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Title:	Dr. Alexander von Plato: The Bombing of Dresden 1945: Memories and Debates in postwar Germany
Description:	The Oral History Centre at the University of Winnipeg invites you to a free, public lecture. The Bombing of Dresden 1945: Memories and Debates in Postwar Germany Dr. Alexander von Plato, Canada Council Diefenbaker Fellow WHERE: 2B23 Bryce Hall, The University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue WHEN: Thursday, 31 January 2013, 7:00 pm On 13th and 14th of February 1945 the British Royal and United States Air Forces bombed Dresden, the capital of Saxony and a cultural center of Germany. These air attacks were part of the aerial bombings during World War II and followed the German bombings of Wielun, Warsaw, Rotterdam, London, Coventry, and many others. Later, numerous cities in the East were bombed by the German Luftwaffe, like Belgrade and Minsk, which were totally destroyed. Millions of civilians were killed. During the years, the British Royal Air Force came to dominate the West European airspace. After the war, discussions emerged about the question if the bombing of Dresden had made any military-strategic sense or if, on the contrary, it had strengthened the German people’s resolve to continue the fight against the Allies. There were also discussions about whether the carpet bombing of civilians was a war crime, and there were controversies about how many people had actually been killed by the air raids. Today, radical right wing groups from all over Europe gather in Dresden on every 13th of February, speaking about the “bombing holocausts” with more than 500,000 dead in Dresden alone, killed by the “Anglo-American terrorists.” Alexander von Plato, the 2012-13 Canada Council Diefenbaker Fellow at the University of Winnipeg, served as a member of the “historian commission” in Dresden which was tasked with establishing the actual number of casualties and gathering all material, letters, diaries and interviews related to the bombing of Dresden. Dr. von Plato will present some of the results and will address the above questions.
Sponsor:	Oral History Centre
When:	January 31, 2013, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where:	Convocation Hall University of Winnipeg515 Portage Ave. Winnipeg, MB Canada Map
Contact:	Angela Armstrong a.armstrong@uwinnipeg.ca 204.786.9382 http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/oral-history-centre
Category:	Lectures

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