http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCYPrur6ssU

On July 25, 1943, British and U.S. air forces bombed the city of Hamburg, Germany, killing 42,600 civilians–named Operation Gomorrah during World War II. In this video, footage of that chaotic and tragic night is shown. The memoirs of a housewife named Matilda are read over the visions of the city in flames. Matilda recalls what it was like on the night that the firestorms occurred, describing people walking around as “living, walking torches” as their bodies were engulfed by flames. She also comments on the massive black clouds that filled the city the next morning, stating that the day looked like night because of all the smoke.

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A Housewife’s Account of Gomorrah appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWmFJvX8zAk

Survivors of Operation Gomorrah–which began on July 24, 1943 for eight days and seven nights in the city of Hamburg, Germany–recall how it has affected their lives and their families’ lives. Operation Gomorrah was when British and U.S. air forces carpet bombed the city in order to demoralize German civilians and cripple Nazi power. In this video, two survivors, as well as one grandson of a survivor, talk about the city of Hamburg they once knew and the city that Hamburg has now become. One survivor, Helga, was 18 when the bombs dropped and she remembers the last words her mother said to her before she was killed. The grandson to a survivor recalls the tragic stories his grandmother would tell during Christmas and Easter to their family about the bombings. Along with this, we are taken through the various streets that were bombed, as well as the St. Nicholas tower, a landmark memorial that still stands today and was a prominent target for the Allied Powers during the bombings.

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Hamburg Before and After the Bombing appeared first on Witnify.