of a warm welcome to you and welcome to our special coverage of today's commemorative events in the german city of dresden it was 75 years ago in the final months of the 2nd world war that british and american forces began their bombing campaign on the city in the days that followed planes dropped fire bombs that killed thousands of people including many women and children fleeing the subject army's advance from the east there's been much debate about whether the bombing was justified on military grounds or whether it was an unnecessary tragedy and a war crime risen has since then been rebuilt but survivors of the attack and still remember what it was like when the bombs began to rain down. when aaron's tears comes to the noir marked public square and sees the restored. he is reminded of the dresden bombings 75 years ago. here. and everything was destroyed and this was where most of the people were killed in the fire storm then on the next day the duration following kisha collapsed yes the square was reduced to rubble. on the evening of february 13th 1945 over the span of just 15 minutes the allied forces dropped bombs containing 900 tons of explosives on dresden during the next 2 days 3 more attack waves followed after that the baroque old town lay in ruins at the time aaron's tears was 9 years old when the bombs were dropped on dresden he and his parents he had in a bomb shelter in the cellar of their house seen here in the former you hungry organ alley. and. after the 1st attack we left the apartment while everything was burning i can still see it before my eyes the flames creeping over the rooftops of neighboring houses and. that's what it looked like afterwards that was my parents' apartment was on the top of that's what the ruins looked like you can see the facade was still in good shape but inside the building everything was burned out and that's what the whole wonderful street looked like. ants here shanties parents were lucky they were able to flee the city as many as 25000 people died during the air raids many of them suffocated during the firestorms. and can call playfulness in my eyes this was a war crime many things happened on all sides but this was an act of destruction directed at the civilian population. and steer started working as a camera man in the 1950 s. he sneaked in was the eye of dresden he documented the reconstruction of the destroyed city and he's been collecting photos and videos of dresden since the 19th century for his film archives. documentary film can be brutally honest if you do not edit or change the footage and i never did this then for me it is the most impressive historical witness. today the rebuilt cityscape of dresden betrays few signs of the destruction that took place here 75 years ago. the most wonderful thing of all is that the dresden for our own care here has been restored that is really the biggest miracle and after the destruction i experienced in my childhood and youth i never hoped or expected this to happen i hope it will stay this way forever. the dresden for one cure here is where aaron steers was baptized before the war today he sees it as a symbol of peace. and to talk about the commemorative events that are due to take in dresden any time now i'm joined by in the studio with me we did of your analyst john berry and standing by for us in dresden is our correspondent kate pretty good if i missed start with you events are planned to mark the 75th anniversary of the dresden bombing tell us what we can expect in the next couple of hours. well already this morning on rita some avengers have been taking place at various locations around the city with many local politicians attending events at various cemeteries but in just about half an hour's time german president frank frank steinmeyer is set to give a speech at the couldn't. last story here in dresden and he's expected that in his speech to address as well the fear is that this year's commemorations may be instrumental lies by the far right and again repeat some of the messages that we've heard from him at previous code member to events over the last few months warning about the the atrocities of the past and what we can learn from them today but this evening as well around 10000 people a jew to join hands right here on the elbow behind me in a sign of unity in what the city says is a sign of unity against all types of hatred and violence and starting my himself will also be taking part in the human chain of unity and of course remaining life got rich off from. when he starts speaking in this in turning to you now john you know we saw in our report one of the survivors as. has talking about the bombing of dresden being a war crime after all these historians still have not been able to agree on what exactly happened was it a war crime or was it justified military attack it's a very difficult and complex question because for the standards of the time it was probably not technically speaking a war crime the. station that is often mentioned the into international law in this connection is actually from the hague convention of 1007 when it was inconceivable in 1007 that it would be something like carpet bombing would take place and there was there was no statement in international law against. strategic bombing as they are lies court records so for the standards but it stands at the time it wasn't technically speaking a war crime however if it were to happen today of course it would very certainly be a war crime and that is the people's sense of indignation