Area Altmarkt. before destruction. Photo taken in 1881., US Congress Library

There are various opinions about whether you should attribute bombing to war crimes.

The American journalist and literary critic Christopher Hitchez expressed the opinion that the bombings of many German residential areas that served as living targets were held exclusively in order for new aircraft crews to work out the practice of bombing. In his opinion, the Allies burned German cities in 1944-1945 because they were able to do it.

In his book, German historian Jorg Friedrich ( english) It was noted that, in his opinion, the bombing of the cities was a war crime, since in recent months of war they were not dictated by military necessity. In 2005, Friedrich noted that "it was absolutely excessive bombardment in the military sense," "Act is not justified by terror, mass destruction of people and terrorization of refugees." The German historian Joachim Fest also believes that Dresden's bombing was not needed from a military point of view.

Representatives of right parties on demonstration on February 13, 2005. The inscription on the transparency "Never more bombing terror!"

Nationalist policies in Germany use expression Bombenholocaust. ("Bomb Holocaust") in relation to the bombings of German cities allies. The leader of the National Democratic Party of Germany Holger Afel called the bombing of the "cold-bloodedly planned industrial-mass destruction of the Germans."

The question of the assignment of Dresden bombing to war crimes does not make sense without consideration along with the facts of bombing of such cities like Würzburg, Hildesheim, Paderborn, Pforzheim who did not have any military significance committed according to an identical scheme, and also almost completely destroyed. The bombings of these and many other cities were committed after the bombing of Dresden.

Reflection in culture

Memory

On February 13, 2010, on the day of memory of those killed in bombardment, from 5,000 to 6700 Neonatsi (3000 less than expected), who planned to conduct a demonstration in Altstadt - the historic center of Dresden, were blocked on the opposite shore of the elbo demonstrators of the left movement. According to the newspapers "Morgen Post" and "Sächsische Zeitung" from 20 to 25 thousand residents of the city and visitors went to the streets of Dresden to resist the ultra-right. "Live chain", stretching around the historic center of the city, where the Dresden synagogue is located, consisted of various sources, from from 10 to 15 thousand people. To maintain order by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Saxony, (as well as other federal lands) was put up about seven and a half thousand police officers (six thousand was originally planned) with armored vehicles and helicopters.

Some facts

The area of \u200b\u200bthe zone of complete destruction in Dresden 4 times the area of \u200b\u200bthe zone of complete destruction in Nagasaki. The population of 629,713 people (not counting refugees), after - 369,000 people.

