Dresden (54 page)

There are a number of contradictions in all this. First, the Americans did not have a usable bomb in the summer of 1944. In that regard, both the scientist and the Luftwaffe commander were quite right. But the enemy was closer to its goal than Göring may have thought and Heisenberg may have feared. Second, as early as September 1944, there is evidence that the main choice facing President Roosevelt was whether the bomb should be dropped on Japan or kept back as an instrument of threat. Germany was not really part of the discussion. Third, by December 1944 Roosevelt knew that August 1945 was the most likely time when a bomb would become available for use. Fourth—and as a consequence—if the sick, exhausted Roosevelt did say such a thing to Groves, it must have been because he was tempted at that time (perhaps under the shock of the unexpectedly fierce German counteroffensive in the Ardennes) into believing that the nightmare in Europe might indeed drag on into the autumn of 1945, when the bomb would be usable.

Weidauer's evidence is thin, his logic tenuous, but of course he has a cold war propaganda point to make. If the Anglo-Americans were prepared to destroy Dresden with an atomic bomb, and were deterred only by the rapid Soviet advance (which, puzzlingly, the western Allies were at the time doing all they could to assist), what horrors might the “imperialists” not inflict on the peaceful Communist world twenty years later?

The story of Dresden as the planned first target for the atomic bomb appears to have been around since shortly after the war, but Walter Weidauer is the source that Dresdeners refer to. Even among
educated people it is a confidently asserted fact: “You know, if the war hadn't ended when it did, then the Allies planned to drop the atomic bomb on Dresden…”

As Weidauer, setting the scene for the party's other propagandists, reminded his East German readers:

Chapter 1: Bood and Treasure

“the English were treasured”: Pastor Dr. Karl-Ludwig Hoch, interview by author Dresden-Löschwitz, February 2002. Also for the following.

Chapter 2: The Twin Kingdom

“a small city made of wood”: Johann Christian Hasche,
Eine Umständliche Beschreibung Dresdens
, quoted in
Dresden: Die Geschichte der Stadt,
ed. Dresdner Geschichtsverein (Dresden, 2002), p. 90.

“the most terrible day”: Letter reprinted in
Dresden in der Goethezeit,
ed. Günter Jäckel (Berlin, 1990), p. 48.

Frederick's characteristic use of surprise: Jacek Stazhewski “Der Sachsenhof in Warschau (1756–63)” in
Dresdner Hefte 50: Polen und Sachsen: Zwischen Nähe und Distanz
(Dresden, 1997), p. 66ff.

“Dresden no longer exists”: Quoted in
Dresden: Die Geschichte der Stadt,
p. 102.

Chapter 3: Florence on the Elbe

“a German Florence”: Quoted in Olaf B. Rader, “Dresden,” in
Deutsche Erinnerungsorte III,
eds. Etienne François and Hagen Schulze (Munich, 2001), p. 459.

the best of old and new: Wolfgang Zimmer, “Bevölkerungsentwicklung und Sozialstruktur in der Stadt nach 1871,” in
Dresdner Hefte 61: Industriestadt Dresden? Wirtschaftswachstum im Kaiserreich
(Dresden, 1997), p. 21.

Chapter 4: The Last King of Saxony

“crowded living conditions”:
Dresden: Die Geschichte der Stadt,
p. 175.

the Pan-German League:
Dresden: Die Geschichte der Stadt,
p. 188.

a huge new group: The DNHV mushroomed from 160 members in 1894 to
more than 100,000 in 1907 and continued its rapid growth until 1914. See Dirk Stegmann,
Die Erben Bismarcks: Parteien und Verbände in der Spätphase des Wilhelminischen Deutschlands
(Cologne/Berlin, 1970), p. 41.

shortages and hunger: Robin Neillands,
The Bomber War:
Arthur Harris and the Allied Bomber Offensive 1939–1945 (London, 2001), p. 13.

fourteen thousand were killed: Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann,
Vom Traum zum Alptraum: Sachsen in der Weimarer Republik
(Leipzig, 2000), p. 27. The MDR (Central German Radio) book and website on Saxon history suggest as many as 220,000, plus 19,000 “missing.” If the proportions for Saxony as a whole and Dresden in particular are similar, the lower figure seems more likely for actual, directly attributable war casualties. If the higher figure is true, that would mean that almost a third of those Saxons who went to war never returned. Figures for Dresden are from
Dresden: Die Geschichte der Stadt,
p. 198.

a compromise peace: Prince Ernst Heinrich von Sachsen,
Mein Lebensweg: vom Königsschloss zum Bauernhof
(Dresden/Basel, 1995), p. 102ff.

