Dresden (59 page)

“more harm to ourselves”: Text of revised memorandum and the chiefs of staff's response in Webster and Frankland,
Strategic Air Offensive,
vol. 3, p. 117f.

most straightforwardly justifiable: For the estimated April 17 casualty figures, see Neutzner, ed.,
Martha Heinrich Acht,
p. 103.

its long-held aim: See Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 249ff. The chapter is entitled “The Forgotten Attack.” The oddity is, many Dresdeners have forgotten the April 17 raid ever took place. Some have since denied its existence point-blank, so powerfully does the horror of the firestorm overshadow the rest of the city's suffering and distort the shape of its victims' memories. Bergander remarked to the author: “The 17 April raid is denied by many people in Dresden. I had a discussion with a woman who said it didn't happen. What can you do?”

Chapter 28: The War Is Over. Long Live the War

just west of the city: Rahne, “Die ‘Festung Dresden' von 1945,” p. 29.

“Dresden was the only city”: Hoch, interview.

“Russians went into the houses”: From
Eine Familienchronik 1946
, quoted in Cornelia Adam, “Vergewaltigungen in Dresden nach 1945,” in
Dresdner Hefte 53, Dresden als Garnisonstadt
p. 61ff.

a letter from a Herr G.: Letter from Herr G. to the High Burgomaster of Dresden quoted in Adam, “Vergwaltigungen in Dresden nach 1945.”

a rationing system:
Dresden: Die Geschichte der Stadt,
p. 238.

for the average German: See Vollnhalls, ed.,
Sachsen in der NS-Zeit,
p. 236.

“stunned and silent population”: Seydewitz,
Die unbesiegbare Stadt,
p. 208f. 387 “famously have you fought”: Excerpts from the Special Order of the Day reproduced in Probert,
Bomber Harris,
p. 344, and for Harris's reactions to apparent slights in this period.

reluctant to say anything: Probert,
Bomber Harris,
p. 345.

service medals: Those serving sixty hours or more with an operational squadron between September 3, 1939, and June 5, 1994, were awarded the Air Crew Europe Star. After the D-Day landings they were entitled to the France and Germany Star, as were all forces on ground, sea or air directly involved in the conquest of the continent.

“the Defence Medal and no other”: Quoted in Probert,
Bomber Harris,
p. 348.

weapons of the future: John Colville,
On the Fringes of Power: 10 Downing Street Diaries 1939–1955
(London, 1985), p. 564 (entry for February 23, 1945).

“anything that makes”: Quoted in Friedrich Reichert, “Zur Rezeptionsgeschichte des 13. Februar 1945” in
Verbrannt bis zur Unkenntlichkeit: Die Zerstorung Dresden 1945
(Dresden, 1994), p. 151. And for the following words of Major Broder.

“one of Germany's armories”: W. A. Ruben, “Abschaum der Menschheit” in
Tageszeitung für die deutsche Bevölkerung,
June 2, 1945, quoted in Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 294f.

“our sole vow”:
Sächsische Zeitung,
February 13, 1947, quoted in Reichert, “Zur Rezeptionsgeschichte,” p. 151.

“not with glory but with dishonor”: Sächsische Zeitung, February 12, 1949, cited by Reichert, “Zur Rezeptionsgeschichte,” p. 152.

in the street fighting: See Beevor,
Berlin: the Downfall,
p. 424.

Truman and Eisenhower: Cited by Reichert “Zur Rezeptionsgeschichte,” p. 153.

in 1954 the death toll: See Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 295.

Chapter 29: The Socialist City

population in August 1945:
Dresden: Die Geschichte der Stadt,
p. 237.

“at least seventy years”: Figures and Conert's prognosis in Lerm,
Abschied vom Alten Dresden,
p. 35.

Chapter 30: The Sleep of Reason

the extent of German conquests: Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 347.

their promise of “precision bombing”: Richard G. Davis,
Carl A. Spaatz and the Air War in Europe
(Washington, D. C., 1993), p. 569.

“once the conflict was over”: Richard Overy,
Why the Allies Won
(London, 1995), p. 22.

“dimensions of the bombing offensive”: W. G. Sebald,
On the Natural History of Destruction: With Essays on Alfred Andersch, Jean Améry and Peter Weiss
(German:
Luftkrieg und Literatur
) (London, 2003), p. 18.