Notes

1. German historians have established an exact number of victims of Dresden bombing (March 18, 2010). Archived
2. The official report on the victims of the bombing, published on March 17, 2010 (it.) (PDF). Archived from the primary source on May 21, 2012.
3. Historical Analysis of The 14-15 February 1945 Bombings of Dresden (eng.). USAF Historical Division, Research Studies Institute, Air University. Checked March 14, 2009.
4. «The history of the raid by Gotz Bergander, first published in 1977 ..., provided the most balanced account of the attack, but Bergander, though he thought there were grounds for regarding the city as a completely legitimate bombing target, found the means used were "Bizarrely Out of Proportion" to any Expected Gain. " Addison, Paul & Crang, Jeremy A. (EDS.) Firestorm: The Bombing Of Dresden. - Pimlico, 2006. - P. 126. - ISBN 1-8441-3928-x
5. Shepeova N. Select Germany from the war. Military Industrial Courier, No. 21 (137) (June 7-13, 2006). Archived
6. Fuller J. F. Ch. World War II 1939-1945 Strategic and tactical review. - m.: Foreign literature, 1956.
7. "Following The Deliberate Leaking OA TB-47 by GoebBels's Propaganda Ministry, a Third Swedish Paper, Svenska Dagbladet, wrote on 25 February 1945 That ... According to the information compiled a figure is closer to 200,000 than to 100,000" Richard J. Evans. (((title))) \u003d Telling Lies ABOUT HITLER: The Holocaust, History and the David Irving Trial. - Verso, 2002. - P. 165. - 326 p. - ISBN 1859844170.
8. Soviet military encyclopedia. - T. 3. - p. 260.
9. Taylor, p. 181: "The Degree Of Success Achieved by The Present Russian Offensive Is Likely to Have a Decisive Effect on the Length of the War. We Consider, Therefore, That Assistance Which Might Be Given to the Assistance During The Next FEW WEEKS By the British And American Strategic Bomber Forces Justifies An Urgent Review of their Employment to this End », Quote from the report" Strategic Bombing in Relation to the PRESENT RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE "Prepared by the United Kingdom Integrated Committee of Intelligence Services January 25, 1945
10. Taylor, p. 181.
11. Taylor, p. 184-185
12. Taylor, p. 185. Churchill's answer: "I ASKED Whether Berlin, and Now Doubt Other Large Cities in East Germany, Should Not Now be Considered Especially Attractive Targets. I am Glad That This Is "Under Consideration". PRAY REPORT TO ME TOMORROW WHAT IS TO BE DONE.
13. Taylor, p. 186.
14. Taylor, p. 217-220
15. AdDison (2006), p. 27,28
16. ROSS (2003), p. 180. See also Longmate (1983) p. 333.
17. RAF: Bomber Command: Dresden, February 1945 ((in English)). Archived from primary source May 21, 2012. Checked March 14, 2009.
18. Götz Bergander. \u003d Dresden Im Luftkrieg: Vorgeschichte-Zerstörung-Folgen. - Munich: Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1977.
19. Richard J. Evans. \u003d The Bombing Of Dresden In 1945: Misstatement of Circumstances: Low-Level Strafing in Dresden.
20. Taylor, p. 497-8.
21. Taylor, p. 408-409.
22. Taylor, p. 262-4. The number of refugees is unknown, but some historians rate it in 200 thousand people in the first night of bombing
23. "Following The Deliberate Leaking OA TB-47 by GoebBels's Propaganda Ministry, a Third Swedish Paper, Svenska Dagbladet, wrote on 25 February 1945 That ... According to the del Complection the Figure is Closer to 200,000 than to 100,000" Richard J. Evans. \u003d Telling Lies About Hitler: The Holocaust, History and the David Irving Trial. - Verso, 2002. - P. 165. - 326 p. - ISBN 1859844170.
24. p. 75, Addison, Paul & Crang, Jeremy A., Pimlico, 2006
25. Taylor, p. 424.
26. Another report prepared on April 3 brought the number of taken into account bodies of those killed at 22 096 - see p. 75, Addison, Paul & Crang, Jeremy A., Pimlico, 2006
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31. cm.
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43. The Merlin. Dumfries & Galloway Aviation Museum Newsletter, Easter 2008, p. 2.
44. , from. 125.
45. 463 Squadron Raaf World War 2 Fatalities
46. The list of dead military personnel of the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II, with. 248.
47. Knights, P / O John Kingsley; AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
48. Lose information on the Pathfinder Squadron RAF website
49. Lost Bombers Fiskerton Airfield Database - PD232
50. CRASH DU AVRO LANCASTER - TYPE B.I - S / N PB686 KO-D
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56. Taylor, p. 421.
57. Taylor, p. 413.
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59. Longmate, p. 345.
60. Taylor, p. 431.
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63. Taylor, p. 432.
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Dresden was destroyed by Anglo-American aviation.
The first bombs were discarded by English airplanes on February 13, 1945 at 22:14 in Central European time. On February 14, new air strikes were applied. As a result of the bombardment alternately, a giant fiery tummy was formed, the temperature in which reached 1500 ° C.
By February 15, Florence on the Elbe turned into the city of Ruins, dividing the sad fate of hundreds of Soviet, Polish and German cities.

Dresden divided, one of the most recent, the fate of all major and medium cities in Germany, which fell under carpet bombing. But it was the name "Dresden" it became nominative for the meaningless destruction of civilians and cultural values, as well as "Hiroshima" is forever connected with atomic apocalysis.
Why exactly Dresden? Obviously, as the christiest example: the easiest of the war, the hospital city, a huge number of victims among civilians, and also because Dresden is one of the cultural symbols of Europe. "Florence on the Elbe", the brilliant capital of the Saxon kingdom, felt in the pictures of Bellatto. Everything that was constructed there in centuries was steer for several hours of sighting bombing.