and people's sense of of anger about it it was certainly an atrocity even if it wasn't technically a crime. kid returning to you in dresden another far right in germany is appropriating these commemorations in dresden for their own agenda how they're marking this anniversary. well emerita these commemorations particularly for the anniversary of the dress and bombing have been instrumental ice for many many years now by the far right seen not only in germany but from other parts of europe too and that's expected to happen again this year no because today itself we're not expecting to see too much of the far right the far right a.f.d. party however is holding its own events back on the other side of the river this afternoon but we are expecting on saxes a to see at least 1500 people from the far right seen in germany and from of the parts of europe marching in what they call a march of mourning to remember the victims and now of course this manipulation all of history and instrumental eyes ation of these commemorations goes back many many years starting even directly after the raids when of course the nazis who were still in power at the time manipulated the numbers of casualties and deaths in the air raids on dresden claiming at the time that some 200002 half a 1000000 people had been killed in that terrible fire storm which took hold of the city was of course we know now around 25000 people perished in these air raids but there's more exaggerated numbers also doing the rounds today particularly in the far right scene and so historians and politicians are still even today trying to deal with those those myths and manipulated numbers which are used for far right propaganda until of narrative around the destruction on grandstand has been instrumental less politically since the event took place what is this why did that happen and how was this reflected in the discourse over the decades. well it began as kate was saying immediately after the day in fact the day after the 1st wave of bombings by the nazi propaganda minister who was a good those who. suggested. that the figures were very much higher than the fact they were historical commission a commission of historians in 2009 the end of 2009 after 6 years of examining all the evidence said it could not have exceeded more than 25000 people that's still of course a huge number of people but the nazis of the time suggested that it was several 100000 people and that has been taken up by nazi sympathizers since for example the holocaust denier david gergen in his book to the destruction of dresden he claims that there were 300000 people killed it's something unseemly i think arguing about exactly how many people were killed it was certainly an appalling event the descriptions of it by eyewitnesses really i feel like i can't even put into words here they are so appalling one when my i can just imagine what it must have looked like people civilians in the streets people not simply dying from a bomb blast but but but being incinerated. so it was dreadful but the far right as kate was saying instrumentalists this so have incidentally the communists in the post-war period the east german communist government also presented the bombing of dresden as a war crime that was because the americans and the british carry the dart and of course during the cold war era they were the the chief enemies of the of east germany and the communist bloc so there's a long tradition of presenting this as a huge war crime now if you just joined us let me see if you're looking at pictures coming out from dresden from the crew took us to the cultural palace where commemoration ceremonies and due to start shortly with president front line maya addressing the delegates to mark the 75th anniversary of the bombing off addressed and turning out a kid biddy our correspondent was standing by in dresden ok.d. you're standing on the banks of the river against a splendid backdrop off dresden rebuilt dresden tell us what is the mood there like among the people on this historic anniversary. well i'm rita for the large part of dresden is here they want to use these commemorations today in the memorial service the events taking place later tonight to remember not only the 25000 people who lost their lives joining that horrific bombing of dresden 75 years ago but to remember all victims of war and also all victims of the nazi regime and so this isn't just purely focusing on the bombing 75 years ago today and they want to also use the memorial in the commemorations today to make a sign of unity of course we've seen here in particularly in dresden and parts of eastern germany especially have become a real breeding ground a real hotbed for the return and also uprising once again of the far right in germany of course the far right party has been polling particularly well here and it was also interested in the far right anti islam and movement was formed here as well back in 2014 but for the main part these dresden as tonight want to use as i say these commemorations to make a stand against these kind of xenophobia anti semitic and racist groups and want to share tonight that they want to learn from the atrocities of the past and so it's not only about remembering that bombing 75 years ago but also thinking about what can we learn from that today and how that can be applies to the current societal circumstances here in germany when we are looking pitches off the court to a palace of the cultural palace where the orchestra is on standby the invited guests all sitting there waiting for the address by the german president. joan turning to me why has dresden become such an emotive symbol of wartime bombing during the 2nd world war other cities what was so bombed. dresden is a. course once again what it once was a beautiful city a very charming medium sized city on the banks of the river. it had in the 18th century very rich rulers the electors of saxony had their palaces and so they also built very representative buildings the following of dresden is considered one of the most beautiful churches in the world and it was completely destroyed the simple opera house they include a government newseum which was began with a collection of the of the of the ruins of saxony them selves a private collection so it was it was known famous throughout europe throughout the world indeed as a jewel of iraq architecture and a cultural center so that was particularly shocking that it was bombed and particularly because as i mentioned from the time of the nazi period through the communist era again and again it was presented as being the bombing purely to destroy the cultural center and to target civilians that is not true it was also a garrison time and it was very very important in the last months of the war for the allies to put it out of action so that the red army could could advance to berlin so in a sense it's become this whole event has become a battleground of history as well kate how do people there in dresden feel about the conflicting narratives that we are getting about what the bombing of dresden 35 years ago today means for them. well they say that it is a very conflicting issue and even now 75 years on people are still coming to terms in terms of how to deal with memory culture not only in dresden but also around germany and of course how this is commemorated today gives you some kind of a signal of the of the feeling here in dresden and how people want to remember the bombing of dresden and of course this was only again it was a terrible terrible event but one of many many many air raids and bombings that took place in the 2nd world war and many groups here including the city themselves want to focus as i mentioned before not today not only on this bombing but the atrocities that happened throughout the 2nd world war and it's also about learning and that's one thing that we hear a lot of commemorative events particularly marking this year there are a lot of events taking place of course marking the 75th anniversary since the 2nd world war and we're hearing similar messages across many of these events including of course just last month we saw the commemoration for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz and it's about learning and how we can learn from the past and how that can be applied today and of course there have been concerns raised throughout. in the last few years but particularly over the last couple years about the rise of the far right and that's something that dresden is on a whole they want to really reverse that image which has been attached to them in recent years which is one of that of a town that has become linked very closely to the far right right pretty investment thank you very much for now the official ceremonies have got underway we are listening to the dresden how money caucus trying to conduct a modicum of ski there playing from. amala to share our music let's take a listen to that. oh . please. please please. please please. thank . you for for just. you have to buy for. a minute buying tickets aren't. just less important to fire down that's not forgive my son i stress the city that you are sure to stay that we has wished for most be a surprise or yet one that all of the country adored strategic alliances and especially when words are too small and compass is good for something so huge that i moved on the music can help to fill the vacuum 3 months after the end of the war when the corps these lines you know or sounded out. in what was left of dressed in white just a mint condition for us or this verse to work with or most or some by rodolphus to from right seat modest which a cottage in order to try to capture the tragedy of the 30 on stage a february 2nd 1045 years on this not let me welcome you to hit in the rocks the 75 years since the firebombing east yet it's a cornish. we could never have believed it could have come to this tourist it has fallen on its feet and there's no one to comfort it right those runs is this still true today on the 13th of february 20 times emerging from 4th ladies and gentlemen thieves. 75 years later and listening to the leaders talk just in range of course you sit on the money from my strong enough ski remember all the victims and their sufferings and. investor president. it is a great honor for us he's moving but you have to come here to spend this day with certain citizens of trust and over the course of the morning speaking to him schoolchildren today it was clear that the current. younger generation has see these events very differently than we do which of course we who either have expansive asked selves or know people who did and heard from that's on his lips what they experience so we are very interested in hearing how you interpret this date critically short. or you see your highness sure and i'm very pleased that it is i'm able to welcome you to quit here. on this important date that would mean month d.s.e. tourist and there's no one who could come for a quick 2nd wanted to go for years and you were not they were we defied some kind of morning