The Fire

I read this book because it was supposed to have a different view of the Allied bombing of Germany during World War 2 and I was curious to see if it would make me question my own thoughts on this subject. I have to say that it failed on both accounts.

The author states that Germany first bombed England during World War 1 and was also the first country to bomb civilian areas during World War 2. Not only did Germany start both wars, but they also determined how the war would be fought.

The Germans bombed Spain (although this happened before the war started), Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom before the first Allied plane dropped a single bomb on Germany. The Allies simply did what Germany could not (we finished the job.)

As for the plight of the "innocent" Germans who were killed in the air raids all I have to say is (1) the only innocent Germans were those that were born after 1928 - since they were under 18 in 1945 - and (2) what about all the thousands upon thousands of British, Dutch, Irish, Polish, Russian, etc innocents that were killed by German air raids? Had the ordinary Germans stood up against their elected government for basic human rights then the war and all the deaths would not have happened or at least not to the scale as they did.

What really got me is that the POWs, Jews and other slave laborers had to clean up the German cities after each bombing and yet the majority of them seemed glad that at least the Germans were starting to get what they deserved for all the murder and destruction they caused.

If the Allies were so heartless as some people now claim they could have left Germany in ruins for decades after the war. Instead we gave money to what would become West Germany (East Germany refused any money from the Marshall Plan) and that helped created the German "economic miracle" that brought first West Germany and then a reunited Germany to become one of the most prosperous European countries.