By Today, Fedruary 13th, Germany marks 70th anniversary to firebombing of Dresden during the final stages of World War II. About 25,000 people died during the British and American air attacks, which created a huge firestorm that approximately left 33 square km of the city in ruins.
Dresden, which is located at the West Germany, during the WWII used to be a Nazi command center. Therefore, it suffered from massive bombing.
German President, Joachim Gauck said during the afternoon service at the Church of Our Lady in Dresden that the attack had “burned itself into the memory” of those who survived. Gauck added that “We know who started the murderous war. And that is the reason why we don’t and we will never forget the victims of German warfare. We will remember forever German victims” brought his words bbc.com. The German President also added that Dresden had become to be a symbol of the suffering during the WWII, and that Germany has to learn lessons from its history.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby said at the ceremony that “Whatever the arguments, events here 70 years ago left a deep wound and diminished all our humanity”, while Dresden Mayor, Helma Orosz said that the events would be an opportunity to demonstrate the city’s core values of “openness to the world and tolerance” reports BBC.
1945 Dresden Bombing Newsreel
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