The SHOCKING Real Story of the Dresden Firestorm

The bombing of Dresden in 1945 resulted in a firestorm that wiped out the 7th largest city in Germany. This event sparked a massive historical debate over whether it was legitimate or not, whether it was a war crime or not, and whether there were 25,000 fatalities, or 400,000! Using on-screen references, this historical documentary presents the real story of what happened in Dresden on the 13th of February 1945, and examines the evidence to conclude a reasonable estimate of the fatalities, and whether the Dresden bombing was a war crime or not.

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📚 BIBLIOGRAPHY / SOURCES 📚

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ABOUT TIK 📝

History isn’t as boring as some people think, and my goal is to get people talking about it. I also want to dispel the myths and distortions that ruin our perception of the past by asking a simple question - “But is this really the case?”. I have a 2:1 Degree in History and a passion for early 20th Century conflicts (mainly WW2). I’m therefore approaching this like I would an academic essay. Lots of sources, quotes, references and so on. Only the truth will do.

This video is discussing events or concepts that are academic, educational and historical in nature. This video is for informational purposes and was created so we may better understand the past and learn from the mistakes others have made.

[TheImperatorKnight]

I read three entire books in less than a week for this video, so I'd appreciate if you give the video a thumbs up 👍 (it's the reason I look so tired in the video)
In addition, you know full well that the National Socialists will be in the comments spouting nonsense about this topic, so be careful not to believe everything you read down there.

[noatomics]

I am living in Dresden and I talked to actual witnesses of the bombing who were children at the time wandering through the firestorm and seeing burning people all around them while searching for their parents. It is said that people were running into the water of the river but then the water was burning too. Unimaginable for me.

Now there are almost no eye witnesses alive to talk about it. I am afraid that we might loose touch with how devastating war can be.

[johnpendarvis]

I only saw my father cry once. He was a waist gunner in a B17, and was in one of the bombers that destroyed Dresden. After the war, when I was only 4 years old, we traveled to Germany to visit my uncle, who had married a German girl, and was living in Leipzig. We took a day trip to Dresden, and as soon as we were in sight of the city my father broke down hysterically. It scared us all. He was inconsolable for several hours. We never talked about it.

[ralfmoller]

As someone living in Dresden: the city hasnt recovered completely even now in 2022. still every few months there is a WW2 bomb being found on construction sites. There are still quite a few areas/properties that just stand vacant since the buildings there were destroyed in the bombings now nearly 80 years ago.

[johnedwards]

Seventy years ago, my mother and I visited a family on a tranquil farm in New England after Church services.
The father of the family remained at home and seldom spoke as he shuffled between the family home and a separate workshop where he made briar pipes.
In fact, I can't recall ever hearing his voice during our many visits.
A half century later, I met the daughter who was my age and she explained why her father never spoke.
Before the war, he'd studied at Dresden and knew the people, places, and cultural richness of that city. His name was Gettsinger.
During WW2 he flew a B-24 during bombing raids over Germany. He knew what he was destroying at Dresden and couldn't bear to ever hear any mention of that city.
Despite the passage of many years, he would spontaneously burst into tears at any mention of Dresden.
He was a pilot, or co-pilot, and had no choice. He had to fly and knew what he was destroying. A court-marshal awaited if he refused.
He was not alone. During the VietNam era, I heard of pilots from that war who had similar experiences of after having had to bomb Hue.
How was it that politicians could declare who should bear the blame other than themselves.

[sastaffa]

My aunt was a member of forced labor in Dresden as a part of all kids born in 1924 in Bohemia. After the first wave she was told by the German supervisor : "Leave, as a Czech you don't deserve this, go home to Prague, this is not your doing, it's our war!", thus saving her life. So she run with other Czech laborers to the hills a watched in horror from above Dresden the inferno staged by the second wave. ....I'm sure it was a long walk home but the war was for her over.

[wouterdeprest]

My wife's grandfather (from Belgium) was a forced laborer in Germany when he became 18 years old.
He made searchlights not that far from Dresden. He tells that night turned into day and that he could feel the wind sucked towards Dresden.
He was forced to help with the "cleanup". When he talks about this (the men is 97) tears come in his eays and he stops talking.
The images he saw are to difficult to talk about.
Thank you TIK for a great and balanced video.

