Part 1: The Bombing of Dresden

Dresden was the oldest area of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the eastern part of Germany. In 1939, at the beginning of the war, two branches thrived, one located in the older part of the city, the Altstadt Gemeinde, and the other located across the Elbe River in the “newer” part of the city, the Neustadt Gemeinde. In 1945, toward the end of the war, these two branches persisted in Dresden in spite of the loss of many men who were away serving in the German army.

The bombing of Dresden on February 13–14, 1945, was as unexpected as it was destructive. Because of its location far to the southeast (see map, next page), Dresden had been spared the bombings German cities further to the northwest had experienced. By 1945 the war was essentially over. The German armies were retreating rapidly. The German air defenses were gone. The Russian armies were closing in on Berlin and were at the outskirts of Dresden. But then the unexpected and unthinkable happened. The “Florence on the Elbe” was destroyed, and with it went one of the branches of the Church. The following eyewitness accounts of the bombing are in many ways representative of the experiences of Church members throughout Germany.

German Democratic Republic (East Germany)