“a bringer of hope”: Gertraud Freundel, interview by author, Dresden, October 2001.

the Nazi vote in Dresden: Figures from Gunda Ulbricht, “Die Wahlen in Dresden 1932/1933,” in
Dresden unterm Hakenkreuz,
ed. Reiner Pommerin (Cologne/Weimar/Vienna, 1998), p. 39ff. In Breslau the Nazi vote was 43. 5 percent. See Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse's work on Breslau/Wroclaw,
Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City
(London, 2002), p. 337.

Der Freiheitskampf:
Ralf Krüger, “Presse unter Druck. Differenzierte Berichterstattung trotz nationalsozialistischer Presselenkungsmassnahmen: die liberalen ‘Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten' und das NSDAP-Organ‚ ‘Der Freiheitskampf' im Vergleich,” in
Dresden unterm Hakenkreuz,
ed. Reiner Pommerin (Cologne/Weimar/Vienna, 1998), p. 44.

Chapter 5: The Saxon Mussolini

Mutschmann was born: Information about Mutschmann's career from Karl Höffkes,
Hitlers Politische Generale: Die
Gauleiter
des Dritten Reiches
(Tübingen, 1986), p. 242ff, and Peter Hüttenberger,
Die Gauleiter: Studie zum Wandel des Machtgefüges in der NSDAP
(Stuttgart, 1969), p. 217 (for biographical details) and passim.

published a searing critique: For this and other Nazi defectors' unflattering views of Mutschmann see Clemens Vollnhalls, ed.,
Sachsen in der NS-Zeit
(Leipzig, 2002), p. 39.

“no gods other than himself”: Josef Goebbels,
Tagebücher
1924–1945 (Munich, 1999), June 25, 1937, entry. 48 “everyone is afraid”: Victor Klemperer,
The Klemperer Diaries 1933–45: I Shall Bear Witness Until the Bitter End,
abridged and trans. Martin Chalmers (London, 2000), p. 5.

Von Killinger escaped the fate: Von Killinger, who was credited with organizing the coup that brought the Romanian fascist Antonescu to power, died at the hands of pro-Russian militia when the German embassy in Bucharest was stormed in September 1944. See the profile and selection of German and British press cuttings in WO 208/4480, PRO, London.

“he showed us his bare back”: Otto Griebel,
Ich War Ein Mann der Strasse: Lebenserinnerungen Eines Dresdner Malers
(Altenburg, 1995), p. 209.

Liebmann's death: See Norbert Haase, Stefi Jersch-Wenzel, and Hermann Simon, eds. (Bearbeitetet von Marcus Gryglewski),
Die Erinnerung hat ein Gesicht: Fotografien und Dokumente zur nationalsozialistischen Judenverfolgung in Dresden 1933–45
(Leipzig, 1998), p. 100.

Sachs's death: Vollnhalls, ed.,
Sachsen in der NS-Zeit,
p. 189.

“to encourage the others”: Vollnhalls, ed.,
Sachsen in der NS-Zeit,
p. 191.

the party leadership…was corrupt: Carsten Schreiber, “Täter und Opfer: Der Verfolgungsapparat im NS-Staat,” in
Sachsen in der NS-Zeit,
ed. Clemens Vollnhalls (Leipzip, 2002), p. 179.

Chapter 6: A Pearl with a New Setting

“Dresden is a pearl”: Quotation from Matthias Gretzschel,
Dresden im Dritten Reich
, reprinted in ed.
Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Hamburg und Dresden im Dritten Reich: Bombenkrieg und Kriegsende
(Hamburg, 1993), p. 96.

