Editing Bombing of Dresden (section)

====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>