58 - Slaughterhouse-Five: The Bombing of Dresden

Between February 13 and February 15, 1945, RAF and USAAF bombers flew over the German city of Dresden, dropping hundreds of tons of incendiary and high explosive bombs over the densely populated city. Incendiary bombs caused a widespread fire that ravaged the city. All in all, the attack resulted in around 25,000 Germans killed and many more injured. 

In the weeks and years that followed, the attack on Dresden would occupy a central role in the debates over Allied war crimes and whether such an operation was militarily necessary at that point in World War II. Dresden had served as a haven for refugees coming in from elsewhere in Germany, and so its destruction seemed doubly horrible. Worse, Dresden has become a rallying cry among elements of the far-right, who use it as a symbol of Allied brutality and thus the need for vengeance. Even now, 75 years later, the debate rages on over Dresden.

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