marches that neo nazis held through and this was what defined the 13th of february here in and offering comfort was the last thing on their mind to get 75 years after the 13th of february you also mentioned and anniversaries from the human chain for 10 years now address deniers on just join hands to prepare to commemorate this date and a symbol of peace against hatreds and violence and looking at the past year foreigners are in a bad way to do some research which in turn is the president we have to be very much look forward to hearing what you have to say it was about race day that is controversial in many ways for tourists and. we have seen that it is possible to overcome difference in these truthful remembrances cannot be forced by imperatives it must have space to unfold so that it can lead to reconsideration on its own is just how great the willingness is all of us for this we can see if we have stephanie assured me i don't want your stuff to get it said that it was a baca and bethought me of it she knew when they speak to us and it's not so much what they will talk about or who they actually are there but it's far more the framework in which their talks will be held in the. courts that 7 pm where it will be continued because both of these issues do political discussions are supported by the foundation of the political parties supporting the 13th. federal way across party political lines and this is unique across germany and it's just a real respect for curtis when we 1st had the idea for this it wasn't clear whether we would reach our goal or not should we but it's too important a subject be not to join the ranks i'm proud of the house and want to express my gratitude to extrude in excellent series because of that we can call representatives of the diplomatic corps with the president of the state used to our state primary rather guests from germany and abroad particularly representatives of the international congress and. to and into cities i particularly like to welcome the members of the working group of the 13th of february and these niggas and everyone out syrians who has worked and what is going to make this day what it is because the guests are just recently getting prime started after the 1st commemorative events let us join hands and the human chain and we can only release and edwards assured marketplace day by joining her so that justin is not her image bombed again imho and so that we can ensure that people are never persecuted because of race gender style question or anything else but once you've guessed among our guests who despite or because of for their lifes. talk to us again i mean again and testimonies of what i mean means i want to welcome them particularly here and courage them to share their stories with us and lawyers because their voices growing fainter i think it is truly a gift that since 75 years we have had no war and. in squishing germany and in europe and this is truly a gift for the younger generation extracts us. to deliver this so. if we listen to what young people are saying before we can hear what they are calling so many turned out to support us on this event. it has. brought down and has no one who can come for comfort it. but 3 quarters of a century later we can say that trust and was brought down but it has indeed enjoyed comfort. and it is down to us to offer comfort and turning to those who need it but i wish you all an afternoon that gives you. this person i would like to ask you to speak to his to commemorate this date thank you. we had a bar to listen to the german president. speaking on the 75th anniversary of the allied bombing of dresden. your highness excellent news it's like the state premiers. and peace professor don have you know my the dog s. ladies and gentlemen please know that none of these citizens of justin welby to get more not just a few months ago on the 1st of september in morgan goodall when i stood on the market square at dawn in a small town in poland in mice and dogs and most germans got won't know it reminds them of him punishing president going together with the polish president it's surrounded here in thailand and many citizens morning i was events we commemorated the bombing of the city 80 you know my floor. yes and the 1st of september 19th $39.00 germany lifted off a dive of all nighters. brought death and destruction over building without any prior warning a bomb in harvard square barrage by russia bombs hit an unsuspecting defenseless militarily significant city. that limited us konkona it devastated the hospital restarted in march flattened the market square on didn't stop. the historic center and it killed it on the disk and the city's 1st few hours of the war 1200 people in the bomb before the bombs of beauty with the 1st crimes committed in a war that nazi germany inflicted on the world run for these bombs with a harbinger of the atrocities. of the german conviction of supremacy that. fanatical german devices and the german destroy i desire for destruction in my view and then begin that was unleashed in the following 6 years across europe it marked the beginning of the dissolution of the new round ring on violence. that cost more than 50000000 people that lives in the 2nd the 6000000 jews who were murdered. tortured and murdered in the concentration camps we commemorated just a few weeks ago and yet beacham auschwitz i'm going to end the attack on vietnam was that created dude to have the brutal of bombing war in which the civilian population in the cities were caught in the crossfire