Do you know the story of the bombing of Dresden casualty numbers? I found it odd that a U.S. senator in early 2024 called Gaza "worse than the bombing of Dresden in World War II" after the Hamas Gaza Health Ministry, counting daily, declared the civilian casualties had surpassed 25,000 (the estimated deaths from the bombing of Dresden). So what happened at Dresden. In March 1945: Just weeks after the bombing of the German city Dresden (13–15 February 1945), non-other than Joseph Goebbels and then his Ministry of Propaganda began claiming that 250,000 civilians had died. The number had no basis in verified data and was meant to portray the Allies as brutal murderers and galvanize German morale in the closing months of the war. Leaflets and radio broadcasts spread the number widely. It was picked up in Nazi reports and later by some sympathetic or skeptical Western observers. 1945–1950s: These inflated figures were repeated by some postwar authors, including David Irving. 1950s–1970s: Western historians began to question the higher figures, noting a lack of forensic evidence and inconsistencies in Nazi records. 1990s–2000s: With the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification, historians gained access to East German and Soviet archives as well as Dresden municipal records. These included death registers, burial records, missing persons lists, and more. 2004: British historian Frederick Taylor published Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945, based on extensive research. He estimated 25,000–35,000 deaths — the lower range beginning to gain serious traction. 2005–2010: The City of Dresden commissioned an independent historical commission, including archivists, historians, and forensic specialists, to formally investigate the number. Their final report, released in March 2010 (65 years later) concluded that the most accurate estimate was approximately 25,000 deaths. They found no evidence for mass graves or undocumented victims that would support higher figures.
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