Dmitriy Orlov: Truman and Churchill No Better Than Stalin
[Dmitriy Orlov is director general of Russia's Agency of Political and Economic Communications.]
Translated By Yekaterina Blinova
Everyone knows why on August 6, the bells toll in Japan. This day marks the anniversary of the American atomic bombing of Hiroshima. According to conservative estimates, it killed nearly 150,000 people - civilians. But why do the bells toll in Germany every year - on February 13, at exactly 10:10am?
In the victorious spring of '45, British and American aircraft carried out not atomic - but more than tragic air strikes on German cities. Their symbol was the tragedy of Dresden. The bells toll for the Germans who perished in the attack.
The British Air Force radioman who participated in the raid on the city recalls: "We flew for hours over a sea of fire raging below - from above it looked like an ominous red luminescence with a thin layer of haze above it." (By the way, the city itself was bombed primarily by the British - the Americans "worked" on the military sites and communications). According to analysts, a firestorm ensued after the attack, within which the temperature reached 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 Celsius).
This is the testimony of Margaret Freyer, a Dresden resident who survived that night:
"Everything around me became a complete hell. I … see a woman … She carries a bundle in her arms. It is a baby. She runs, she falls, and the child flies in an arc into the fire. Suddenly, I saw [two] people again, right in front of me … They fainted and then burned to cinders." Grete Palucca: "At night, when I see these images, I begin to scream."
Every shred of infrastructure was destroyed, most importantly the bridges over the Elbe. This was the announced goal of the action - and it was achieved. But there were other things, among them an art gallery; 11 churches and 60 chapels; 19 hospitals; 39 schools (all information provided by the Dresden police). According to the U.S. Air Force, 78,000 residential buildings were destroyed, around 28,000 were rendered unfit for habitation, and almost 65,000 received minor damage and had to be renovated.
In 1939, Dresden had a population of 642,000 people. At the time of the bombings there were approximately 200,000 refugees. David Irving, in his book The Destruction of Dresden, estimated the number of casualties at 135,000 people; Time magazine and the Columbia Encyclopedia estimate 35,000-135,000; the Soviet Military Encyclopedia estimates 135,000; and the BBC estimate is 130,000. In recent years, estimates of casualties have become significantly lower in both Germany and Britain. But even 50,000 civilian casualties - is that not too much for a single, localized military operation?...
... The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE], as everyone knows, has "equated" the crimes of Nazism and Stalinism [read news story or watch video below]. But what kind of OSCE resolution would be needed to evaluate the Dresden tragedy? What should it be compared to? And who now, after 64 years, will bear responsibility for it? The "authoritarian regime of Prime Minister Churchill?" And, by the way, who will answer for Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The "American military regime" and that great democrat, Truman?...
Read entire article at Worlsmeets.us
Translated By Yekaterina Blinova
Everyone knows why on August 6, the bells toll in Japan. This day marks the anniversary of the American atomic bombing of Hiroshima. According to conservative estimates, it killed nearly 150,000 people - civilians. But why do the bells toll in Germany every year - on February 13, at exactly 10:10am?
In the victorious spring of '45, British and American aircraft carried out not atomic - but more than tragic air strikes on German cities. Their symbol was the tragedy of Dresden. The bells toll for the Germans who perished in the attack.
The British Air Force radioman who participated in the raid on the city recalls: "We flew for hours over a sea of fire raging below - from above it looked like an ominous red luminescence with a thin layer of haze above it." (By the way, the city itself was bombed primarily by the British - the Americans "worked" on the military sites and communications). According to analysts, a firestorm ensued after the attack, within which the temperature reached 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 Celsius).
This is the testimony of Margaret Freyer, a Dresden resident who survived that night:
"Everything around me became a complete hell. I … see a woman … She carries a bundle in her arms. It is a baby. She runs, she falls, and the child flies in an arc into the fire. Suddenly, I saw [two] people again, right in front of me … They fainted and then burned to cinders." Grete Palucca: "At night, when I see these images, I begin to scream."
Every shred of infrastructure was destroyed, most importantly the bridges over the Elbe. This was the announced goal of the action - and it was achieved. But there were other things, among them an art gallery; 11 churches and 60 chapels; 19 hospitals; 39 schools (all information provided by the Dresden police). According to the U.S. Air Force, 78,000 residential buildings were destroyed, around 28,000 were rendered unfit for habitation, and almost 65,000 received minor damage and had to be renovated.
In 1939, Dresden had a population of 642,000 people. At the time of the bombings there were approximately 200,000 refugees. David Irving, in his book The Destruction of Dresden, estimated the number of casualties at 135,000 people; Time magazine and the Columbia Encyclopedia estimate 35,000-135,000; the Soviet Military Encyclopedia estimates 135,000; and the BBC estimate is 130,000. In recent years, estimates of casualties have become significantly lower in both Germany and Britain. But even 50,000 civilian casualties - is that not too much for a single, localized military operation?...
... The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE], as everyone knows, has "equated" the crimes of Nazism and Stalinism [read news story or watch video below]. But what kind of OSCE resolution would be needed to evaluate the Dresden tragedy? What should it be compared to? And who now, after 64 years, will bear responsibility for it? The "authoritarian regime of Prime Minister Churchill?" And, by the way, who will answer for Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The "American military regime" and that great democrat, Truman?...