Who needs details, there is a very informative article in Wikipedia "Dresden Bombardment".

The Allies almost did not bomb industrial facilities, and those minor damage that almost accidentally applied to some plants, were very quickly eliminated, workers, if necessary, was replaced by prisoners of war, thereby successfully functioned. "We were in rabies," recalls Forte, "When after bombing, they left the basements on the streets turned into the ruin and saw that the plants where tanks and cannons were produced were not touched. In such a state, they remained until the surrender. "

This is the mystery that we, perhaps, never open - why Anglo-American Aviation has refused to strike for the Hitler's Reich in his most vulnerable place - to bomb the equipment of the oil production industry that delivers the fuel to the Horde of German tanks by chasing in Russian expanses. Until May 1944, only 1.1 percent of all bombing accounted for these objects. The fact that these objects were built on Anglo-American funds were built to construction, capital was attracted to construction.STANDART OIL OF NEW JERSEY AND BRAIN ROYAL DUTCH Shell . Not least the interest of the Western allies of those who wanted to provide German tanks with a sufficient amount of fuel to provide German tanks so that they restrain the Russians long enough from their borders.

The main station, 1944.

Frauenkirche, Church Bell, Baroque masterpiece, symbol of the city. About 1940-44:

She is:



1943, Hofkirche:

1940th:

1944 The owner of the range scratched the Nazi characters from the flags:




Old Market (Altmarct):

Dresden Castle:

Another view of the castle through Zwinger:

New Town Hall:

View of the city with Elba:



Dresden tram 25th line:

All this has lived its last days ...

*****
... In early 1945, the allies were sown withmeasure and destruction over the whole Germany - but the old Saxon Dresden remained among this nightmare is the island of calm.

The famous as a cultural center that has not had military industries, he was actually not protected from strikes from the sky. Only one squadron was located one time in this city of artists and artisans, but she was no longer left for 1945. Outwardly, it might have the impression that all the fighting parties assigned Dresden's status of the "open city" according to a kind of Gentelmen Agreement.

By Thursday, on February 13, the flow of refugees, saved from the onset of the Red Army, which was already 60 miles, increased the population of the city to a million more. Other from refugees passed through all sorts of horrors and were brought to half dead, which forced the later researchers to think about the proportions of what Stalin was known and subject to, and what was done without his knowledge or in addition to his will.

There was a carnival. Usually these days in Dresden, the atmosphere of the carnival prevailed. This time the situation was rather gloomy. Refugees arrived with every hour, and thousands of people were arranged by camps right on the streets, barely covered with rags and trembling from the cold.

However, people felt in relative security; And although the mood was gloomy, circuschi gave presentations in crowded halls, where thousands of unfortunate came to forget for a while about the horrors of war. Globes of elegant girls were strengthened to strengthen the spirit of the backshed songs and verses. They met half-private smiles, but the mood rose ...

None of these minutes could imagine that in less than a day, these innocent children will burn alive in the fiery tornads created by the "civilized" Anglo-Americans.

When the first alarms marked the beginning of the 14-hour hell, the Drespen men obediently dismissed their asylums. But - without any enthusiasm, believing that anxiety is false. Their city has never been attacked from the air. Many would never believe that such a great democrat, like Winston Churchill, along with another great Democrite Franklin Delado Roosevelt, will decide to execute Dresden by total bombing.

So became Altstadt, the old town ...

Ruins of the famous Frauenkirche in 1946:

After the bombing, a huge bell church still stood for several hours, radiating not dozens of meters around themselves unbearable heat. But then still collapsed.

The GDR authorities received very wisely, mobering these ruins as a monument to the victims of war.

When it comes time, this symbol of the city restored, yes, so
that every surviving stone returned to his place.
Although the monument is 80% recreated from new materials, his language will not turn to call "Novyodel".