“and bless the deed”: This and succeeding descriptions of Hitler's visit to Dresden in 1934 from Günter Jäckel's autobiographical essay, “Für den herrlichen Führer danken wir Dir,” taken from proofs of
Lebensbilder III (Die finstere Zeit)
provided to the author by Günter Jäckel, March 2002.

the director…wrote with a hint of triumph: Copy of original document supplied to the author by Holger Starke of the Dresden City Museum. See also his article, “Vom Werkstättereal zum Industriegelände: Die Entwicklung des Industriegebietes an der Königsbrücker Strasse in Dresden vor der Entstehung der Albertstadt bis zur Auflösung der Industrieanlagen Nord (1873–1952),” in
Dresdner Geschichtsbuch 5
(Altenburg, 1999), p. 150ff.

the largest garrison: Manfred Beyer, “Dresden als Keimzelle des militärischen Widerstandes: Die Garnison in der NS-Zeit,” in
Dresdner Hefte 53: Dresden als Garnisonstadt
(1998), p. 52ff.

slowly remilitarized: Starke, “Vom Werkstättereal zum Industriegelände,” p. 171ff.

new commercial buildings: See Matthias Lerm,
Abschied vom Alten Dresden: Verluste historischer Bausubstanz nach 1945
(Rostock, 2000), p. 14ff.

Hitler's improvements: For details of planning after 1933 see Matthias Lerm, “Konzepte für den Umbau der Stadt Dresden in den 30er und frühen 40er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts” in
Vorträge und Forschungsberichte: 4 Kolloquium zur dreibändigen Stadtgeschichte 2006 vom 18. März 2,000,
p. 31ff.

Chapter 7: First the Synagogue Burns, Then the City

Jewish population in 1933: Breslau figure from Davies and Moorhouse,
Microcosm,
p. 367; Berlin figure from Leonard Gross,
The Last Jews in Berlin
(London, 1983), p. 11; demographic breakdown for Saxon cities from Vollnhalls, ed.,
Sachsen in der NS-Zeit,
p. 202 ff.

“plying their trade”: Uwe Ullrich,
Zur Geschichte der Juden in Dresden
(Dresden, 2001), p. 10.

recompense for Lehmann: Quotations from Ullrich,
Zur Geschichte der Juden in Dresden
, p. 10ff.

a sign forbade Jews and dogs: See HATiKVA, ed.
Spurensuche: Juden in Dresden, Ein Begleiter durch die Stadt
(Dresden, 1996), p. 35.

Bernard Hirschel: Ingrid Kirsch, “Das Ringen um die Gleichstellung der Dresdner Juden und ihre Religionsgemeinde von 1830 bis 1871,” in
Dresdner Hefte Nr 45
(rev. and reprinted 2000), p. 19.

Jewish population: Figures from Gerald Kolditz, “Zur Entwicklung des Antisemitismus in Dresden während des Kaisserreichs,” in
Dresdner Hefte 45
(rev. and reprinted 2000), p. 44.

the growth in prejudice varied: Observations on marriage patterns from W. E. Mosse,
The German-Jewish Economic Elite 1820–1935: A Socio-Cultural Profile
(Oxford/New York, 1989), p. 182. Remarks on prejudice against Jews from p. 225.

a one-day boycott: For details of the boycott see Haase, Jersch-Wenzel, and Simon, eds.,
Die Erinnerung hat ein Gesicht
, p. 101ff.

the Nazi thugs brandished signs: See Günther Kirsch, “Die gesetzliche und aussergesetzliche Judenverfolgung in Dresden und Sachsen in den ersten Monaten der nationasozialistischen Herrschaft,” in
Historische Blätter H. 4
(1994), p. 10.

spit at for two hours: See Henny (Wolf) Brenner,
“Das Lied ist aus”: Ein jüdisches Schicksal in Dresden
(Zürich/Munich, 2001), p. 69.

the local Nazis had put signs: “Die Johannstadt wieder als Vorbild,” in
Der Freiheitskampf 2
(August 1935).

