Rival protestors mark Dresden bombing
Thousands turned out today to protest against a march by supporters of Germany’s far right on the 64th anniversary of the deadly Allied World War II bombing of Dresden.
Organisers said some 7,500 people gathered in the eastern city to protest at the far-right march, which police said involved about 5,000 people.
Police said they broke up a third demonstration, involving about 2,500 left-wing opponents of the far-right march, after officers were targeted with stones and bottles.
Three successive waves of British and US bombers on February 13-14, 1945, set off firestorms and destroyed the centuries-old city centre.
The total number of people killed has long been uncertain.
Last year, a panel commissioned by state officials found that the firebombing killed no more than 25,000 people – far fewer than scholars’ previous estimates that ran as high as 135,000.
Far right leaders have in the past caused outrage by comparing the bombing of Dresden to the Holocaust.
“The neo-Nazis emphasise revenge; we set against that our will for peace,” Dresden Mayor Helma Orosz said.