All ruins, in addition to valuable architectural monuments, were dismantled in the 1950s.




A strikingly, but in the most destroyed cities of Europe, old temples were most common. Probably, then built stronger. It seems that the Tower of Hofkirha:




The castle was all burned out and these ruins began to restore, it seems only in the late 1980s:




Tram among the ruins, very much reminds the post-war Konigsberg-Kaliningrad:

Railway station:




Vienna Square:

These ruins will stand for a long time:

Restoration of the historic center of Dresden continues for over 60 years
and this will probably take a few more decades.
In the 2000s, the authorities were transferred from the restoration of individual monuments to recreating whole quarters. The largest project was the construction of "from scratch"
the historic district of the new market (Neumarkt) around the restored Frauenkirche.

The aircraft of the Western Allies inflicted a series of bomb shocks along the capital of Saxony to the city of Dresden, which was almost completely destroyed.

A raid on Dresden became part of the Anglo-American Strategic Bombing Program, begun after the meeting of the heads of state of the United States and the United Kingdom in Casablanca in January 1943.

Dresden - the seventh largest city of pre-war Germany with a population of 647 thousand people. In connection with the abundance of historical and cultural monuments, it was often called "Florence on the Elbe". There were no significant military objects there.

By February 1945, the city was filled with wounded and refugees, saved from the upcoming parts of the Red Army. Together with them in Dresden, it was estimated to be up to a million, and according to some data, up to 1.3 million people.

The date of the route on Dresden identified the weather: the city was expected over the city.

During the first place in the evening, 244 British heavy bombers "Lancaster" dropped 507 tons of fugasic and 374 tons of incendiary bombs. During the second plaque at night, which was continued by half an hour and was twice as powerful than the first, 965 tons of fugasic and over 800 tons of incendiary bombs were reset on the city of 529 aircraft.

In the morning of February 14, the city bombed 311 American B-17. They dropped the sea of \u200b\u200bmore than 780 tons of bombs into the sea racing under them. In the afternoon of February 15, 210 American B-17 tried the defeat, dropping 462 tons of bombs on the city.

It was the most destructive bomb strike in Europe for all the years of World War II.

The area of \u200b\u200bthe zone of continuous destruction in Dresden four times exceeded that in Nagasaki after the nuclear bombardment by the Americans on August 9, 1945.

For most of the urban building of destruction exceeded 75-80%. An antique Frauenkirche, Gofkirche, the famous Opera and the world-famous architectural and palace ensemble Zwinger are among the irrepustible cultural losses. At the same time, damage caused to industrial enterprises turned out to be insignificant. The railway network also suffered a little. Sorting stations and even one bridge over the elaboy did not receive damage, and movement through the Dresden knot resumed in a few days.

The determination of the exact number of victims of the bombardment of Dresden is complicated by the fact that in the city at that time there were several dozen military hospitals and hundreds of thousands of refugees. Many were buried under the wreckage of collapsed buildings or burned in a fiery tornado.

The number of dead is estimated in different sources from 25-50 thousand to 135 thousand people and more. According to the analysis prepared by the historical department of the United States Air Force, 25 thousand people were killed, according to the official data of the historical department of the British Royal Air Force - over 50 thousand people.

In the future, the Western Allies argued that the fall on Dresden was the answer to the request of the Soviet command to strike at the city's railway unit, allegedly sounded at the Yalta Conference of 1945.

As evidenced by the declassified protocols of the Meetings of the Yalta Conference, demonstrated in the documentary film director Alexei Denisov "Dresden. Chronicle of the tragedy" (2006), the USSR never asked the Anglo-American allies during World War II bombard Dresden. What did the Soviet command really asked about, so it is about the deposition of blows along the railway sites of Berlin and Leipzig due to the fact that the Germans have already transferred from the Western Front to Eastern 20 divisions and were going to transfer about 30 more. It was this request that was awarded in writing The form of Roosevelt and Churchill.

