Victor Klemperer offered one of the most poignant eyewitness accounts of the Dresden bombings in February 1945, capturing the chaos and fear of the moment. He survived the bombings, which fortuitously spared him from deportation to a concentration camp, and later reflected on the events with a sense of exhaustion and resignation. His writings also touch upon the contentious debates over the military necessity of the bombings and challenge the myths surrounding the responsibility for the suffering caused during this time, particularly pointing to the broader implications of Germany's actions under Hitler's regime.
We very soon heard the ever deeper and louder humming of approaching squadrons, the light went out, an explosion nearby. ... Pause in which we caught our breath, we knelt head down between the chairs, in some groups there was whimpering and weeping approaching aircraft once again, deadly danger once again, explosion once again. I do not know how often it was repeated.
In front of me lay a large, unrecognizable open space in the middle of it an enormous crater. Bangs, as light as day, explosions. I had no thoughts, I was not even afraid, I was simply tremendously exhausted, I think I was expecting the end.
Yes, it is true that the military purpose of the Allied air raids on February 13 and 14, 1945, was questionable, so close to the end of World War II. But the bombings, which caused much suffering among the innocent, does not change the fundamental guilt of the German Reich under Adolf Hitler.
The fate of this city, still beautiful despite the scars of war, is a good example of how myths are sometimes created deliberately. And how difficult it is to dislodge them, no matter how false and dishonest they are.
Collection
[
|
...
]