2010-03-24

A report by German historians employed by the Dresden city authorities to determine the number of victims killed in the bombardments of the city by Allied forces in 1945 was published on 17 March. The results of the research which started in 2004 indicate that 25,000 people were killed between 13 and 15 February, which is as much as twenty times less than the figure estimated by neo-Nazi and right-wing circles. For many Germans the air raids against Dresden, allegedly resulting in 500,000 casualties, has been proof of the brutality of the Allies and one of the arguments for recognising Germany as a victim of World War II. The publication of this report shows the groundlessness of this way of thinking.

The publication of the report ends the dispute about the real number of victims of the bombardments, which has been ongoing since the end of World War II. Neo-Nazi organisations have held remembrance marches in Dresden on 13 February over the past few years. This provided an occasion for fights with members of leftist organisations.
The report will significantly weaken the arguments of those who would like to compare the bombardments of Dresden to the bombardments of other cities such as Warsaw or Coventry or even to the Holocaust. The circles which want to see history in more relativistic terms and present Germans as victims of World War II will still use the ‘Dresden argument’ in discussions, emphasising other aspects of the bombardments. For instance, they claim that the raids allegedly did not serve any military goals and therefore the killing of 25,000 people according to contemporary criteria can be classified as a war crime. <ciechan>

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