The Dresden Firebombing : Memory and the Politics of Commemorating Destruction

"The firebombing of Dresden marks the terrible apex of the European bombing war. In just over two days in February 1945, over 1,300 heavy bombers from the RAF and the USAAF dropped nearly 4,000 tonnes of explosives on Dresden's civilian centre.Since the end of World War II, both the death toll and the motivation for the attack have become fierce historical battlegrounds, as German feelings of victimhood complete with those of guilt and loss. The Dresden bombing was used by East Germany as a propaganda tool, and has been re-appropriated by the neo-Nazi far right. Meanwhile the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche- the city's sumptuous eighteenth-century church destroyed in the raid-became central to German identity, while in London, a statue of the Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command, Sir Arthur Harris, has attracted protests. In this book, Tony Joel focuses on the historical battle to re-appropriate Dresden, and on how World War II continues to shape British and German identity today."--Bloomsbury Publishing. INTRODUCTION -- The Destruction of Dresden and the Shifting Dynamics of German Victimisation Discourse -- Dresden as paradigm of German victimisation and sacrifice -- Writing about the Dresden bombing and its aftermath -- Conceptual framework and key terms -- A mythical taboo -- Victimisation discourse in divided Germany -- Bombing and victimisation discourse in reunified Germany -- Application of concepts -- CHAPTER 1 -- The Western Allies' Strategic Bombing Offensive and Dresden's Transformation from European Kulturstadt to Germany's Opferstadt -- Build-up -- Watershed -- Escalation -- Why is Dresden special? Or, why Dresden is special -- Wartime reactions -- Issues of interpretation: shaping and reflecting controversy -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 2 -- The Fashioning of Dresden's Destruction into a Political Asset: 1946 to the Early 1980s -- The Nuremberg interregnum -- The 1950s -- The 1960s -- The 1970s and early 1980s -- CHAPTER 3 -- Dresden's Last Milestone Gedenktag before the Fall of the Wall: 13 February 1985 -- West German mass-mediation of Dresden as Opferstadt -- The party's Gro?kundgebung -- The reopening of the Semperoper -- The Frauenkirche ruins -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 4 -- Dresden Memory Politics in the Schwebezeit: 1989-90 -- Kohl, the ruins, and "die Einheit der Nation" -- Church over ruins? -- Dresden's stateless Gedenktag: 13 February 1990 -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 5 -- A British Dimension to Dresden Commemorative Politics: 1992-2000 -- Homage to a hangman, or misunderstood memorialisation? -- Dresden: the awkward but obligatory interlude -- Britain responds to the Ruf: the Dresden Trust -- The 1995 Gedenktag and a signal of intent -- The 2000 Gedenktag and making good on a promise -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 6 -- Dresden as a Memory Battleground: 13 February 2005 -- The Queen and Dresden: revisiting a theme, but not the city -- Depicting Dresden as the "Bomben-Holocaust" -- Renewed focus on longstanding controversies -- Reconciliation remains a central plank -- Making a statement in absentia -- Mixed messages and the struggle over commemoration -- Conclusion -- CONCLUSION -- Memory Work-in-Progress: Remembering the Past, Reflecting on the Present and Future -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY