REMEMBRANCE. On 13 February – the anniversary of the Allies’ terror bombing of Dresden – a remembrance ceremony organised by the Dresden Committee took place at a memorial park in central Stockholm. Nest 1 was invited and sent a delegation to attend the proceedings.
After gathering at a nearby station, the participants went together to the site of the memorial. Once there, candles were lit and torches were handed out to the participants.
The event’s organiser began by saying a few words about why they had gathered there. He spoke of the importance of remembering the civilians who lost their lives in the Allies’ terror campaign against the German people, stating that if we don’t do it, nobody one else will.
After that it was time for speeches. First an author read out a piece he had written especially for the occasion. He was followed by a lady who read a section from the book Hellstorm by Thomas Goodrich. The book recounts the terrible fate Germany suffered from 1944 to 1947, chronicling its destructive bombing and the aftermath in the two years following the war. The piece she read was from a German woman’s testimony from the firebombing of Dresden. The woman’s only thought when the fires were at their worst was, “I must not burn. I must not burn!”
Last to speak was a female party member from Nest 1 who read a poem written by Leo Yankevich:
Not allowed to mourn,
still we stand and grieve
the burned, drowned and unborn.
Never do they leave
our thoughts: the dead of Dresden,
dead of the Baltic Sea,
the Gustloff failed by heaven,
the children who’d not flee
the bomber and torpedo,
the wrath of smiling tyrants.
From Berlin to Toledo,
the Reds rejoice, the hydrants
forever without water,
lifesavers now reserved
for Ali’s son and daughter,
the steeple bell uncurved.
Yet a few good men
with courage, stout of soul,
can slay a foe of ten
and topple down the fool.
The memorial was then brought to a close. May we never forget the victims of the conquering Allies’ terror.
