BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
The mayor of the German city of Dresden has flown into London under pressure from fellow politicians to try to get a planned memorial to Second World War bomber crews scrapped.
Helma Orosz, 57, is officially in Britain to open an exhibition on the bombing of London, her city and that of its twin, Coventry, during the war.
She is under pressure however to get the memorial, which is to recognise the courage of*RAF bomber crews, scrapped.
The East German city of Dresden was turned into rubble over two days nights in February 1945 by British and American bombers.
Some 25,000 people, mostly women and children, died in savage firestorms whipped up by the intense heat of 2,400 tons of high explosive and 1,500 tons of incendiary bombs. The raid was controversial because the war was almost over and Dresden had no strategic value as a military target.
Planners at Westminster City Council approved in May*the proposed £3.5 million memorial for the 55,573 bomber crews who were killed in the Second World War. Daily Telegraph readers helped raise more than £1.8 million towards the cost of the monument, which will be built in Green Park, central London.
Mrs Orosz last night attended the opening of the London Transport Museum's exhibition marking 70 years since the start of the Blitz.
Speaking after the opening, Mrs Orosz told*The Daily Express*the memorial would “not be part of the culture of reconciliation.”
“The emotions of the people in Dresden are running high. It is against our culture of remembrance.”
Ursula Elsner, 80, was a child when the bombers destroyed Dresden.
“We rely on our mayor to use the strongest diplomatic language possible to express our strong concerns about this monument.”
Currently writing a book of eyewitness accounts to the raids, she added: “I find these plans both sad and macabre. Such a monument justifies the bombing attacks and damages the mutual reconciliation process of the past few years between Britain and Germany.”
Dresden Liberal party councillor Holger Zastrow said: “This memorial injures the feelings of Dresdeners and is utterly tasteless."
Helma Orosz, 57, is officially in Britain to open an exhibition on the bombing of London, her city and that of its twin, Coventry, during the war.
She is under pressure however to get the memorial, which is to recognise the courage of*RAF bomber crews, scrapped.
The East German city of Dresden was turned into rubble over two days nights in February 1945 by British and American bombers.
Some 25,000 people, mostly women and children, died in savage firestorms whipped up by the intense heat of 2,400 tons of high explosive and 1,500 tons of incendiary bombs. The raid was controversial because the war was almost over and Dresden had no strategic value as a military target.
Planners at Westminster City Council approved in May*the proposed £3.5 million memorial for the 55,573 bomber crews who were killed in the Second World War. Daily Telegraph readers helped raise more than £1.8 million towards the cost of the monument, which will be built in Green Park, central London.
Mrs Orosz last night attended the opening of the London Transport Museum's exhibition marking 70 years since the start of the Blitz.
Speaking after the opening, Mrs Orosz told*The Daily Express*the memorial would “not be part of the culture of reconciliation.”
“The emotions of the people in Dresden are running high. It is against our culture of remembrance.”
Ursula Elsner, 80, was a child when the bombers destroyed Dresden.
“We rely on our mayor to use the strongest diplomatic language possible to express our strong concerns about this monument.”
Currently writing a book of eyewitness accounts to the raids, she added: “I find these plans both sad and macabre. Such a monument justifies the bombing attacks and damages the mutual reconciliation process of the past few years between Britain and Germany.”
Dresden Liberal party councillor Holger Zastrow said: “This memorial injures the feelings of Dresdeners and is utterly tasteless."
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