Up to 25,000 Died in Dresden Bombing

From the March 10, 2010, BBC "Report: Up to 24,000 died in bombing of Dresden."

That number is fewer than thought, especially since some groups claim that as many as 500,000 died.  The official German report by the Dresden Historians Commission, after five years of research on the Feb. 13-15, 1945 air raid by British and US planes puts the number at 25,000.  These bombings unleashed a firestorm.

The raid has drawn criticism ever since as Germany was already near defeat and there was no military reason for it.  Those involved should be tried for war crimes.

Others say the city was an important logistical point behind German lines and the Soviet Army was approaching it.

The Commission used records from the city archives and official registries to come up with the 25,000 number.  They found that fewer refugees in the city were killed as well.

GreGen