because of the german lift off on the one side british and american bombers on the other side destroyed over the course of the war in hundreds of cities in nearly all countries in europe in their wake no need to follow the hitherto unknown trail of devastation but on the extending from britain through germany to russia. i thank you and as this war ended. in a 945 with the liberation of europe from nazi tyranny invited huge stretches of the continent where in ashes and in ruins. there is no known please the citizens of dresden today we have gathered here to remember them and the firebombing. i'm dressed in 25 years ago we commemorates the victims of the bombing war and this city and all 100 germany and in all of you from for i don't really remember all the times or genocides that go on and violence and the inferno that was unleashed upon germany and the night from the 13th to the 14th when i guess it was a 5 so it was an inferno that eyewitnesses described again and again but yet the british the british warplanes fire bombed the city in 2 waves and century and explosive bombs launched a devastating firestorm box that's when the americans continued the bombing on national wednesday wednesday they looked down at the burning city of them and today we know mentioned that up 225000 people lost their lives that some parts of the historic center and adjacent resents residential areas were raised to the ground just within just a few hours feel of the bombing destroyed much of what people have built up here in dresden over centuries. been unjust to the bombs hit was left entirely up to chance all the bombs hit children women and we demand they hit dresden as they hit refugees from to the east prussia and the usual doc would be off they hit soldiers and prisoners of war to stop and get it done they had nazis in to stop a man as well as hitting resistance fighters forced laborers in concentration camp and writes people and just as randomly as the bombs wiped out $10000.00 risk of being to get you didn't you wouldn't be tens of thousands more lives the chance they also saved a few lives just like any more of a victim can tell them one good able to pull the yellow star off their clothes and you'll go into hiding affiliate in the general chaos but those who survived this fire storm go off and severely scott emotionally and physically in the wailing of the sirens for the minister roar of the lanterns the red glow on the sky line and a fear for their lives and the cramped conditions in the senators the blasts of bombs at the shattering glass and crashing walls around them stores and the raging over a fire that sucks all of the oxygen is around the streets and buildings and caves of rubble the burnt people had rushed up the skeleton of a city wanted to go over so countless eyewitnesses. who are unable to get to the music images these sounds the smells from this terrible night's gun out of their heads fear and some powerlessness have you nod their way deep into their souls and then in 5 minutes talking and those who were songs are forced to help us force laborers of those who offer to help to live in austin to do things like recovering the disfigured corpses from their ruined city not that they could also never shake the horrors of that time. you know many dog confessed god not captured what they experienced but notes in letters and diaries to try to ease this oppressive burden and can download many from it so you told their children and grandchildren of what they had experienced some. years later i found the strength to talk about it is that your annoyance and bigots and encouraged also by a new coverage the interest in the light and the bombings and the debate was about suffering and guilt that we have here one could feel it had just since the end of the ninety's in our country. and jazz and others the voices. in the least black flag of going to africa and i got spared and i and many others who know me up and down and speak to us this night and the misery that followed it. so many really can be beat up over survivors you never saw family members again when they had lost their homes and were knocked us. keepsakes only had what they were able to grab before they ran out of their homes when the sirens began to wail the founder common as looked offered by the how those who somehow managed just survive often sought refuge in the ruins of their home town in this movie in the givati sometimes just a few words touch like you would see that the americans. wrote on a postcard got this just a few days after these attacks on justin. you know through you know united but all is lost. because these you can because i kissed him and dickens was i in dorchester and it's not just from dresden that we hear reports like this we know them from all german cities suffered. by a bombing in the 2nd world war in the summer again and again we know the families broken homburg with autonomy of what time and we'll explore that in hanover was lost from berlin and puts down hard not to broken rust rostov attended to many other cities and we know similar reports and voices from cities in the city and occupied france going and they pose an ingenue for the having an eye and we know them from the dead what cities of europe that would destroyed by the germans. warsaw and draw today in london governed coventry live up to liverpool from belgrade to leningrad and funerals and many others as well would be kind of going to hear these voices from ghana kind of the basque city that called german phytoplankton is a