Talk:Dresden/Archive 2

Archive 1

Archive 2

Contribution by User:PeterOliver100

I've just removed this large section by PeterOliver100:

Some think that the bombing of Dresden was a tragic occurrence that Nazi Germany brought upon itself. This view is based on the assumption that it would be justice to punish a whole people for their government's decisions, be it war or genocide. This assumption neglects the fact, that "Nazi Germany" neither equals "Germans" as a people, nor their personal views. Taking a look at the number of Germans who had voted for the NSDAP (Nazi party) clearly shows that the large majority of Germans were not in favour of the Nazi Party (last free democratic Votes at the Reichstagswahlen of Nov. 1933 with less than 38 percent for the NSDAP).

If we judge a whole people from our democratic point of view, we tend to forget that in Nazi Germany a simple public remark against the government - which seems normal to us nowadays - could mean the immediate death sentence. The same applies for listening to British or Russian radio stations. As every Newspaper, every Radio Station and every Newsreel was controlled by the Nazis, many Germans were listening to the Allied radio stations secretely, and many got caught and killed for that. They knew that their own German governement as well as their media at the time were lying to them; but finding out the truth was a deadly endeavour.

It would therefore be wrong to assume that the non-expression of a view equals agreement. In East Germany, for example, people were silent for decades unter Soviet Occupation; this does not mean they agreed to it. It took East Germans almost four decades to shake off their Communist Dictatorship, but this was only possible as the Soviet power had already started to crumble and decay in the 1980ies. Dictatorships always know well how to oppress free speech, be it Nazi or Communist. As for the Nazis, the fact that only few voices were heard loud and clear against Hitler does not mean people agreed to their government's policies.

The Allies claim still nowadays that the Attack on Dresden and other German Civilian Targets was a necessary military action taken to support the Red Army. This view can not be maintained by facts, as RAF Documents clearly show the targeting area, which consists of housing areas, opera houses, art galleries, artefacts, theaters, hospitals, orphan's homes, far away from major military targets; the big Military Site in Dresden in the district of the Albertstadt survived the war nearly untouched. Also, Major Harris who carried out the Attack remarked that the aim to attack the undefended city full of refugees was

"....to show the Russians what Bomber Command can do" (Quote Arthur Harris).

Thus, according to official British Military Sources, the Dresden Attack served as a deterrant to the Soviets rather then supporting them.

Fortunately, much of the city's beauty has been restored, however most of Dresden is lost forever. The destruction of Dresden is not a just a tragedy, but a multiple tragedy: apart from the fact that thousands of innocent people had been killed and the fact that many remain traumatized and maimed up to this present day, there lies a second tragedy within: Even though the war is now long time ago, today's young generation starts to realize what they have lost, too: The destruction of Dresden means the loss of one of the World's greatest Treasures of Culture, Art and Beauty.

Some fragments of the old town have been restored, thanks to the zeal of the populace in recreating the architecture of ‘old Dresden'. Today Dresden has a strong partnership with the English city Coventry, which was heavily damaged by German air attacks. The camaraderie is deeply supported by the populace in both cities.

Many people in Dresden nowadays support the view that wars should be renounced and banned in general, as innocent people always suffer on both sides - regardless of who is to blame "officially". Dropping bombs on innocent people under the pretext "they deserve it, as their government is bad" makes no sense - neither in Dresden then, nor in Iraq nowadays.

Sorry to remove your hard work, Peter, but this article is on Dresden in general; perhaps you could try adding some more to Bombing of Dresden in World War II. Saint|swithin 13:15, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

What a nonsense is this? The Nazi party came to power because the majority of Germans voted for it. The Nazi party had a 100% support of the German population during the entire duration of the war; a poll conducted by the Americans directly after the war indicated that if they organized elections immediately, the Nazi party would be in power again. The Allies never intended to punish the Germans for the "mistakes of their government". The Nazi party and the German nation were one and the same. The intended purpose of the bombings was to break the alliance - this never work however. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.218.41.190 (talk) 21:16, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Maybe you should study German history more carefully, especially what happened in 1933. As for the morale bombing, today there is no doubt that it was an act of war crime. It was justified by weakening the morale of the German population though it should be very clear to everyone that you cannot get someone on your side by bombing away his home. The massive bombing of civilians made them just more sticking on the government. If they already destroy my home, they will kill me right away when they conquer this place, many people thought. But this whole war was pure madness. --93.232.226.145 (talk) 20:03, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Excuse me, but I sincerely doubt that poll you mention and the intent of your addition to this discussion. Show us some sources for a poll that said the nazis would be re-elected after the war that cost millions of innocent people their lives. Seriously, how can you believe that? --77.23.104.79 (talk) 16:05, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

Nazi party had a 100% support of the German population during the entire duration of the war Even German Jews ????? 213.40.221.114 (talk) 22:38, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually the Nazi Party only gained power because the then Democratically-inexperienced centre-parties failed to recognise the danger from the extremist left- and right-wing parties and refused to band together, thereby splitting the vote, effectively leaving the German electorate the choice between the Communists, and the Nazis.

Having come very close to revolution and civil war in the preceding years, the Germans chose what many believed was the lesser of two evils, and unfortunately, were wrong. The average German was by no means a Nazi, but had the probably unwise tendency to obey 'legal' orders when given from above, no matter how bad the orders were. Hitler then made his troops swear an oath of allegiance to him personally (an oath that had previously been made towards the State), which many German's took very seriously, and that resulted in the Germans being torn between obeying 'legal' orders, or doing what they knew was morally right. Unfortunately, Hitler's Government made disobeying orders and doing what was morally right punishable by death, so, understandably, most Germans chose to remain alive.

It's all very well criticising the German people for not doing more against Hitler, but when you have seen someone taken outside and summarily shot in the head, which was a not uncommon event in those times, that has a very disconcerting effect on a person. Hitler then halted all further elections so that it then became impossible to 'legally' get rid of him or his government.

The result of this, and him needing to be removed from power by other means, is seen in the ruinous state of Germany in 1945. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.112.71.28 (talk) 22:04, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

POV editing in the second world war section

I am seeing some POV editing in the second world war section right now. For those gentlemen with special interest in this period, I advise you to go to Bombing of Dresden in World War II and edit your heart out, but keep your abundant subpar edits away from this page. The page has enough problems of being underreferenced/ poorly referenced as it is and nobody has adopted the page for watching the quality of the edits, as far as I can see. Thanks.--Wuerzele (talk) 18:27, 13 April 2015 (UTC)