Dresden in the 20th century
was a leading European centre of art, classical music, culture and science until its complete destruction (over ninety percent of the city centre was destroyed.) on February 13, 1945. Being the capital of the German state of Saxony,
Dresden had not only garrisons but a whole military borough, the Albertstadt.
This military complex, named after Saxon King Albert,
was never targeted in the bombing of Dresden.
During the final months of World War II Dresden became a safe haven to some 600,000 refugees, including women, children, and wounded soldiers with a total population of 1.2 million. Dresden was attacked seven times between 1944 and 1945, and was completely occupied by the Red Army after German capitulation.
The bombing of Dresden by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force between 13 February and 15 February 1945, remains one of the more controversial Allied actions of the Western European theatre of war. The inner city of Dresden was largely destroyed by
800 RAF and USAAF bombers that dropped 650,000 incendiaries and 8,000 lbs of high explosives and hundreds of 4,000 lb bombs[15] in three waves of attacks. Early reports estimated 150,000 to 250,000 deaths but a recently commissioned report claims there were 25,000 civilian casualties.[16]
The inhabited city centre was almost wiped out, while larger residential, industrial and military sites on the outskirts were relatively unscathed. Some of the Allies described the operation as the justified bombing of a military and industrial target.[17] In a report from the British Bomber command it stated that the military target was the Railway Marshaling yard Dresden-Friedrichstadt which housed 4,000 trucks at most per 24 hours. Prime Minister Winston Churchill tried to distance himself from the attack, even though he was heavily involved with the organisation and planning of the raid. Several researchers have argued that the February attacks were disproportional.[18] American novelist Kurt Vonnegut witnessed the raid as a POW; his novel Slaughterhouse-Five is based on that experience.
In remembrance of the victims, the anniversaries of the bombing of Dresden are marked with peace demonstrations, devotions and marches.
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