common diligent place to the ground already in 1037 life on. bass too often. who would later or do the attack on the field on the damages cannot be noted briefly in his diary the following danica stuck on from a city of 5000 inhabitants literally flattened but often spots enough and you could still see the holes bombed into the streets just great. you. mention fine it was this is cynicism so contemptuous of human life that will lead to the disaster working hard to form always historical photos bear witness to the scale of the devastation and all of us damage that they remind us of what was lost for ever in our cities also here in dresses and guns they give us a sense of the extent of the work that you john roland about you primarily by the many women who will find directly after the end of the war it may just start with reconstruction often with their bare hands. and i believe that we should indeed we must be for the spot tried to gauge the fear and the pain and the despair of the victims and the survivors of the fire bombing what would. be i want to express my gratitude to those of you in dresden and many other places who had what you tirelessly towards keeping you know their memory alive and in the house at the same time those who take a stand against those who want to misuse this remembrance to incite hatred and resentment toward going on though it is also thanks to the commitment of these people up but it that we consider one for the victims of the firebomb many are not forgotten to speed in their lives and their fates might remain inscribed in our collective memory. and to just you know intimidate the conviction you would know that anyone who examines the history of their family or their 6000000 invading balmain orders can better understand what other people suffered in other places truth will remember us teaches as compassion in the truth will remember and systems i met and understand what happened to our own communities and what's happening to others so happen to others in other communities and. lets us feel compassion for the fate of all the times of war and and violence far beyond i'm national borders i want to thank everyone here in dresden by who for years that the next banding the horizons of remembrance and have sought connections with cities across the globe from coventry to russia and simply just going to be all right and they didn't. when . i think back to the history of the bombing i was in our country we remember 2 things we remember the suffering of the people in german citizen and german cities but also the suffering that germans inflicted on others do not forget them and we were going to it was germans who began the surrenders war i want to do it to be and it was millions of germans who waged it not since all but many on the strength of their convictions was going to believe it was the nazis and their willing executioners and you would know what sets the mass murder of jews in europe in motion and it was the nazi regime that kept on murdering even when it near what was lost shortly we do not forget germany's guilt was there and we have committed to our lasting responsibility. because of it and not done business gentlemen if we remember back to the fire bombing. we knew that if i could just go to you it's even then in a great sense that and i'm one of the allies so you thought the question was discussed as to whether carpet bombing which killed also tens of thousands of soldiers of the bomber command made military sense was even permitted by international law because mali legitimate to be used to this day this question continues to interest philosophers not least as i'm aware in britain of balkan all and i believe that we need this dispassionate dispassionate way of looking at all of this to understand how such an escalation of violence could come about we needed to find responses to the question of which means might be necessary and acceptable to put an end to serious crime must on the government but it isn't just when the question of the good. ally said it is heading in the wrong direction if you are supposed to relativize german guilt and be audited up by the dog if we commemorate the victims in german citizens today than it is not done in the spirit of recrimination or reproach and certainly not about the banks getting one crime off against another then look far too often and far too long to the history of the air raids on interest in what is an ideologically twisted and politically appropriated 1st by the nazis and by the east german regime and in. the offing once again as the merits and it's a craft to be shifted one must be an open door you aware of the fact that political forces are attempting to manipulate its history reinterpreted mysteriousness history as a weapon and you can this is why i want to say all for anyone who still counts the doj as an address and against those killed in auschwitz anyone who tries to downplay the fact german wrongs be missing the eyes democrat and dimmock anyone who falsifies historical facts against a better judgement lot went and she'd been we know. i stand up to them as democrats we must contradict the mad. thank you i don't want i don't start but let me also say i didn't mention anyone who ignores or trivial trivializes the suffering of the. people who died or suffered in the fire bombing in the city who think that this bombing was a quote unquote just punishment or who try to make gestures of mourning look ridiculous they are also not doing justice to history and i'm mocking the. thanks i know thank