Dresden (66 page)

Read Dresden Online

Authors: Frederick Taylor

BOOK: Dresden
7.68Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

communist rule in, 385–86, 431

Dresden as capital of, 1–2, 11, 14–46, 54, 216, 228

electors of, 16, 17, 18–19, 31–33

geography of, 57–58

history of, 1–2, 11, 14–42

judicial system of, 159–60

Nazi party in, 43, 46–54, 382

parliament of, 31, 37, 40, 45–46, 51–52, 63

Reichsstatthalter
of, 43, 46

royal house of, 15–17, 24, 25, 27, 31–33, 38–39, 49–50, 206, 312, 314–15

settlement of, 1–2

Soviet drive towards, 227–28, 239, 337–38, 382

war-related industry in, 414–15

Saxony-Anhalt, 198

Scharnhorst,
117–18

Schauspielhaus, 56

Schloss,
16, 24, 39, 226, 277, 312, 399, 423

Schmidt, Henry, 67–68, 154, 158

Schmidt, Walter, 160

Schnatz, Helmut, 425, 439–41

Schneider armaments factory bombing (1942), 214

Schörner, 382–83, 392

Schröter, Hans, 292–94, 296

Schumann, Robert, 30

“Scum of Humanity, The,” 391

SD, 68

Sebald, W. G., 404

Second Bomber Division, U. S., 201–2, 316, 317, 319–20

Section IIB3 (Gestapo), 67–68

Seidel and Naumann, 33, 57, 149–50, 195, 330

Seidlitzer Platz, 295

Semper, Gottfried, 31, 63–65, 70, 71, 73

Seven Just Men, 53–54

Seventeenth Army, German, 184

Seventh Army, U. S., 374

Seventh Corps, U. S., 170

Seven Years' War, 25–29

sewing machines, 41, 57, 149, 195

Seydewitz, Max, 385–86, 399, 431, 432, 441–42, 443, 447, 449, 450–51, 453

Shakespeare, William, 107

Shayler, Walter K., 194, 195

Silbermann, Gottfried, 25

Silesia, 12, 13, 26, 39, 57, 161, 183, 184, 227, 360, 415

Sinclair, Archibald, 183, 184–85, 186, 211, 363, 388

Singapore, 118

“Sitzkrieg,” 94

Sixth Army, German, 188, 313

627th Bomber Squadron, British, 5–6, 244

“sky marking,” 338

Slaughterhouse-Five
(Vonnegut), xi, 348–49, 399

Slavic revolt (1147), 15

Slovakia, 48–49

Smith, Maurice, 241–42, 407

Smith, Walter Bedell, 363

Snavely, Ralph A., 201

Social Democratic Party (SPD), 36, 41, 42, 43, 45–46, 51–52, 160

Social Republic of Saxony, 39

Society for the Eastern Marches, 37

Somaliland, 83

Sonntag, Curt, 309, 310–11

Sophienkirche, 397

Sopwith Camel airplane, 121

Southam, Vaughan, 114–15

South-West Africa, 120

Soviet Union:

atomic bomb developed by, 392

civilian casualties of, 411–12

collapse of, xii, 408

German invasion of, 49, 110–11, 127, 254

military casualties of, 392

Nazi Germany invaded by, 12–13, 163, 165, 170–71, 179–92, 200, 225–26, 375, 380, 382–86, 392, 406–11, 455

Spaatz, Carl, 186, 188, 451

Spanish Civil War, 48, 88–91

Speer, Albert, 60, 108–9, 133, 134, 367, 404, 412, 413, 414

Spence, Magnus, 128

Sperrle, Hugo, 88

Spitfire fighter, 98–99

SS (Schutzstaffel), 4, 48, 49–52, 56, 68, 71, 138, 152, 163, 165, 171, 206, 307–8, 348, 351, 369, 370, 384

