Protest against right-wing vigil
Thousands commemorate the destruction of Dresden
February 14, 2024, 12:19 a.m
Thousands of citizens formed a human chain around Dresden’s old town on Tuesday evening in memory of the city’s destruction 79 years ago in World War II. Later there was loud protest against a vigil by right-wing extremists.
79 years after the destruction of Dresden by Allied air raids, the city has sent a sign of reconciliation and peace to the world. More than 13,000 citizens joined hands to form a human chain at 6 p.m., including Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer. They stood together for a few minutes to the sound of bells ringing in the city center churches and remembered the victims of February 13, 1945 in Dresden, but also the victims of German bombs in 1940 in Dresden’s English twin city of Coventry. The millions of people who died during the National Socialist tyranny were also remembered with the human chain, which has been a tradition on this day of remembrance for over a decade.
The human chain is a “guardian of democracy,” said the rector of the Technical University (TU) Dresden, Ursula M. Staudinger, at a rally. Contempt for humanity, anti-Semitism and racism seemed to be becoming socially acceptable again, said the rector, with a view to what was expressed and tolerated in public spaces both digitally and analogue. This threat to democracy must not be tolerated. “Never again is now,” she appealed.
Dresden’s mayor Dirk Hilbert condemned violent attacks and racism in daily life. “Racism and inhumane worldviews are increasing in our society. Anti-Semitism is being openly displayed again,” said the FDP politician. “Houses in our city are also being set on fire to prevent people who have a right to a fair asylum procedure from moving in.”
In air raids by Allied bombers on Dresden on February 13th and 14th, 1945, around 25,000 people were killed and large parts of the historic old town were destroyed. Right-wing extremists repeatedly try to exploit the anniversary of the bombing for their own purposes. Later in the evening, the AfD, the Third Way and other actors from the right-wing populist and right-wing extremist spectrum held a vigil on the Altmarkt; there is no information yet about the number of participants. Several thousand counter-demonstrators protested loudly.
There had already been a march of around 800 right-wingers in Dresden on Sunday, and the counter-protest mobilized around 4,000 people.