Memorial to the cremation of bodies after the February, 1945 bombing of the city at the Altmarkt in down town Dresden
Pictures and text by Mark R. Hatlie
These pictures were taken right after the dedication of the memorial on the morning of 13 February, 2009. The memorial is part of a complete redesign of the square (which was still a parking lot in 2006). There were discussions in Dresden about whether to build this memorial at all.
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A large crowd gathered at the new memorial shortly before the official dedication on the late morning of the anniversary of the bombing. The crowd had followed the dignitaries after gathering at the Frauenkirche. This shows the crowd immediately after the dedication ceremony. |
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People placed candles and momentos on the memorial. |
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The text notes that with the bombing, "the horror of the war that went out from Germany into the world came back to our city." ("Damals kehrte der Schrecken des Krieges, von Deutschland aus in alle Welt getragen, auch in unsere Stadt zurück."). |
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The inlay in the ground reads, "After the air attack on Dresden of 13-14 February, 1945, 6865 dead bodies were cremated at this location." ("Nach dem Luftangriff vom 13. bis 14. Februar 1945 auf Dresden wurden an diesem Ort die Leichen von 6865 Menschen verbrannt."). |
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