From the point of view of domestic historians, the bombardment of Dresden pursued, rather, a political goal. They bind the bombing of the Saxon capital with the desire of Western allies to demonstrate their military air power to the upcoming Red Army.

After the war was completed, the ruins of churches, palaces and residential buildings were dismantled and taken out for the city, on the site of Dresden, there was only a platform with the marked borders of the units and buildings here. The restoration of the city center took 40 years, the rest of the parts were restored earlier. At the same time, a number of historic buildings of the city are restored to this day, located on Neumakt Square.

Material prepared on the basis of RIA news and open sources

And what is Dresden ??? Well, what are everyone worn with Dresden ???
Allies bombed everything in a row
Hamburg - 37,554 people died as a result of the grand surgery of allies at the end of July - early August 1943. From each thousand people of the population then died on average 22.1 people. 25,965 people, or nearly 70% of those who died, lived in the center of the GROSSBEZIRK Mitte district. The ratio of victims in the area amounted to 59.6 people per thousand of its inhabitants. In the Grossbezirk Mitte area, the number of dead women was 45% higher than the number of men among men. And the number of people who died in the residential buildings Grossbezirk Mitte turned out to be even higher compared with the average data in the central regions. Losses here amounted to 18,500 people, that is, more than half of the officially registered total number of dead.
So, for example, in the Hammerbruk area, the average losses amounted to 361.5 people per thousand, that is, every third found his death in flames of fires. In two other areas, these data are 267.2 and 160 people respectively for each thousand inhabitants.
The number of those who died as a result of the bombing allies in Hamburg exceeds the number of Bavaria dead in the whole land. But even this figure 37 554 does not reflect the exact number of victims. After the studies conducted during a number of years, it became clear that at least 17,372 people should be added here.

What happened during large-scale air strikes using a huge number of incendiary bombs was outside the entire previous practice of urban services and the population.
While the firefighters and representatives of civil defense tried to fight with the first fires and refuse the first victims from under the ruins, having all the chances of saving people, the second powerful blow to the tightly built residential quarters of the eastern part of the city was collapsed. The foci of numerous fires occurred, which soon squared into the fiery sea, flooded whole quarters, which destroyed everything and everyone in their path.
The third and fourth wave of bombers completed destructive work. The fire fell on those areas of the city, which spared the former bombing. At the same time, two neighboring small towns of Elmshorn and Veller were subjected to bombing, where the flow of refugees from Hamburg was glasses. These operations carried out by the Royal Air Force under the cover of the night were obviously raids terror. During the daytime, US Air Force bombers attacked military and industrial facilities in the dock area, primarily shipyard, where combat ships and submarines were built. Americans used basically bombs.
Bold attempts to fight fire in the city itself, which in the first stages of the bombing took the brigades of firefighters with the help of the forces of civil defense and the population, they were soon stopped by new and new flows of incendiary bombs that have fallen on the roofs and then from the roofs. Everywhere immediately appeared new fires. Finally, due to an acute lack of water, work on the extinguishing of fire was completely paralyzed. A certain idea of \u200b\u200bthe intensity of air raids can give the fact that 65 inective bombs were reset for one of the sections of approximately 75 meters, four containers with phosphorus and one fuhas bomb. On one of the middle plants, the British dropped 155 inective bombs. These figures reflect not only the degree of the catastrophe that I had to endure the city. They give an exemplary ratio between the weight and fugasic bombs dropped into Hamburg.
The urban water supply system received 847 direct hits of fugasic bombs, and very soon the water pipe was no longer able to ensure even the urgent needs of the population. This greatly hampered the work of urban fire teams. Firefighters received so many challenges that they were simply not able to cope with them. The city authorities hoped to receive help from the outside, but what could be done when the fires simultaneously covered 16 thousand buildings, and the city blocks fucked up to horrific temperatures (more than 800 degrees Celsius) when the flames were covered by separate houses, but are whole areas? The heat led to the fact that the flame covered all new and new buildings, and it happened so quickly that hundreds of tried to escape men, women and children burned alive right on the streets and squares.
In many places, the burning ruins sourced such a heat, which even after it was possible to knock off the flame itself, took place for several days before it was possible to try to get into these streets. In the areas of fire, only 30 hours after the end of the raid, it was possible to see at least something with natural light. Before that, dense clouds of black smoke mixed with dust, completely obscured even a cloudless sky.

