Posted on 05/05/2005 8:19:32 PM PDT by TFine80
BERLIN - Russian President Vladimir Putin told a German newspaper that Allied forces cant be absolved of blame for horrors during World War II, and he noted in particular the massive bombing of Dresden in the final months.
Ahead of this weekends 60-year commemoration of Victory in Europe Day, Putin, in a joint interview with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, told Bild that the Western forces deserved to be criticized for attacking civilians.
The Western allies didnt abound with any special humanity, the Russian leader said. Its incomprehensible to me to this day why Dresden was destroyed. There was no military reason for it.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Special, very special.
riiiiiight.
The only "military reason" for the firebombing was to destroy German morale. Dresden was a city of deep historical value and little military importance- the Western allies leveled it as a direct (mainly psychological) attack on the citizens of Nazi Germany.
It's important to note that the city was quite leveled-
24,866/28,410 houses in the inner city of Dresden destroyed. An area completely destroyed: 14,000 homes, 72 schools, 22 hospitals, 19 churches, 5 theaters, 50 bank and insurance companies, 31 department stores, 31 large hotels, and 62 administration buildings. 222,000 apartments in the city- 75,000 of them totally destroyed, 11,000 severely damaged, 7,000 damaged, 81,000 slightly damaged.
So yeah, I think we did mean to kill civilians just fine.
Another somewhat important factor to observe- it's entirely unfair and irrational to ask Putin to explain massacres caused by a legendary tyrant, let alone one from an earlier political system.
Bild-Zeitung although it is often incredibly and outrageously pro-Bush has also been pushing the German-Victimology stuff lately.
Germany has been going through a bizarre spell recently. Incredible that Putin would try to push it all on the US and the Brits.
It's unfair to Putin!?
He's clearly using this to kiss up to a sick trend in Germany and express his resentment against the Baltic refusal to celebrate the end of WW2. He is also affirming his support for revisionism in Russia.
Welcome to Free Republic.
Isn't it a little late to criticize something that happened 60 years ago when he has current issues on his own plate?
Hey Vladimir, war is hell! People die. In WWII, over 50 million people died and in the end, nazism, imperialism and fascism were defeated. Too bad Ike and Truman didn't listen to General Patton's advice.
Well there's more where that came from. Sorry the Soviet air service was nil and useless at the time... kinda like their entire empire is today.
You're joking, right? I mean, there was no OTHER reason for Dresden.
Many thousands of the victims were East European refugees fleeing the Soviets. Incinerating them at least saved them from our "Operation Keelhaul".
Exactly how is the massive bombing of Dresden any different from Germany's blitz on London? The fact that the allies were more successful?
Puti and Schroeder need to just shut up.
Pukin was stationed in Dresden when he worked for the KGB.
People need to be reminded that Russia had a pact with the NAZI's before Adolph double-crossed them.
Russians are uncivilized and untrustworthy. IMO
Putin is fading from his promises.
GWB should revise and extend his remarks on Vlad.
At airforcehistory.hq.af.mil you'll find that Dresden contained well over 100 significant military targets. Civilian losses were mostly due to the fires that spread, and we did not have "smart bombs" in those days.
The propaganda about Dresden being an intentional civilian target was disseminated from neo-Nazi sites about a decade ago, and that propaganda effort continues.
Dresden was hit and hit hard because it was very deep into Germany and it was to show the nazis that there was no place in their country that was safe.
It was for psychological reasons just like Germany's indescriminate V-1 and V-2 attacks on England.
"In addition to its geographical position and topography and its primary importance as a communications center, Dresden was, in February 1945, known to contain at least 110 factories and industrial enterprises that were legitimate military targets, and were reported to have employed 50,000 workers in arms plants alone. Among these were dispersed aircraft components factories; a poison gas factory (Chemische Fabric Goye and Company); an anti-aircraft and field gun factory (Lehman); the great Zeiss Ikon A.G., Germanys most important optical goods manufactory; and, among others, factories engaged in the production of electrical and X-ray apparatus (Koch and Sterzel A.G.), gears and differentials (Saxoniswerke), and electric gauges (Gebruder Bassler).
Specific military installations in Dresden in February 1945 included barracks and hutted camps and at least one munitions storage depot.
Dresden was protected by antiaircraft defenses , antiaircraft guns and searchlights, in anticipation of Allied air raids against the city. The Dresden air defenses were under the Combined Dresden (Corps Area IV) and Berlin (Corps Area III) Luftwaffe Administration Commands."
Are you going to imply that there were large cities during World War II that didn't have arms factories? The air defenses, of course, are a given, as was the munitions storage depot and the barracks. Please note that at the time, Dresden was a city of 300 sq. km. 110 large factories will fit more than comfortably. I don't understand your civilian losses comment either- do you think they didn't anticipate the fact that fires tend to spread, regardless of what's burning?
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