Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
The next question is if the bombing of Dresden was a war crime. Before the War began, bombing civilian populations was looked on as a war crime. But then the question arises if your enemu bombs your cities can you then bomb his cities with no moral aporbrium. It seems unrealistic to argue that the Allies should not have bombed German cities after the NAZis initiated the practice. Then the question becomes is the fact that the War was winding down and because Dresden which was not involved in major weapons manufacturing programs that it should not have been targeted. This seems a more reasonable question and one which we cannot yet address with any authority without further information. Some right-wing elements decry the deaths of thousands of innocent women and children. Sadness over these deaths has to affect anyone looking at the Dresden raid. It is notable, however, that many of the right-wing writers who make this argument often when confronted about NAZI attrocities turn to the explanation that terrible things always occur in war. Other ask just what innocent meant and point to the fact that Dresden and Saxony were an area of strong NAZI support. But did that justify the bombing of the city. Another issue concerning Dresden is the issue of German suffering in rhe War, not only the bombing but also the fefugees driven out of Eastern Europe. We would say that this topic has not received the due historical assessment. We note that German authors have begun to give this subject more attention. We also note that we have not yet noted in that assessment a detailed treatment of the degree to which erhnic German populations in occupied countries cooperated with NAZI officials in the perpetration of attrocties and war crimes.
The next question is if the bombing of Dresden was a war crime. Before the War began, bombing civilian populations was looked on as a war crime.
One question to consider is how bombing civilian targets is treated under German law. The Germans did this in both World Wars, although their bombing was much more extensive in World War II. The Germans shelled Paris with long range artillery--the notorious Big Bertha. Zephelins were used bomb British cities. The Germans in World War II conducted many bombing raids on cities, including largely undefended cities, including Warsaw (1939) and Belgrade (1941). There were also raids on defended cities, lagely targetting civilians (Rotterdam, London, and Coventry) (1940). The V-1 (1944) and V-2 (1944-45) campaigns were entirely aimed at civilians. The extent of the damage done in these campaigns was only restricted by the limited German capability. As far as we know, German courts after both Wars never tried the people responsible for these attacks. It seems to us difficult for Germans to classify Dresden as a war crime if they have not procecuted Germans for similar actions. Reich Mrshall Goering was tried at Nuremburg, but the conviction was based on other war crimes.
But then the question arises if your enemy bombs your cities can you then bomb his cities with no moral aporbrium. It seems unrealistic to argue that the Allies should not have bombed German cities after the NAZis initiated the practice and persued in vigorously, restricted only by their capability to produce weaoins.
A reader writes, "Reading your assessment of the destruction of Dresden exactly 60 years ago (there was no mention in the American media at all, while the liberation of Auschwitz is being discussed and commemorated widely, as expected). [HBC note: Actually it did receice some attention, although admittedly not extensive.] I must conclude that this event was a (war) crime. No matter what the Germans had done, starting with the attacks on cities during the Spanish Civil War and the bombardments of Warsaw, Rotterdam and Coventry, I believe that Dresden also was an act of calculated inhumanity. Churchill indeed did not order a halt to this kind of terror out of sympathy for the German civilian population, but rather on account of the total destruction of Germany. While the Germans since 1945 have been apologizing non-stop for the Nazi crimes (I still see that picture of Willy Brandt on his knees
in the Warsaw ghetto) and have been paying enormous sums of money as "Wiedergutmachung" to Israel and to individual Jewish survivers worldwide, the Allies have been silent on the terrible plight of millions and millions of ethnic Germans, who trekked in one of the coldest winters on record to the West just before and after the collaps of the Third Reich, but who were absorbed and settled down in ruined West Germany, a miracle of enormous scope." HBC does not essentially disagree with the comments here. We hove to eventually develop more information about the decession making process that went into the raid. The question we pose here is that given the barbarity of the German war effort which heavily targetted civilians, one has to wonder what Germans should expect from other countries. It is very easy for us today to rationally assess the situation and determine that the raid should not have been conductef. But it is reasonable to expect men in 1945 who lost friends and relatives and who were bveginiing to read about the attrocities conducted by the Germans to use the same detached judgement that is now possible. It should be mention that after Dresden, the Allies did scale back the bombing.
Then the question becomes is the fact that the War was winding down and because Dresden which was not involved in major weapons manufacturing programs that it should not have been targeted. This seems a more reasonable question and one which we cannot yet address with any authority without further information. Some right-wing elements decry the deaths of thousands of innocent women and children. Sadness over these deaths has to affect anyone looking at the Dresden raid. It is notable, however, that many of the right-wing writers who make this argument often when confronted about NAZI attrocities turn to the explanation that terrible things always occur in war.
Other ask just what innocent meant. German civilians supported the German war effort, a war with the goal of genocide. Many civilians of course did not know what their country was doing. Others were women and children not involved in war industries. The fact that civilians were involved in war industries, does of course complicate the question of innocent civilins. Other point to the fact that Dresden and Saxony were an area of strong NAZI support. But the question remains, did that justify the bombing of the city--especially as the city did not have major war industries.
Another issue concerning Dresden is the issue of German suffering in rhe War, not only the bombing but also the fefugees driven out of Eastern Europe. We would say that this topic has not received the due historical attention. We note that German authors have begun to give this subject more attention. We also note that we have not yet noted in that assessment a detailed treatment of the degree to which erhnic German populations in occupied countries cooperated with NAZI officials in the perpetration of attrocties and war crimes.
A readder writes, "I cannot help to think of the Japanese in this respect, who never apologized for their atrocities in China and South East Asia, let alone giving compensation to the surviving victims. An uncle of mine (my mother's youngest brother) died in a Japanese camp on the island of Java, Indonesia, after being tortured. At this moment I am reading the book "The Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chang, an account of the horrible crimes the Japanese committed in 1937 inNanking, where they raped, tortured and murdered 300,000 Chinese civilians. German children learn about the Holocaust, but Japanese schools don't teach their pupils anything about what their fathers and grandfathers did in the Far East, on the contrary, the Japanese act if they were completely innocent and simply victims of a cruel war that ended with Hiroshima."
Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking: The forgotten holocaust of World War II" (New York: Penguin Books, 1997).
Reinhard, Olivar. The Red Glow.
Snyder, Louis L. Historical Guide to World War II (1982).
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