The 60th Anniversary of the Bombing of Dresden

February 13, 2005
Dresden after the Bombing in February 1945
Today, 60 years ago, over 768 Royal Air Force bombers took off in Lincolnshire, England heading towards Dresden, Germany. They were the first wave of three bombing Dresden to support the Russian Army at the nearing east front. At 9.50 p.m., the first bombers appeared in the cloudless sky. It was Mardi-Gras and everybody was in a party mood to forget the surrounding danger and war. Short after 10.00 p.m., the first bombs hit the historical Old City (Altstadt) of Dresden, the area with all the famous buildings like the Zwinger, the Castle, the Opera House (Semperoper) and the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) of which the ruins became the symbol of the destruction of Dresden for the next 60 years.

I don't really want to add comments about the necessity or not of these bombings. I am happy, that my grand mother and her sisters and brothers and mum survived the Firestorm. My grand mother and father had their house very near to the main station which was one of the main targets. All what was left of this house was one gable end with the frame of my grand father's bike hanging on a hook at the top where they had their flat. The rest had been eaten by the fire.

Unfortunately, I cannot attend the ceremonies today in Dresden, what is, for me personal, quite sad. However, we will go for Verdi's Requiem here in London at Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank) tonight which probably will be my sympathy in the ceremonies. And I think it is a very good sign, that I can do this here in the country from where the first bombers started with their devastating load.

The only way to understand all reasons and the consequences is to talk to people of both sides and looking the the circumstances of those days! I hope such a situation and war at all will never ever happen again!

This entry was posted at February 13, 2005 09:42 (UTC) from London, UK.