Goebbels embarked on a hate-filled speech: See Michael Burleigh,
The Third Reich: A New History
(London, 2000), p. 325–26.

The synagogue collapsed: Not quite all was lost. A young Aryan fireman, Alfred Neugebauer, rescued the golden Star of David after it toppled from the tower of the synagogue and secured it in his home. He returned it to the (by then tiny) Jewish community after the war. It was placed back on the new synagogue (consecrated 2002). Herr Neugebauer, now eighty-five years old, was an honored guest at this ceremony.

“uniformed SA people”: Griebel,
Ich war ein Mann der Strasse,
p. 239f.

Hirsch's fur store: Günter Jäckel, interview by author, Dresden-Kleinschachwitz, February 2002.

“the synagogues that caught fire”: Quoted in HATiKVA, ed.,
Spurensuche:
p. 41.

“a pair of fine Nazis”: Jäckel, interview. The publicity surrounding Jäckel's election as chair of the Goethe Society reached the ears of his school friend, now a retired academic living in the Pacific Northwest of America but still in touch with events in his old hometown. The “two Günthers” now talk regularly on the transatlantic phone connection—as befits retired citizens—“when it's cheap.”

“this fire will return”: Griebel,
Ich war ein Mann der Strasse,
p. 240.

Chapter 8: Laws of the Air

“a sea of flame”: Cajus Becker,
The Luftwaffe War Diaries
(London, 1967), p. 57.

postponed because of bad weather: John Buckley,
Air Power in the Age of Total War
(Bloomington, Ind., 1999), p. 127.

refuge in a roadside ditch: Nicholas Bethell,
The War That Hitler Won: September 1939
(London, 1972), p. 104.

“putting out no flags”: Klemperer,
Klemperer Diaries
, p. 296f.

“when I asked”: From Günter Jäckel's essay, “Dieser 1. September 1939,” presented by Jäckel to the author.

a balloon laden with explosives: See Stephen A. Garrett,
Ethics and Airpower in World War II: The British Bombing of German Cities
(New York, 1996), p. 3f. Also for the following accounts of early aerial bombing.

“frightfulness”: Quoted in Norman Longmate,
The Bombers
(London, 1983), p. 29.

“the combatant spirit of the people”: Quoted in Longmate,
Bombers,
p. 32. Also for Trenchard's remarks.

General Guilio Douhet's views: See Buckley,
Air Power in the Age of Total War,
p. 75ff, for this and discussion of Douhet's apocalyptic theories on air war.

“a more total war”: Buckley,
Air Power in the Age of Total War,
p. 3.

70 percent of the town was destroyed: See Jörg Friedrich,
Das Gesetz des Krieges
(Munich, 2002), p. 720f (and notes) for discussion of the moral aspects of the raid and references to specialist historians' accounts. Friedrich states the number of victims at three hundred, Neillands in
Bomber War
cites one thousand victims, from Hugh Thomas's book
The Spanish Civil War
.

his
Guernica: Story of visit to Guernica recounted to the author by the historian concerned, Matthias Neutzner, February 2002.

Chapter 9: Call Me Meier

Baldwin's 1932 dictum: See Denis Richards,
The Hardest Victory: Bomber Command in the Second World War
(London, 1994), p. 8.

feared…150,000 casualties: See Longmate,
Bombers,
p. 54.

Nickel leaflets: Methods and problems of “Nickel” leaflet dropping described in Richards,
Hardest Victory,
p. 23ff. Text of the “These…Are Your Leaders!” leaflet reproduced in German in Bethell,
War That Hitler Won,
p. 204, and in English (with the other leaflets quoted) in Longmate,
Bombers,
p. 75f.

Noël Coward remarked: Cited in Bethell,
War That Hitler Won,
p. 208.

Feuertaufe:
The film actually had precisely the opposite effect in many cases. In theaters where the movie was shown, German women, especially, were heard expressing sympathy for Polish women and children.