Stalin, Joseph, 186, 189–90, 191, 206, 387, 399, 408

Stalingrad, Battle of, 12, 135, 312–13, 374

State Porcelain Manufacture, 23

Stettin, 175, 218

Stewart, William, 316–17, 319

Stimson, Henry L., 365–66

Stokes, Richard Rapier, 363–64, 365, 372, 376

strafing runs, 77, 296, 429–42, 453, 475
n

Strategic Air Force Command, U. S., 192

Strauss, Adolf, 225

Strauss, Richard, 3

Streicher, Julius, 66, 67, 69

Striesen, 277, 358, 396, 397

Stum, Gustav Braun von, 127

Stürmer,
66

Stuttgart, 208

Stutthof concentration camp, 151

Sudetenland, 59, 160, 161, 198

Südvorstadt, 159, 235–36, 270, 277, 325, 330–31, 341, 396, 397

Summerhill school, 152

Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), 172–75, 190, 192, 213, 360, 362–63, 364

Svenska Dagbladet,
369

Svenska Morgonbladet,
370

Swinemünde bombing raid (1945), 408–9

“Swiss Quarter,” 313–14

“Swordfish Able” bomber, 321, 324–25

 

T4 program, 307

Tagesbefehl Nr 47,
370, 444–47

Tal der Ahnungslosen (Valley of The Clueless), 400

Tannhäuser
(Wagner), 36

Tanzlustbarkeiten,
135–36

Target for Tonight,
117

target indicator (TI), 224, 246, 283

Targets Committee, British, 192, 207

Taschenberg Palace, 226

Technische Nothilfe, 74

Tedder, Arthur William, 175, 186

telex terminals, 415–16

Theaterplatz, 263

Theresienstadt concentration camp, 162–63, 233

Thermite, 115, 250

Things to Come,
93

Third Air Fleet, German, 102–6

Third Army, U. S., 170

Third Bomber Division, U. S., 188–89, 274, 316, 317, 319, 380

Third Group, British, 208

Thirty Years' War, 16–17, 19

Thoma, Wilhelm Ritter von, 88

Thorsch Camera, 449–50 3

Group, British, 274 303

rd Bomber Group, U. S. (“Hell's

Angels”), 194–95, 316, 318, 325

305th Bomber Group, U. S., 326

325th Bomber Squadron, U. S., 316–17

352nd Fighter Group, British (“Blue-Nosed Bastards of Bodney”), 317, 320–21, 438

356th Fighter Group, U. S., 317, 438, 439, 441

379th Bomber Group, U. S., 325, 326, 328

398th Bomber Group, U. S., 317, 321, 322

Thunderbolt fighter, 235, 329

Thuringia, 198, 382

Tiefflieger über Dresden? Legenden und Wirklichkeit
(Schnatz), 439–41

Times
(London), 130, 184, 446

Tirpitz,
214–15, 281

Tod von Dresden, Der
(Rodenberger), 443

Tokyo firebombing, 390

Tollkewitz, 307, 358

Topper, William, 241, 244, 245

Treblinka concentration camp, 351

Treitschke, Heinrich von, 66

Trenchard, Hugh, 81, 83–85, 86, 87, 133, 178, 388

Tripp, Miles (“Mike”), 210, 274, 280, 281–82, 337–38, 474
n

Truman, Harry S., 393

Trümmerbahnen,
396

Trümmerfrau
(rubble women), 395–96, 420

Tschirnhaus, Count von, 22

Turkish Palace, 28

Turner, General, 318

Turner, Ilana, 150–51, 306–8

Twentieth Fighter Group, U. S., 317, 321–22, 432–33, 435–39

typewriters, 33, 41, 57, 149, 195

 

U-boats, 85, 117, 125, 127, 131, 153, 158, 214, 379

Ufa cinema, 194–95

“U for Uncle” bomber, 210, 247–50

ULTRA, 174, 177

Unbesiegbare Stadt, Die
(Seydewitz), 443

Unemployed Man, The
(Griebel), 41

United States Strategic Bombing Survey, 133

 

V-1 rocket, 152, 169–70, 171, 202–3, 216, 403

V-2 rocket, 152, 169–70, 171, 202–3, 216, 375, 403

Venetian rebellion (1848–1849), 79

Verdi, Giuseppe, 47

Verrier, Anthony, 403

Versailles Palace, 17, 24, 58

Versailles Treaty, 40

Verteidigungsbereich,
225

“V for Victory” bomber, 282

VHF short-range radios, 242, 244–46, 276–77, 281–82

Vienna, 18

Villa San Remo, 450, 451–54

Vitzthum-Gymnasium, 199, 284–86

Voigt, Hanns, 444, 446

Völkerwanderung,
227

Volksausschuss für Nationale Verteidigung, 39

Volksempfänger,
152

Volkssturm (Home Guard), 170, 288, 342

Voltaire, 26

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr., xi, 348–49, 399

 

