Editing Bombing of Dresden (section)

===Arguments against justification===
[[File:Dresden. Zwinger & Sophienkirche. - Detroit Publishing Co.jpg|thumb|The [[Zwinger Palace]] in 1900]]

====Military reasons====
The journalist [[Alexander McKee (author)|Alexander McKee]] cast doubt on the meaningfulness of the list of targets mentioned in the 1953 USAF report, pointing out that the military barracks listed as a target were a long way out of the city and were not targeted during the raid.{{sfn|McKee|1983|pp=61–62}} The "hutted camps" mentioned in the report as military targets were also not military but were camps for refugees.{{sfn|McKee|1983|pp=61–62}} It is also stated that the important Autobahn bridge to the west of the city was not targeted or attacked, and that no railway stations were on the British target maps, nor any bridges, such as the railway bridge spanning the Elbe River.{{sfn|McKee|1983|pp=62–63}} Commenting on this, McKee says: "The standard whitewash gambit, both British and American, is to mention that Dresden contained targets X, Y and Z, and to let the innocent reader assume that these targets were attacked, whereas in fact the bombing plan totally omitted them and thus, except for one or two mere accidents, they escaped".{{sfn|McKee|1983|p=61}} McKee further asserts "The bomber commanders were not really interested in any purely military or economic targets, which was just as well, for they knew very little about Dresden; the RAF even lacked proper maps of the city. What they were looking for was a big built-up area which they could burn, and that Dresden possessed in full measure."{{sfn|McKee|1983|p=63}}

According to historian [[Sönke Neitzel]], "it is difficult to find any evidence in German documents that the destruction of Dresden had any consequences worth mentioning on the Eastern Front. The industrial plants of Dresden played no significant role in German industry at this stage in the war".{{sfn|Addison|Crang|2006|loc=Chapter "The City under Attack" by Sonke Neitzel p. 76}} Wing Commander [[H. R. Allen]] said, "The final phase of Bomber Command's operations was far and away the worst. Traditional British [[chivalry]] and the use of minimum force in war was to become a mockery and the outrages perpetrated by the bombers will be remembered a thousand years hence".<ref>{{harvnb|McKee|1983|p=315}} quoting H. R. Allen (1972) ''The Legacy of Lord Trenchard''</ref>

[[File:Sandsteinmauerheidefriedhof.jpg|thumb|A memorial at Heidefriedhof cemetery in Dresden. It reads: "{{lang|de|Wieviele starben? Wer kennt die Zahl? An deinen Wunden sieht man die Qual der Namenlosen, die hier verbrannt, im Höllenfeuer aus Menschenhand.}}" ("How many died? Who knows the count? In your wounds one sees the agony of the nameless, who in here were conflagrated, in the hellfire made by hands of man.")]]

====As an immoral act, but not a war crime====
{{blockquote|... ever since the deliberate mass bombing of civilians in the second world war, and as a direct response to it, the international community has outlawed the practice. It first tried to do so in the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]] of 1949, but the UK and the US would not agree, since to do so would have been an admission of guilt for their systematic "area bombing" of German and Japanese civilians.|[[A.C. Grayling]].{{sfn|Grayling|2006b}} }}

[[Frederick Taylor (historian)|Frederick Taylor]] told ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', "I personally find the attack on Dresden horrific. It was overdone, it was excessive and is to be regretted enormously," but, "A [[war crime]] is a very specific thing which international lawyers argue about all the time and I would not be prepared to commit myself nor do I see why I should. I'm a historian."<ref name=Hawley/> Similarly, British philosopher [[A. C. Grayling]] has described RAF area bombardment as an "immoral act" and "moral crime" because "destroying everything... contravenes every moral and humanitarian principle debated in connection with [[Just war|the just conduct of war]]", though Grayling insisted that it "is not strictly correct to describe area bombing as a 'war crime'."{{sfn|Grayling|2006a|pp=245–246; 272–275}}

====As a war crime====
{{See also|British war crimes|United States war crimes}}
According to [[Gregory Stanton]], lawyer and president of [[Genocide Watch]]:
{{blockquote|... every human being having the capacity for both good and evil. The Nazi Holocaust was among the most evil genocides in history. But the Allies' firebombing of Dresden and nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were also war crimes – and as [[Leo Kuper]] and [[Eric Markusen]] have argued, also acts of genocide. We are all capable of evil and must be restrained by law from committing it.<ref name="Stanton-1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.genocidewatch.org/HOWWECANPREVENTGENOCIDE.htm|title=How Can We Prevent Genocide: Building An International Campaign to End Genocide|last=Stanton|first=Gregory|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927005226/http://www.genocidewatch.org/HOWWECANPREVENTGENOCIDE.htm|archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref>}}

Historian [[Donald Bloxham]] states, "The bombing of Dresden on 13–14 February 1945 was a war crime".{{sfn|Addison|Crang|2006|p=180}} He further argues there was a strong ''[[prima facie]]'' case for trying Winston Churchill among others and a theoretical case Churchill could have been found guilty. "This should be a sobering thought. If, however it is also a startling one, this is probably less the result of widespread understanding of the nuance of international law and more because in the popular mind 'war criminal', like 'paedophile' or 'terrorist', has developed into a moral rather than a legal categorisation".{{sfn|Addison|Crang|2006|p=180}}

German author [[Günter Grass]] is one of several intellectuals and commentators who have also called the bombing a war crime.<ref name=Elliott>Elliott, Michael. [http://www.time.com/time/europe/etan/story.html Europe: Then And Now] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907171902/http://www.time.com/time/europe/etan/story.html|date=7 September 2009}}, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' Europe, 10 August 2003. Retrieved 26 February 2005.</ref>