Just as Hiroshima and Nagasaki - this is good, but there was Tokyo, where Ami knew in the huts of Yaps from paper and wood, and where the losses were more than in X and N.

And most importantly - the bombing of Murmansk and Stalingrad - where is regrettable and experiences on the killed civil ???
The Germans simply flew off - and yes, Gernik, conceived by Sperlele was the first - so "Az I Ward"

Vitaly Slotsky, "Free Press".

Will the large-scale bombing of the Second World War of the war crime recognize?

For several decades in Europe, it is also a matter of calls to give the bombardment of the ancient city of Dresden the status of a military crime and the genocide of residents. Recently, the German writer, the laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature Gunter Grass and the former editor of the British newspaper "The Times" Simon Jenkins again demanded this.
They supported American journalist and literary critic Christopher Hitchez, who said that the bombings of many German cities were held exclusively in order for the new crews of aircraft to work out the practice of bombing.
The German historian York Friedrich in his book noted that the bombings of the cities were a war crime, since in recent months of war they were not dictated by military necessity: "... it was absolutely excessive in the military sense of the bombing."
The number of victims of the terrible bombing, which happened from February 13 to 15, 1945, ranges from 25,000 to 30,000 people (many sources declare more). The city was completely destroyed.
After the end of World War II, the ruins of residential buildings, palaces and churches were dismantled and taken out of the city. At the site of Dresden, a platform was formed with the marked borders of the former streets and buildings.
The restoration of the center lasted about 40 years. The rest of the city built up much faster.
To this day, the restoration of historical buildings on the area of \u200b\u200bNeumakt is being restored.

