The Holocaust over Dresden “It was above all during the 18th century a magnificent centre of European politics, culture and economic development, only to become a synonym for apocalyptic destruction just two centuries later.” Dresden, a city in eastern Germany, was once a flourishing city. However, from 13 to 15 February 1945, Allied forces attacked Dresden toward the end of World War II. The city was devastated and left in ruins. The bombing of Dresden and the attack carried out by the Allied Forces not only took thousands of lives, but it has become a very controversial topic. The city has a rich history full of artifacts, ancient buildings, and incredible antique infrastructure. During World War II, the city and its people did not partake
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Hedin chose these lines carefully in order to help the reader imagine every acute detail that the civilians in Dresden experienced. He doesn’t write about the civilians directly, he writes about nature and the delicacy of the environment in Dresden. Hedin uses words like fish, snails, blossoms, grapes, beets, and potatoes. It is interesting that Hedin chose these precise words, when the bombing of Dresden has become such a controversial topic due to the massive loss of human life. The feeling of the poem is eerie, gloomy, and dismal, giving the reader a sense that what happened in the setting that Hedin describes was so appalling that to even discuss the lives lost would be shameful. Michael Walsh, author of the novel, “Terror Bombing: The Crime of the Twentieth Century” said that, “More than 700,000 phosphorous bombs were dropped on 1.2 million people. One bomb for every 2 people. More than 260,000 bodies and residues of bodies were counted. But those who perished in the centre of the city can’t be traced. Approximately 500,000 children, women, the elderly, and wounded soldiers were murdered in one night.” Evidently the immensity of the tragedy surrounding Dresden can be illuminated in one quote; however, Robert Hedin ventures to look at the exquisite details and manages to make the event both beautiful and horrendous
Hedin chose these lines carefully in order to help the reader imagine every acute detail that the civilians in Dresden experienced. He doesn’t write about the civilians directly, he writes about nature and the delicacy of the environment in Dresden. Hedin uses words like fish, snails, blossoms, grapes, beets, and potatoes. It is interesting that Hedin chose these precise words, when the bombing of Dresden has become such a controversial topic due to the massive loss of human life. The feeling of the poem is eerie, gloomy, and dismal, giving the reader a sense that what happened in the setting that Hedin describes was so appalling that to even discuss the lives lost would be shameful. Michael Walsh, author of the novel, “Terror Bombing: The Crime of the Twentieth Century” said that, “More than 700,000 phosphorous bombs were dropped on 1.2 million people. One bomb for every 2 people. More than 260,000 bodies and residues of bodies were counted. But those who perished in the centre of the city can’t be traced. Approximately 500,000 children, women, the elderly, and wounded soldiers were murdered in one night.” Evidently the immensity of the tragedy surrounding Dresden can be illuminated in one quote; however, Robert Hedin ventures to look at the exquisite details and manages to make the event both beautiful and horrendous