you and so much as we work together for a commemoration of focuses on this suffering as a living and the survivors and at the same time seeks to understand the reasons for the suffering and let us you know all join forces against those who misuse remember and incessant ammunition to fight their ideological battles because i am grateful that so many committed citizens here and dress and have chosen this time and have gone on it for many years the human chain. that as we've just heard them and will join hands again today in their thousands is a strong symbol for a ribbon member and it's in the spirit of understanding and i'm grateful you know that after this event i will join your ranks there my. mom and then very gentleman guests and for many years now you have not just focused on the history you can see i have your name but also. on the history of your city under national socialism. so not just to set off or not to rather to settle for one suffering against another suffering but rather so that to truly learn from the past what a future there could be no means that the destruction of the city of culture of dresden did not happen overnight and not just through february 19th 45 the destruction of the city of culture dresses and ice began in 1903 as did the destruction of many of the other cities of culture and dogs across the general it began a futile being to give up when who were just a few weeks after the transfer of power to hitler books were burned to be like on the streets began when the conductor bush was shouted at i was like as a memento he left the semper opera house because he worked with jewish and finalization music instead went to dick's and other contemporary artists were hounded and jewish academics were forced out of their positions the destruction of the city of culture doesn't began one directors writers journalists publishers and many others besides were persecuted and driven out because they were jews or because of their political convictions or you are. feeling a great many of them it is like the saying i took you so much to be that and the attitude that johnny shaft brownstein. related to put it more under murdered. here and he just was and. what happened in this city too was a sign of what was to come when in the night of the night in november 1038 many years before the central opera house the center synagogue was set on fire i don't want town it isn't gentleman it's just really just direction of reason . it's just direction of culture and the destruction of civic society and these began here in dresden when you traffic the ordinary citizens of dressed and boycotted jewish shops when they forced their neighbors out to public life. after schools parks. and many cozied up to the nazi regime and fish we all simply turned a blind eye and were silent when say to get at the heart of this city countless forced laborers from dresden and across europe who were made to produce i mean actions and weapon most of the nazi judiciary murdered their political opponents mention at platts where mention for god and in the you know zumstein. sick and disabled people were gassed to death and cite time near the. good ones in the thousands of soviet prisoners of war starving to death of its most and here too and just and remember once leads us to the very depths of the nazi abyss it's like here in menace city since 1933 on human lives were treated with contempt human dignity was trampled upon we commemorate these victims as well and we remember their suffering which we do not do it to justify other suffering between as we do it as well in a pocket so instead and do to pose a question which is relevant to all of us today the question of how in an apparently civilized society in the back all downs could break even for all the rules of humaneness and humanity could be thrown overboard about this a good and atrocious violence could be unleashed but you can say if i bombing i just in our minds us of the destruction of the rule of law and of italy and democracy it was the environment republican and. mentioned the nationalist conviction of supremacy and contempt for human life anti semitism for the moment and fanatic racism and they didn't gentleman and i fear that these dangers have not yet to be only be diverted because we experience how in some countries there's a growing desire for a fortress mentality out of my fascination with off our tarrying as increasing my experience how at the heart of europe has the freedom of press. or science is being restricted again. and we are also experiencing it in our country as well how anti semitism and racism are beginning to be police in public life again and how the state governed by the rule of law and democratic institutions are bloom's gone and just and their representatives insulted and attacked. and been good reason gentleman that if elected members of parliament indians except for mocked and ridiculed in the parliaments in which they sit then this is an attempt to destroy democracy from within. their guest as i finished been democrats it is not enough when democrats shudder and turn away in disgust and none of this can remain unchallenged in our country we must oppose hatred and incitement to get projects that offensive. statements counter prejudice we must all do on and on for them and no matter how acrimonious the political dispute itself is conduct the discussions within reason and decency and protect. the institutions of democracy there's a clear boundary between a liberal democracy that protects the dignity of the