February 13 marks the 70th anniversary of one of the terrible events of World War II - the bombing of Dresden by the Anglo-American aircraft. Then 1478 tons of high-explosive bombs and 1182 tons of incendiary bombs were dropped on a peaceful city overflowing with refugees. A fire storm arose that engulfed tens of thousands of women and children, 19 hospitals, 39 schools, 70 churches and chapels … The fire whirlwind literally sucked in the unfortunate - the air flow towards the fire moved at a speed of 200-250 kilometers. Today, the bombing of Dresden, which lasted for 3 days, is perceived as a war crime, a rehearsal for Hiroshima.
The manufacturability of the perfect is terrifying. 800 British and American bombers, which passed over the night Dresden, first opened the wooden structures of medieval houses with land mines, and then bombarded them with lighter bombs, simultaneously causing tens of thousands of fires. This was the firestorm technology that the Germans had previously used against Coventry. The bombing of this British city is considered one of the notorious crimes of Nazism.
Why did our allies need to stain their hands with the blood of Dresden, to turn civilians to ashes? After 70 years, the motive for revenge recedes into the background. In February 1945, it was already known that Dresden was falling into the Soviet zone of occupation. After the bombing on February 13, the Russians got only charred ruins and stacks of blackened corpses, which, according to eyewitnesses, resembled short logs. But even more significant was the motive of intimidation.
Just like Hiroshima, Dresden had to demonstrate to the Soviet Union the firepower of the West. Power - and the willingness to trample on any principles of humanity in order to achieve their goals. Today Dresden and Hiroshima, and tomorrow Gorky, Kuibyshev, Sverdlovsk - is everything clear, Mr. Stalin? Today we see the same cynicism in its concrete embodiment during rocket attacks on cities in the East of Ukraine.
Of course, everything was clear to the Soviet Union. After the Great Patriotic War, we had not only to rebuild destroyed cities and burned villages, but also to create a defensive shield. And the most important lesson of the war was the commitment of our country and its people to humanism. The orders of the front commanders and the Supreme High Command demanded not to take revenge on the Germans. Not long before the bombing of Dresden, thanks to the heroism of our soldiers, the same ancient city, Krakow, was saved from destruction.
And the most symbolic act was the rescue of the collection of the Dresden Gallery by Soviet soldiers. Her paintings were carefully restored in the USSR and returned to Dresden - restored with the active help of Soviet specialists and partly for our money.
People of the XXI century have no right to forget about the ashes of Khatyn and tens of thousands of other Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian villages, about Coventry, Dresden, Hiroshima. Their ashes are still pounding on our hearts. As long as humanity remembers, it will not allow a new war.