[NickRatnieks]

We had a family friend- who survived the raid- he was Lithuanian and was fleeing the Soviet advance. My mother said he was the most unhappy man she had ever met- he was in a cellar and somehow survived but his mother and sister did not. I assume he felt guilty about this but I never ever discussed Dresden with him and he never mentioned it. His life was changed when he met and married a German woman who was originally from Konigsberg but had come to Nottingham to work in the lace factories after WW2 and his life changed- they were an incredibly happy couple. .

[Bahamut]

One messed up thing I read about Dresden bombing is they piled up hundreds of civilian bodies after the bombing.
It was so much that it created two massive piles on each street, and you had to walk in between on a "path".
Many of those bodies were children or women because all the men were in the army at the front.

[robertmendick]

Victor Gregg was another POW in Dresden as was the American Kurt Vonnegut, when the bombardment occured.... Victor Gregg wrote several books and had numerous interviews and speaking engagements discussing his experience during the Dresden firestorm.... He was a 25 year old British paratrooper when he got captured at Arnhem (aka: Operation Market Garden) and was sent to Dresden as a POW. He sabotaged a soap factory machine and was sentenced to death the following day. That evening, while him and large group of condemned men awaited death, incendiaries crashed through the glass cupola ceiling in the building they were held. This killed many by both falling glass and incendiaries burning into their bodies and nothing could be done to put the incendiaries out. Shortly afterwards, a large high explosive bomb blew the wall out killing many more including his POW friend. As he exited the building in danger of collapse, he seen horrific scenes of fire everywhere with explosives and incendiaries still falling and detonating. He seen many people of all ages, dead, on fire and horribly burnt and injured. Only a combination of keeping calm from years of combat experience (he was in North Africa including the Alamein battle, and the Arnhem battle), and lots of luck, allowed him to escape to safety in the outskirts of the city. He passed by many who didn't make it, as explosions, falling buildings, heat and incendiaries took later, him and other prisoners were taken in to search for survivors in the rubble. One day he was able to escape and made it to the Russian Sadly, Victor Gregg passed away on October 12, 2021, just 3 days shy of his 101 birthday. Many of his interviews are on YouTube.

[clarvebiker]

My grandma was evacuated from Ukraine through Dresden. She worked in a shoe factory for a few weeks and then she was sent to work in Austria.
She still has her German citizenship papers. Half my family was sent back to the Soviet Union after the war and were never heard from again.

[sheehy]

Many people in the twin towers during 911 suffered the same fate as the people of Dresden because they listened to the "authorities" and returned to their offices.
Note to self; during an emergency, follow your gut instinct. It's no guarantee you'll survive but at least you live or die by your own decision rather than someone elses.

[mitchrichards]

Hit ler on 1 September 1940: "And should the Royal Air Force drop two thousand or three thousand or four thousand kilograms of bo mbs, then we will now drop 150, 000; 180, 000; 300, 000; 400, 000; yes one million kilograms in a single night. And should they declare they will greatly increase their attacks on our cities, then we will erase their cities! "
His intent was clear, what he lacked was capability. The Allies did not lack the capability.

[markpaul]

My uncle Clyde stover from Tennessee was captured at Normandy on jun.7th 1944.He was taken to a P.O.W. camp outside Dresden.He told my mom that they had to come to the city and drag out dead bodies and bury them.He suffered from PTSD and took his own life 6 months after coming home in the winter of 45.

[jorgegallo]

Those 25, 000 corpses were the ones that were found. How many thousands simply incinerated into smoke without a trace?

[begbieyabass]

My uncle was in that 2nd raid as a navigator he said he didn't have to do much because he could see the glow at 20.000 feet. He never got over the shock off the death toll and took his own life in 1948.

[Sillysmart]

One of your best videos TIK.
You made it feel like I was there. I could almost feel the fear, the heat and the fire.
No glory in war for sure, but sometimes people can be very brave.

[hebneh]

The father of a German friend survived the Dresden bombing at the age of 5. His mother had, at the last minute, chosen to go to a different shelter. The first one ended up being destroyed. Since this raid, the survivor has considered the raid to be his "second birthday".

[Misses-Hippy]

My mother-in-law, as a young woman of 20, watched Dresden burning from a nearby hilltop, just lucky to be away from town.

[lazy_lefty]

I really appreciate that you put your references at the bottom of the screen as you make each point. I haven't seen any other essay-style youtuber do this and I think it's a really good practice.