Fire Tornads pulled people ...
Before the war, Dresden was considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Tourist guidebooks called him Florence on the Elbe. Here were the famous Dresden Gallery, the second largest in the world of the Museum of the Porcelain, the most beautiful palace ensemble Zwinger, the Opera House, competing on acoustics with the La Rock Theater, many churches built in Baroque style.
In Dresden, Russian composers Peter Tchaikovsky and Alexander Scriabin often stopped, and Sergey Rakhmaninov was preparing here to his world tour. For a long time, I lived in the city of Writer Fedor Dostoevsky, who worked on the novel "Demes". His daughter Lubash was born.
At the end of World War II, the locals were confident that Dresden will not undergo bombardment. There were no military factories in it. There were rumors that after the war allies will make Dresden the capital of new Germany.
The anti-airfiction is practically absent here, so the air alarm signal sounded just a few minutes before the start of the bombing.
At 10:030 am On February 13, residents of the Okrain heard the hum of approaching aircraft. At 22, 13 minutes of 244 heavy bombers "Lancaster" of the British Royal Air Force dropped the first fugasic bombs into the city.
In a matter of minutes, the city was arranged with a flame. The light from a gigantic fire was visible for 150 kilometers.
One of the pilots of the British Royal Air Force subsequently recalled: "The fantastic light around becomes brighter when we approached the target. At an altitude of 6000 meters, we could distinguish in an unearthly bright radiance of the area, which never had seen before; For the first time during many operations, I felt sorry for the residents below. "
The bombarder navigator of one of the bombers testified: "I confess, I glanced down when the bombs fell, and with our own eyes saw the shocking panorama of the city, saving from one end to the other. Viden was a thick smoke attributed by the wind from Dresden. The panorama of the brightly sparkling city was opened. The first reaction was shocking my idea about the coincidence that took place at the bottom of the slaughter with the warnings of evangelists on the sermons before the war. "
Dresden's bombing plan included the creation on his streets of fire tornads. Such a tornado appears when the disparate foci of fires are combined into one huge fire. The air is heated above it, its density decreases and it rises up.
British historian David Irving describes the fiery foul language created in Dresden by the pilots of the British Royal Air Force: "... The resulting fiery tummy, judging by the examination, has swallowed more than 75 percent of the territory of destruction ... Giant trees were doried with the root or half broken. Crowds of the people who saved people were unexpectedly picked up a tornado, they dragged them through the streets and threw straight into the fire; Torn roofs and furniture ... were thrown into the center of the shutter of the old part of the city.
The fiery tummy reached the peak in the three-hour gap between the taxes, it was at that time when the residents of the city had running around in underground corridors followed from his outskirts.
The railway worker, who hollowed near the Postal Square, watched the woman with a baby carriage dragged through the streets and threw into the flame. Other people who sprinkled along the railway embankment, which seemed to be the only way of salvation, not littered with wreckage, told how railway cars in the open areas of the path blurred. "
Asphalt melted on the streets, and people falling into it, merged with the road surface.
The telephonist of the central telegraph left such memories of the bombardment of the city: "Some girls offered to go out and run home. The staircase led from the basement of the building of the telephone node into a four-born yard under the glass roof. They wanted to get out through the main gate of the yard on the postal area. I did not like this idea; Suddenly, just when 12 or 13 girls were overwhelmed by the courtyard and hung up with the gate, trying to open them, the roof was hot, the roof was collapsed, burying them all under them. "
In the gynecological clinic, after hitting the bomb, 45 pregnant women died. On the Altmakt Square, several hundred people who were looking for salvation in ancient wells were welded alive, and the water from the wells evaporated half.
In the basement rooms of the Central Station during bombing, approximately 2,000 refugees from Silesia and East Prussia were located. Underground passages for their temporary residence of the authorities have been equipped long before the bombing of the city. Representatives of the Red Cross, the detachments of the women's service in the framework of state labor obligation and employees of the National Social Social Security Service, took care of refugees. In the other city of Germany, the cluster of such a number of people in the rooms decorated with flammable materials would not be allowed. But Dresden's authorities were sure that the city would not be bombed.
Refugees were on the stairs leading to the platforms and on the platforms themselves. Shortly before the ride on the city of British bomber at the station arrived two trains with children from Königsbruck, to which the Red Army approached.
The refugee from Silesia recalled: "Thousands of people crowded on the shoulder on the shoulder ... The fire was raging over them. In the entrances to the station lay the corpses of the dead children, they were already folded on each other and took out from the station. "
According to the head of the PVA central station, from 2000 refugees who were in the tunnel, 100 burned alive, another 500 people suffocated in smoke.