Proponents of this position argue that the devastation from firebombing was greater than anything that could be justified by [[military necessity]] alone, and this establishes a ''[[prima facie]]'' case. The Allies were aware of the effects of firebombing, as British cities had been subject to them during [[the Blitz]].{{efn|Longmate describes a 22 September 1941 memorandum prepared by the British Air Ministry's Directorate of Bombing Operations that puts numbers to this analysis {{harv|Longmate|1983|p=122}}.}} Proponents disagree that Dresden had a military garrison and claim that most of the industry was in the outskirts and not in the targeted city centre,<ref name=GG20051026>Gerda Gericke (lucas) [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1265990,00.html The Destruction of Dresden's Frauenkirche] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216141745/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1265990,00.html|date=16 December 2008}} ''[[Deutsche Welle]]'', 26 October 2005.</ref> and that the cultural significance of the city should have precluded the Allies from bombing it.

British historian [[Antony Beevor]] wrote that Dresden was considered relatively safe, having been spared previous RAF night attacks, and that at the time of the raids there were up to 300,000 refugees in the area [[Flight and evacuation of German civilians during the end of World War II|seeking sanctuary]] from the advancing [[Red Army]] from the [[Eastern Front (WWII)|Eastern Front]].{{sfn|Beevor|2002|p=83}}

====As of concealed purpose====
A [[Historical revisionism|revisionist]] story, persisting into the 21st century, was that the bombing was done, at least in part, to give the Soviets a signal demonstration–a warning–of the destructive power of the Allied bomber forces (the Soviets were expected to occupy Dresden presently).<ref>{{cite book |last=McKee |first=Alexander |authorlink=Alexander McKee (author) |title=Dresden 1945: The Devil's Tinderbox |year=1984 |publisher=Dutton |location=New York |isbn=0525242627 |page=277}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=Robert S. |date=Winter 1986 |title=Letter from Dresden |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3851544 |journal=Hudson Review |volume=38 |issue=4 |page=536 |doi=10.2307/3851544 |jstor=3851544 |s2cid=165271293 |access-date=June 10, 2023}}</ref>

====Political response in Germany====
[[File:Antideutsche rassisten.jpg|thumb|Anti-German banner expressing support for Air Chief Marshal [[Arthur Harris (RAF officer)|Arthur Harris]] who is associated with the [[Area bombing directive|area bombing of German cities]]]]
[[Far-right]] politicians in Germany have sparked a great deal of controversy by promoting the term "{{lang|de|Bombenholocaust}}" ("holocaust by bomb") to describe the raids.<ref name=Volkery >Volkery, Carsten. [http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,339833,00.html "War of Words"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070909140816/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,339833,00.html|date=9 September 2007}}, ''Der Spiegel'', 2 February 2005;
[https://www.theguardian.com/secondworldwar/story/0,,1411436,00.html Casualties of total war] Leading article, ''[[The Guardian]]'', 12 February 2005.</ref> {{Lang|de|[[Der Spiegel]]}} writes that, for decades, the Communist government of East Germany promoted the bombing as an example of "Anglo-American terror", and now the same rhetoric is being used by the far right.<ref name=Volkery/> An example can be found in the extremist nationalist party ''[[National Democratic Party of Germany|Die Heimat]]''. A party's representative, [[Jürgen Gansel]], described the Dresden raids as "mass murder", and "Dresden's holocaust of bombs".<ref name="Bernstein-2005-02-12">[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/12/international/europe/12germany.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&position=&oref=slogin Germany Seeks Tighter Curbs on Protests by Neo-Nazi Party] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309115229/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/12/international/europe/12germany.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&position=&oref=slogin|date=9 March 2014}}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 12 February 2005.</ref> This provoked an outrage in the German parliament and triggered responses from the media. Prosecutors said that it was legal to call the bombing a holocaust.<ref name=Cleaver>Cleaver, Hannah. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1487678/German-ruling-says-Dresden-was-a-holocaust.html "German ruling says Dresden was a holocaust"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427084437/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1487678/German-ruling-says-Dresden-was-a-holocaust.html|date=27 April 2009}}, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 12 April 2005.</ref> In 2010 groups opposing the far-right [[2010 Dresden anti-fascist blockade|blocked a demonstration of far-right organisations]].

[[Phrase]]s like "Bomber-Harris, do it again!", "Bomber-Harris Superstar – Thanks from the red [[Antifaschistische Aktion|Antifa]]", and "{{lang|de|Deutsche Täter sind keine Opfer!}}" ("German perpetrators are no victims!") are popular [[slogan]]s among the so-called "[[Anti-Germans (political current)|Anti-Germans]]"—a small radical left-wing political movement in Germany and Austria.<ref>[http://www.revolution.de.com/zeitung/zeitung09/bomber.htm Bomber Harris, Superstar] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107063442/http://www.revolution.de.com/zeitung/zeitung09/bomber.htm|date=7 November 2012}} (German)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.im.nrw.de/sch/doks/vs/antideutsche.pdf|title=Die Antideutschen – kein vorübergehendes Phänomen" – Verfassungsschutz des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen Im Oktober 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524085018/http://www.im.nrw.de/sch/doks/vs/antideutsche.pdf|archive-date=24 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing, Anti-Germans praised the bombing on the grounds that so many of the city's civilians had supported Nazism. Similar rallies take place every year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2145701,00.html|title=Strange Bedfellows: Radical Leftists for Bush &#124; Germany &#124; DW.DE &#124; 25.08.2006|publisher=Dw-world.de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415034958/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2145701,00.html|archive-date=15 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>