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Queen to Unveil WWII Monument in London: Germans Grudgingly Accept Bomber Memorial
Der Spiegel ^ | 06/25/2012 | David Crossland in Berlin

Posted on 06/25/2012 2:55:04 PM PDT by Olog-hai

The planned unveiling in London of a memorial to the 55,573 Royal Air Force Bomber Command airmen killed in World War II has sparked muted criticism in Germany, where many regard the Allied air raids that destroyed entire cities and killed over 500,000 civilians as unjustified and criminal.

Helma Orosz, the mayor of Dresden, which was devastated in an Allied attack in February 1945, criticized the plans for the monument when they first became public in 2010, and spoke to London Mayor Boris Johnson about it.

"The planned memorial triggered astonishment in Dresden and was judged critically by us in diplomatic terms," she told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "I am pleased that this exchange of views led to the monument now featuring an inscription commemorating the victims of the bombing war. The objections many people in Germany had to such a memorial have been taken seriously and I welcome this very much. It's a further gesture of reconciliation between Britain and Germany." …

The bombing raids were a response to German attacks on British cities and were stepped up massively in the summer of 1944 after the D-Day landings. Their aim was to destroy Germany's military machinery and to crush public morale.

Many Germans believe that Dresden, where up to 25,000 people were killed in the Feb. 13 raid that caused a firestorm, symbolizes the ruthlessness and pointlessness of a bombing campaign that failed to break their spirit or bring their industry to its knees. …

(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Germany; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: accept; bombardment; bomber; germans; grudgingly; london; memorial; monument; queen; raf; unveil; wwii
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1 posted on 06/25/2012 2:55:15 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

Okay, but it’s just not the same since Freddie Mercury died.


2 posted on 06/25/2012 2:58:22 PM PDT by x
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To: Olog-hai

Cry me a tear Germany.


3 posted on 06/25/2012 3:00:11 PM PDT by dis.kevin (Dry white toast)
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To: Olog-hai

Can you say Chutzpah? I suppose not, given that there are no Yiddish speaking Jews in Germany anymore....


4 posted on 06/25/2012 3:01:16 PM PDT by Amberdawn
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To: Olog-hai
Helma Orosz, the mayor of Dresden, which was devastated in an Allied attack in February 1945, criticized the plans for the monument...

It's not like the monument is in your city, Helma. Perhaps Helma could engage in come constructive criticism, like putting a monument to the victims in her own city. The inscription could read, "Don't start something you can't finish."

5 posted on 06/25/2012 3:01:16 PM PDT by randog (Tap into America!)
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To: Olog-hai

That’s the German perspective. Now lets ask the folks in London and Coventry what they think about it.


6 posted on 06/25/2012 3:01:16 PM PDT by pfflier
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To: Olog-hai
The bombing raids were a response to German attacks on British cities ...

"We didn't start the fire"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a2SS0zqmzk

7 posted on 06/25/2012 3:01:27 PM PDT by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
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To: x

LOL, nice.


8 posted on 06/25/2012 3:03:08 PM PDT by agere_contra
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To: Olog-hai

winners write the rule and the history books.


9 posted on 06/25/2012 3:03:30 PM PDT by Perdogg
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To: Olog-hai

Rotterdam

Warsaw

Coventry

So why should I shed any tears over Dresden.

10 posted on 06/25/2012 3:03:53 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Olog-hai

Yeah, because all Hitler really wanted was a big hug.


11 posted on 06/25/2012 3:04:21 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: Olog-hai
"The bombing raids were a response to German attacks on British cities and were stepped up massively in the summer of 1944 after the D-Day landings. Their aim was to destroy Germany's military machinery and to crush public morale."

It's in there...does the complaining German not have a clue about how the war played out and why it was necessary to bomb German cities? Their dear leader was ready to let every German die at the end because he felt that they had let HIM down. Had they cleaned up their own mess there wouldn't have been a need to bomb...anybody.

12 posted on 06/25/2012 3:05:01 PM PDT by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: TurboZamboni

Elder Herr: Will you stop talking about the war?
Basil: Me! You started it!
Elder Herr: We did not start it!
Basil: Yes you did — you invaded Poland.


13 posted on 06/25/2012 3:06:18 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Olog-hai

“The planned unveiling in London of a memorial to the 55,573 Royal Air Force Bomber Command airmen killed in World War II has sparked muted criticism in Germany, where many regard the Allied air raids that destroyed entire cities and killed over 500,000 civilians as unjustified and criminal.”

Oh? And???

Dont start s*it if you aren’t prepared to get a severe beat down.


14 posted on 06/25/2012 3:06:28 PM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: Olog-hai
The planned memorial triggered astonishment in Dresden and was judged critically by us in diplomatic terms, she told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

I am pleased that this exchange of views led to the monument now featuring an inscription commemorating the victims of the bombing war. The objections many people in Germany had to such a memorial have been taken seriously and I welcome this very much. It's a further gesture of reconciliation between Britain and Germany.

Unfricken believable. British actions were a reaction to the bombing of London. Now the bombers of London dictate the memorial's aspects.

Who won that war anyway?

This memorial was supposed to honor the lost crews of the bombers. Now it places those lost crews on a part with the Nazis.

This makes me furious, and I'm not even British.

15 posted on 06/25/2012 3:07:07 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Remove all Democrats from the Republican party, and we won't have much Left, just a lot of Right.)
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To: Olog-hai

16 posted on 06/25/2012 3:07:31 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Congrats to Ted Kennedy! He's been sober for two years now!!)
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To: Olog-hai

Put a statue of Arthur Harris in downtown Dresden, with the inscription: LECTOR SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE. “Reader, if you seek his monument, look around.”


17 posted on 06/25/2012 3:08:11 PM PDT by RichInOC (No! BAD Rich! (What'd I say?))
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To: Olog-hai

You ever notice how everyone is supposed to be indignent that the Allies smashed the Axis and that the US nuked Japan. I got to thinking...just who started WWII...I suppose the Huns and the Nips thought that they should be given a free pass once they shot that first round.


18 posted on 06/25/2012 3:08:34 PM PDT by Meadow Muffin
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To: DoughtyOne

The day is coming, when the only things they’ll teach kids about WWII in school will be the Internment of Japanese civilians and Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Dresden, and how bad we were to do such things.


19 posted on 06/25/2012 3:09:31 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Olog-hai

Sounds like a bully crying about a broken nose.


20 posted on 06/25/2012 3:10:15 PM PDT by pennyfarmer (Even a RINO will chew its foot off when caught in a trap.)
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