Dresden commemorated the victims of World War II and the destruction of the city eight decades ago with several events on Thursday.
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Dresden marked the 80th anniversary of the Allied bombing of the city in World War II. The annual event carries a lot of significance to Dresdeners and Germans at large.
“My grandma was ten at the time and she pulled her little sister through a firestorm in a handcart. She told me so much about that time,” said a woman attending the events.
“We’re actually from Berlin, but we come here every year and think it’s very, very good that so many people are here. And we mustn’t forget what happened here,” said a woman who travelled to attend the event from the German capital.
On 13 February 1945, Allied forces began a three-day bombing raid on Dresden, killing as many as 25,000 people and triggering firestorms that swept through the city centre.
The British Royal Family’s Duke of Kent, Prince Edward, was in attendance to represent King Charles at the event.
Edward took part in a human chain around the old town, as hundreds of people stood hand in hand to form a protective ring in remembrance of those who died.
Edward, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 89-year-old cousin and the oldest working member of the royal family, travelled to Germany on Thursday to participate in the planned events.
He described the “grief we feel in our hearts” at the “terrible destruction and loss of life” during the official commemoratory event in Dresden Town Hall.
Edward spoke of his desire and commitment to heal war wounds and hailed the UK’s reconciliation with the people of Dresden in recent years.
During his stay in the city, Prince Edward also visited the Dresden Frauenkirche, which was rebuilt and opened in 2005 after it was destroyed during the bombing campaign. The reconstruction of the iconic Baroque church began in 1993, led by the Dresden Trust, of which Edward is the royal patron.
The church was left in ruins as a memorial to the conflict for more than half a century, which, for some, represented a symbol of the aggression of the Allied forces.