"The number of victims in Dresden is impossible to calculate"
During the first attack on Dresden, the British "Lancaster" dropped 800 tons of bombs. After three hours, 529 "Lancaster" dropped 1800 tons of bombs. The losses of the Royal Air Force during two raids amounted to 6 aircraft, 2 more aircraft were crashed in France and 1 in the UK.
February 14, 311 American bomber dropped 771 tons of bombs on the city. February 15, American aviation dropped 466 tons of bombs. Some of the American fighters "R-51" received an order to attack the goals moving along the roads to increase chaos and destruction on an important transport network of the region.
The commander of the Dresden rescue squad recalled: "At the beginning of the second attack, many were still crowded in the tunnels and basements, waiting for the end of the fires ... detonation struck the bedrooms. Some new, strange sound, which became all the gloover and the gloover, was mixed up to the crash of the explosions. Something resembling the hum of a waterfall is a bilge of the tornger, which began in the city.
Many who were in underground shelters instantly burned as soon as the surrounding heat suddenly increased sharply. They or turned into ashes, or melted ... "
The bodies of other dead found in the basements were wrinkled from the nightmare heat to one meter of length.
British aircraft dumped into the city and canisters filled with a rubber and white phosphorus mixture. The canisters were broken about the Earth, Phosphorus flammored, viscous mass got into the skin of people and adhered tightly. It was impossible to pay it ...
One of the residents of Dresden told: "The tram depot was a public restroom from corrugated iron. At the entrance, drowned by a face in a fur coat, laid a woman of thirty, absolutely nagging. A few yards came from her two boys, eight and ten years. Lying, hugging firmly. Also nagi ... wherever I got a glance, people suffered from lack of oxygen. Apparently, they trampled all the clothes from themselves, trying to make a semblance of an oxygen mask ... ".
After the raids, the three-mile pillar of yellow-brown smoke rose into the sky. The mass of the ashes sailed, covering the ruins, towards Czechoslovakia.
In some places of the Old Town, such a heat was created that, even a few days after the bombing, it was impossible to enter the streets between the ruins of houses.
According to the report of the Dresden Police compiled after the raids, 12,000 buildings burned in the city, it was destroyed "... 24 banks, 26 buildings of insurance companies, 31 trading shops, 6470 stores, 640 warehouses, 256 shopping halls, 31 hotels, 26 public houses, 63 administrative buildings, 3 theater, 18 cinemas, 11 churches, 60 chapels, 50 cultural and historical buildings, 19 hospitals (including auxiliary and private clinics), 39 schools, 5 consulates, 1 zoological garden, 1 water supply station, 1 Railway depot, 19 Post Office, 4 tram depots, 19 ships and barges. "
On March 22, 1945, Dresden's municipal authorities issued the official report according to which the number of those who were taken to this date of the victims amounted to 20 204, and the total number of those who died during the bombardment were expected to be about 25,000 people.
In 1953, in the work of the German authors "Results of the Second World War", Major General of the Fire Service Hans Rumpf wrote: "It is impossible to calculate the number of victims in Dresden. According to the State Department, 250 thousand inhabitants died in this city, but the actual figure of losses, of course, is much smaller; But even 60-100 thousand people of the civilian population who died on fire for one night, with difficulty fit in the human consciousness. "
In 2008, the Commission from 13 German historians who worked on the request of the city of Dresden came to the conclusion that approximately 25,000 people were killed during the bombing.

"And at the same time to show Russian ..."
Bombing Dresden Prime Minister UK Winston Churchill suggested on January 26, 1945 by the Minister of Air Force Archibald Sinclair in response to his dispatch with the question: "What can be done in order to separate the Germans when they retreat from Breslau (this city is located 200 kilometers from Dresden. "SP")? ".
On February 8, the Supreme Rate of the Allied Forwards in Europe informed the UK Air Force and the United States that Dresden is included in the list of targets for bombing. On the same day, the US military mission in Moscow sent an official notice to the Soviet side about the inclusion of Dresden to the list of purposes.
The Royal Air Force Memorandum with which British pilots were acquainted on the night before the attack, reported: "Dresden, the 7th in size of the city of Germany ... Currently, the largest enemy district is still not subjected to bombing. In the middle of winter, with refugee streams, heading to the West, and troops, which can be housed somewhere, residential premises, because it is required not only to place workers, refugees and troops, but also government agencies evacuated from other areas. At one time, a widely known porcelain, Dresden developed into a major industrial center ... The purpose of the attack is to strike the enemy where it will feel His strongest, behind the partially collapsed front ... and at the same time show Russian when they arrive in the city. Royal Air Force. "
- If we talk about war crimes and genocide, many German cities were subjected to bombardment. The Americans and the British have developed a plan: mercilessly bombing cities to break the spirit of civilian population in a short time. But the country lived and worked under bomats, "says the author of books on the history of World War II, Vladimir Beshanov. - I think that war crimes need to recognize not only the barbaric bombardment of Dresden, but also bombing of other German cities, as well as Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In Dresden, residential buildings and architectural monuments were destroyed. Large sorting stations almost did not receive damage. It remained untouched by railway bridge over the Elbe and the Military Airfield, which was in the vicinity of the city.
After Dresden, the British managed to bomb the medieval cities of Bayreuth, Würzburg, Zoest, Rothenburg, Pforzheim and Welm. Only in Pforzheim, where 60,000 people lived, a third of the inhabitants died.
What will come out of the next attempt to make a monstrous event of a war crime status - unknown. While every year on February 13, residents of Dresden commemorate the fellow citizens who died in a fiery tornado.