Forgotten War Crimes :: essays research papers

Forgotten War Crimes "The holocaust was such an unthinkable horror, the Nazi dictatorship so uniquely evil, that the calculated firebombing of more than half a Milan defenseless civilians in the dying days of the war had just fallen by the wayside."1 History is defined as all recorded events of the past, but with textbooks, historical journals, and other respected documentaries all denying, or refusing to acknowledge and give responsibility, the ruthless and criminal bombing of Dresden does not change the fact that it occurred. Thus history is biased by those who write it, and should not be taken as the whole truth; after all, over two hundred thousand innocent civilians lost their lives and do not deserve to be forgotten simply because America does not want to take responsibility actions and admit to what happened. This tragic event is simply swept under that carpet and neglected and termed a strategic bombing with military objectives. This bombing may have been strategic but it certainly did not have any military objectives which are stated throughout much of American history. It was, however, the strategic bombing and slaughtering of a quarter million innocent civilians. American history textbooks and documentaries state that the official objective in the bombing of Dresden was to destroy railway yards, thus delaying or preventing the deployment of German troops to the eastern front. To destroy rail-lines and rail yards, precision bombing is used. Contradicting this statement is the fact that the American planes flying over Dresden were not armed with precision bombs but instead with high explosive incendiaries used to create firestorms. What is also ironic is that after the bombing, not a single rail-line or rail yard had been disturbed. Other historical journals provided via the American government claim that Dresden contained a number of bunkers being used to house German Troops. Although Dresden did contain bunkers, they were being used to house American and British prisoners of war. By using such high explosive incendiaries and such elaborate bombing patterns, Allied bombers were successful in creating one of the most devastating firestorms claiming upwards of two hundred thousand innocent lives and utterly destroying on the most culturally historic centers in the world.