“damage to private homes”: Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, April 6, 1943, entry.

“with respect to the air war”: Groehler,
Der Bombenkrieg gegen Deutschland,
p. 392.

less than half the size: See Middlebrook and Everitt,
Bomber Command War Diaries,
p. 669.

also carefully planned: Groehler,
Der Bombenkrieg gegen Deutschland,
p. 404.

“Dresden, the seventh largest city”: Hastings,
Bomber Command,
p. 254.

“a significant effect on the Russians”: Quotes (in German) in Groehler,
Der Bombenkrieg gegen Deustschland,
p. 404.

“we respected the Russian army”: McKee,
Devil's Tinderbox,
p. 119.

“still more impress”: De Wesselow, quoted by McKee,
Devil's Tinderbox,
p. 165.

into five figures: Friedrich,
Der Brand,
p. 175f.

“an exciting variation”: Craven and Cate, eds.,
Army Air Forces in World War II,
vol. 3, p. 741f, and for an account of the raid from an American point of view.

a special case: See Friedrich,
Der Brand,
p. 515 ff, and Groehler,
Der Bombenkrieg gegen Deutschland,
p. 306ff.

interrogation of Mutschmann: Text of Mutschmann's interrogation in Weidauer,
Inferno Dresden,
p. 107f.

“how should one treat them”: Quoted in Beevor,
Berlin; the Downfall,
p. 34.

the same number of Soviet citizens: Figure of Russian air raid dead cited by Richard Overy in “There Was a War On” (review of Robin Neilland's
The Bomber War
) in
The Literary Review,
February 2001.

systematic bombing of Stalingrad: See Anthony Beevor,
Stalingrad
(London, 1998), p. 106.

“if the war is lost”: Speer,
Inside the Third Reich,
p. 588.

“no longer believed in victory”: Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 349.

frankly admitted defeat: Speer,
Inside the Third Reich,
p. 567.

“the indirect effects”: See Overy,
Why the Allies Won,
p. 130ff.

most popular destination: See map in Groehler,
Der Bombenkrieg gegen Deutschland,
p. 288.

surprising secret location: Copy of Radio-Mende document courtesy of Holger Starke of the Dresden City Museum.

“what began as routine”: Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 350.

Afterword: Commemoration

“how many died”:
Wieviele starben? Wer kennt die Zahl?/An deinen Wunden sieht man die Qual/der Namenlosen, die hier verbrannt/im Höllenfeuer aus Menschenhand.

such a provocative act: It is not customary in Britain to erect statues of living people. Harris died in 1984. In 1988 a statue had been erected outside St. Clement Danes—a church that had been almost entirely destroyed by the Luftwaffe in 1941and had strong RAF connections—to honor Lord Dowding, head of the RAF's Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. Bomber Command veterans thought it fair that Harris (and thereby Bomber Command) should also be honored on the same site. Over the next three years, funds were raised by public subscription (mainly through the Bomber Command Association) and a commission awarded to the same sculptor who had created the Dowding memorial. By 1992 the statue was ready.

“disturbing the Dresden legends”: Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 187.

Appendix A: The “Massacre on the Elbe Meadows”

“almost entirely ineffective”: Intops Report No. 290, NARA, Washington, D. C.

“didn't really leave altitude”: Rigby, interview.

“the city itself”: Quotation from Axel Rodenberger,
Der Tod von Dresden: Bericht vom Sterben einer Stadt
(Dortmund, 1953), p. 140f.

further stoked the fires: Max Seydewitz,
Zerstörung und Wiederaufbau von Dresden
(
Destruction and Reconstruction of Dresden
) (East Berlin, 1955).

“fired at the people on the ground”: Seydewitz,
Zerstörung und Wiederaufbau von Dresden,
p. 80.

“Mustang fighter”: Irving,
Apocalypse 1945,
p. 236f.

account by the cantor: Seydewitz,
Die unbesiegbare Stadt,
p. 87.

most recently revised edition: The online version of
Apocalypse 1945,
available from Mr. Irving's website, www.fpp.co.uk.

“low across the city”: Irving,
Apocalypse 1945,
p. 191f, for this and following. 433 an attack on a vehicle: Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 200.

his account of the alleged massacre: Irving,
Apocalypse 1945,
p. 191.

“he saw no low-flying fighters”: Letter from Günther Kannegiesser to Götz Bergander, December 22, 1994; confirmed in conversation with this author, February 2002. 434 “during the midday raid”: Werner Ehrlich, letter of March 2, 1985, in archive of Götz Bergander, Berlin.

“‘B' group fighters”: Irving,
Apocalypse 1945,
p. 190f.

the specific orders: Intops Report No. 290, NARA, Washington, D. C. Also see the discussion in Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 198f. Also for the following quotation.

“this then is the order”: Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 199.

“went to deck for strafing”: Oakland Summary—F. O. 1622A, February 14, 1945, in NARA, Washington, D. C.

a mistake was admitted: Headquarters First Division, Report on Operations, NARA, Washington, D. C.

“uneventful escort to target”: Fighter Flash Reports, February 14, 1945, (352nd A and B Groups), in NARA, Washington, D. C.

“they were immediately bounced”: 306th Group Narrative—Mission to Dresden, February 14, 1945, in NARA, Washington, D. C. This is also mentioned in Intops Summary No. 290 (C. Intelligence. 1. Enemy Air Opposition), NARA, Washington, D. C.

numerous authoritative articles: Dr. Helmut Schnatz,
Der Luftkrieg im Raum Koblenz 1944/45. Eine Darstellung seines Verlaufs, seiner Auswirkungen and Hintergründe.
Boppard a. Rh., 1981.

“ablaze with phosphor”: Quote from “Feuersturm,” special edition of
Die Wochenpost,
February 9, 1996, quoted in
Helmut Schnatz, Tiefflieger über Dresden? Legenden und Wirklichkeit
(Cologne, 2000) p. 129.

research among the records: E-mail from Herr Krause, who has researched the archives of the Brockhaus-Verlag, Leipzig, publishers of the 1982 edition, in possession of the author.

Appendix B: Counting the Dead

“word for word”: Rodenberger, Der Tod von Dresden, p. 168.

“open use can be made”: Quoted in Bergander,
Dresden im Luftkrieg,
p. 222.

and then some: Irving,
Apocalypse 1945,
p. 199.

a diary entry claiming: It is possible that the diarist, a doctor, had been shown the faked estimate. McKee does not discuss this possibility.

“might easily be doubled”: McKee,
Devil's Tinderbox,
p. 322.

“greater than the 35,000”: Seydewitz,
Der unbesiegbare Stadt,
p. 155.

ad hoc counting methods: See Reichert, ed.,
Verbrannt bis zur Unkenntlichkeit,
p. 55ff.

“thousands of victims”: Irving,
Apocalypse 1945,
p. 322.

no bodies have been recovered: Friedrich Reichert,
Verbrannt bis zur Unkenntlichkeit,
p. 61.

Appendix C: Legends of the Fall

two enterprising German brothers: See John Noble's autobiography,
I Found God in Soviet Russia
(London, 1959), p. 16ff.

an exchange: Details unless otherwise indicated from Blumtritt,
Geschichte der Dresdner Fotoindustrie,
p. 73ff.

the Noble factory produced: Blumtritt,
Geschichte der Dresdner Fotoindustrie,
and Seydewitz,
Der unbesiegbare Stadt,
p. 188.

Blumtritt…expresses suspision: Blumtritt,
Geschichte der Dresdner Fotoindustrie.

“Noble's tasks”: For the entire Noble conspiracy story see Seydewitz,
Die unbesiegbare Stadt,
p. 189ff.

an American spy lived there: Petra Jacoby, ed.,
Leben in Dresden 1920–1990: Erzählte Geschichte
(Erfurt, 2000), p. 30, account of Ralph Hoxhold (born 1935).

“100 Dresdeners of the Century”:
Mit “Prakitflex” und “Praktica” zu Weltruhm
in
Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten
(100 Dresdner des Jahrhunderts) in www.dnn-online.de. See also Noble,
I Found God in Soviet Russia,
and for the postwar fate of the Noble Camera Workshops and its owners, Blumtritt,
Geschichte der Dresdner Fotoindustrie,
p. 129ff.

the Americans had issued a threat: Weidauer,
Inferno Dresden,
p. 63.

the main choice facing: See Giovannitti and Freed,
Decision to Drop the Bomb,
p. 20f, for this and the following point.

“if, despite all this”: Weidauer,
Inferno Dresden,
p. 69.