Thanks for this excellent Diary, DoDo - I've become completely out of touch with German political culture.

It seems to me that the fire-bombing of Dresden was a war crime almost comparable to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and much greater in scale than the bombing of - say Coventry.  That is not to say Hitler wouldn't have bombed London to smithereens if he had had the capability to do so.

However in that context, it is important that neo-Nazis aren't allowed to hijack an otherwise understandable wish to commemorate a horrific event. Anti-fascists should therefore take the lead in organising such commemorations and building networks with progressive groups from other cities around the world (including the atrocities in Kigali in Rwanda) which have had war crimes committed against them.

To some extent,  just organising counter-demonstrations is allowing neo-Nazis to set the agenda and play to their strengths in street riots. Progressives should seek to take ownership of the humanitarian heritage of Dresden and similar events around the world - and not allow neo-Nazis to portray themselves as the victims of false propaganda or the inheritors of a legitimate sense of grievance.


Index of Frank's Diaries