Wagner, Richard, 3, 30, 36–37, 253

Walch, C., 58

Wanne-Eickel synthetic oil plant, 207

war crimes, xi, 11–12, 190, 384–85, 386, 410–11, 420–21, 424–25, 431, 453, 474
n

War Cripple, The
(Dix), 41

warfare:

air, 79–91, 106, 109, 110, 115–18, 121, 128, 183–86, 375–79, 387, 401–17, 437, 467
n

deterrence in, 87–88

ground, 80, 86

medieval, 76

naval, 84–85, 117

retaliation in, 77–78, 99, 113, 117, 202–3, 394, 401–2, 403, 410–11

rules of, 76, 411–12

total, xii, 39, 87–88, 147, 170, 308, 355, 413, 426

trench, 53, 121

War in the Air, The
(Wells), 79

Warsaw, 76–78, 92, 95, 106, 206, 366

Weber, Carl Maria von, 3, 30

Wehrmacht:

conscriptions for, 162, 170, 288, 342

Dresden forces of, 99–100, 165, 215–16, 347, 350, 352, 357, 371, 382–83

effectiveness of, 161, 171–72, 177, 179

High Command of, 148, 149–50, 202, 312–13, 436

mobilization of, 160, 162, 180, 182–83, 187, 215–16, 230, 236, 253–54, 308

reinforcements for, 162, 170, 187, 215–16, 230, 236, 253–54, 308, 382–83

supplies for, 152–53, 161, 359, 374, 415–16

tank divisions of, 146, 171

Weidauer, Walter, 57, 390–91, 393, 398, 399, 445, 448, 453, 454–56

Weir, William, 81, 82

Weisser Hirsch, 69, 451

Wellington bomber, 97, 111, 137

Wells, H. G., 79

Wesel, 375

Weser, Arno, 68, 198

Westwall, 170

Wettin dynasty, 15–17, 24, 25, 27, 31–33, 38–39, 49–50, 206, 312, 314–15

Wettiner Bahnhof, 195, 196

White, Alec, 349

Whitley bomber, 97

Wiener Platz, 286

Wilhelm I, Emperor of Germany, 32

Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany, 38

Wilhelmshaven, 92

Willis, Admiral, 118

Wilsdruff, 383

“window” devices, 4, 131–32, 243, 275

“Without Baggage” (Ley), 367

Wolf, Henny, 68–69, 73, 75, 157–59, 232–34, 254, 260, 262–63, 302–3, 305–6, 336

Wood, Kingsley, 94

“Word about Our Jewry, A” (Treitschke), 66

World War I:

armistice for, 40, 83

bombing in, 79–82

civilian casualties in, 84–85, 402

German defeat in, 38–39, 67, 83

as stalemate, 85–86, 87

trench warfare in, 53, 121

World War II:

Allied air superiority in, 94–99, 106, 178, 182, 366

bombing campaigns of,
see
bombing campaigns

Eastern front of, 135, 163, 165, 179–80

German offensives in, 95, 96–101, 135, 171–72, 234–35, 382

military casualties in, 135, 172, 403

North African theater of, 118, 135

Pacific theater of, 118, 389–90

“Phony War” in, 92–94

propaganda in, 12–13, 93–94, 95, 96, 100–101, 117, 118, 202–3, 382

Western front in, 169–72

Wren, Christopher, 107

Wright, Orville and Wilbur, 79

Würzburg, 131–32, 211, 374, 409

 

X-Gerät guidance system, 102–4, 123

 

Yalta Conference (1945), 185, 189–91, 207, 208–9, 211, 212, 318–19, 382, 408

Y-Gerät (Wotan) guidance system, 123

Yugoslavia, 110

 

Zeiss, Carl, 33

Zeiss-Ikon AG, 33, 57, 136, 148, 151, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157–58, 303, 358–59

Zeppelin airships, 80, 121

Zuzugssperrgebiet,
229

Zwinger gardens, 23–24, 195, 312, 397

About the Author

F
REDERICK
T
AYLOR
studied history and modern languages at Oxford University and Sussex University, specializing in the history of the extreme right in Germany during the early years of the twentieth century. The award of a Volkswagen Studentship enabled him to research and travel widely in both parts of divided Germany at the height of the Cold War. He has edited and translated a number of works from German, including the
Goebbels Diaries, 1939–1941.
Frederick Taylor is married with three children and lives in Cornwall, England.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

P
RAISE
FOR
Dresden

“Passionately written and deeply affecting,
Dresden
is a bracing rebuke to the myths and propaganda that have painted over the memory of this tragedy.”