individual and an author or a tarion nationalist policy which wants to exclude those who think differently and live differently as enemies of the allegedly true people. thank you and it is down to us to defend it's there's a boundary of what it is and it's not just up to politicians to do it it's true for every one of us because all of us in our own way bear responsibility for the way people live together in our country for democracy and our country and this is going to be a lesson we have learned from the german admiration easily which led to the destruction of dresden and we must take this. seriously for a good and peaceful future that sends this signal out here dressed in being a good morning and they didn't gentleman on us in a few months and that's when we will be commemorating the end of the 2nd world war and the liberation from nazi terror only 75 years ago mind also from feeling may 19th words and 5 for their surviving victims and those you persecuted by the nazi regime for the 1st time and once again there was something resembling a future in fear and right now the same time many people on that continent felt the situation was hopeless and god knows not just in germany in the fields of them all into cities no one dared to believe that europe might one day have a future. but in my mountains of rubble in the ruins. heap of words i wish to emerge the top feeling now do louder the call and you never . again for many who had survived the war this became their mission in life never again was the start of a long history of peace and reconciliation in europe its which in its inception no one could believe could get possible joining in we do not forget that already in the 1950 s. man and women in coventry reached out their hands in reconciliation in coventry that city that the germans know far from had target quite razed to the ground and nights when forts. cross the nails in coventry put together from 3 nails through destroyed cathedrals remains a strong symbol of peace understanding all and we do not forget how many know brittany's and americans are a german unification don't make said money so we could rebuild the flour in course you can feature all here and dressed in a golden or course designed by the son of a british bomber pilot is a beacon of reconciliation that shines out far beyond the 6 women. i'm grateful i'm. that they together can commemorate the bombing of dresden with representatives from of war time i mean it's a good thing. for commemorating together and buying size over borders and as you well highness excellence and yes i am great for use in dying but we are all grateful if you do this gesture of friendship. thanking. big being to our marginally be in the past and indeed and be better known a few 1000 snuffy and just set out on a night good minds and most of all back in those days this path of reconciliation led to a unified europe this year a funhouse basis and that lesson learned from centuries of your own devastation from hatred and violence that has emerged of its most from the spirit of resistance against racial justice to hatred and totalitarianism from a spirit of freedom of democracy and justice and together we have to reach a great deal of talk and what we germans i must regret that britain has now left the european union but we know that we'll remain partners for our friendship is a deep one given what unites us i assure you and is stronger than words and what divides us into a divide that's most recently in the conflict about the e.u. . thank them 2nd stop terrible why the nation in recent out of the world the often mention created standards for a system to preserve i think clearly see which was to be based on human rights and international law. actually in a time in which we are seeing a decline and well into a peaceful cooperation in some places we as germans want to take on our historic responsibility and defend this lasting peace because you see the together with our partners we know any peace is fragile but i don't you know them burned london 2018 and my wife stood at the senate after the war memorial on white hart stood thought and commemorated the dead of the 1st we're going to change charles and demand. laid down a wreath with a note to me that said i'm on their side to commemorate the dead here in but you are so grateful for the reconciliation follow i don't know quite well as well in your future and what he wants and financial ladies and gentlemen let us and i was using continue along this path and reconciliation doesn't see on that as mind some fun for taking aim at shared responsibility for preserving the pieces and let us protect the dignity of every single person on the base here that's interest and especially thank you very much thank. you for watching our special coverage coming to you on day job be on ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the dresden bombing and commemoration is going on in the city of dresden you just heard the german president frank but just dying my investing especially invited guests from britain's prince edward has joined the guess. as you see the president is being given a standing ovation as he comes down and she. times were some of the special in by trees. 75 years ago on this day that fire bombing of the city of dresden started for 3 relentless days. thousands of people lost their lives and since then there's always been a historically debate whether that attack was justified. with me on the studio i have john barry.
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