—People

“The enigmatic past and the patient muse of history are brilliantly served…by this blockbuster of a book. It is a masterpiece of scholarship and even handed reporting not unlike John Hersey's.”

—Chicago Sun-Times

“Taylor carefully debunks…the ‘pervasive postwar myth' that the city contributed little to the war…. If thousands of innocent men, women and children perished in the fires of Dresden, the bombing of the city, as Taylor emphasizes, also saved innocent lives.”

—New York Times Book Review

“I thought I knew everything about what happened at Dresden on that fiery day in 1945—and then I read Frederick Taylor's fine book. Now I know not only what really occurred, but also all about this beautiful and tragic city's past and present. I highly recommend this book.”

—James Bradley, author of
Flags of Our Fathers
and
Flyboys

“Fascinating…. Frederick Taylor has written a fine, revealing work of revisionist history. He has also given us a deeply haunting human drama.”

—Houston Chronicle

“Taylor's chronicle…makes for compelling reading, owing both to his chilling depiction of that surreal and horrible night and to the obvious moral seriousness he uses to grapple with the ambiguities at the heart of his account…. Drawing on the sophisticated assessments of a generation of scholars, [Taylor]…puts the assault in its proper context to reveal the inherent moral tangle of total war.”

—Atlantic Monthly

“A riveting narrative account…. Challenge[s] much of what we think we know about the bombing…. The moral truth about Dresden is fundamentally ambiguous, however much some parties might want to paint it otherwise. Only histories like Taylor's, which encompasses both the raw human suffering of Dresden's people and the incontrovertible political facts about the city and nation they inhabited, can do it justice.”

—Salon.com

“Mr. Taylor makes a persuasive case that Dresden was not an innocent bystander in the tragedy that was WWII…. Along the way, he gives us the compelling story of the rise of the capital of Saxony from Roman times to the present.”

—The Washington Times

“A provocative re-examination of the bombing of Dresden that has forced this reader to rethink everything he thought he knew about the subject. Frederick Taylor has given us an elegantly written and exquisitely researched portrait of an ancient city, and a deeply moving remembrance of the darkest day in its storied history.”

—Peter Duffy, author of
The Bielski Brothers

“Accomplished…. Not just another in an endless parade of books on Dresden, Taylor's account may go a long way toward putting [the question of Dresden] to rest.”

—Publishers Weekly
(starred review).

“A major contribution to the story of Dresden.”

—Christian Science Monitor

“Genius…an absolutely magnificent work both of scholarship and of narration.”

—The Literary Review
(London)

“Outstanding…. Taylor is an excellent writer who tells a satisfyingly complex story with a coherent, confident voice…. The book's high point is…Taylor's masterly, shocking description of the firebomb attack.”

—Irish Times

“There is a good chance that Frederick Taylor's
Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945
will prove to be…the last word on a subject of bitter contention for more than half a century.”

—The Guardian
(London)

“An impressive book…. Taylor weaves a chilling narrative from eyewitness accounts and painstaking documentary research, particularly with German sources. He explains the conceptual and strategic background with admirable clarity [and] his account of the air operation itself is quite superb.”

—Allan Mallinson
, The Times
(London)

“Anyone who thinks that during World War Two Dresden manufactured just chinaware must read this penetrating book. Frederick Taylor demonstrates that, prior to the famous bombing, Dresden was, in fact, a Nazi industrial and rail center, and dispels the long-held myth of Dresden as an example of Allied brutality.”

—Stanley P. Hirshson, author of
General Patton: A Soldier's Life

Other books

Memoirs of an Immortal Life by Candace L Bowser
Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress
MAKE ME A MATCH (Running Wild) by hutchinson, bobby
The Senator's Wife by Karen Robards
Doris O'Connor by Too Hot to Handle
Fatal Greed by Mefford, John W.
Confessions of a Hostie 3 by Danielle Hugh
Jo Beverly by Winter Fire