{"id":216785,"date":"2023-03-31T12:01:16","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T04:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=216785"},"modified":"2023-03-31T12:01:16","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T04:01:16","slug":"charles-iii-to-commemorate-victims-of-allied-bombings-in-hamburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=216785","title":{"rendered":"Charles III to commemorate victims of Allied bombings in Hamburg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

BERLIN, March 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain’s King Charles III will commemorate German victims of World War II Allied air raids on Friday, a gesture carrying great significance for both countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the third and final day of his first state visit since ascending the throne, the monarch, accompanied by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will visit the St Nikolai memorial in Hamburg, where he will lay a wreath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move in the ruins of a church will be unparalleled for a British sovereign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her visit to Dresden in 1992, eggs were flung at Charles’ late mother Queen Elizabeth II after she failed to get out of her car to lay a wreath at the rubble of the Frauenkirche — a symbol of wartime destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany’s biggest-selling daily Bild said Friday’s action by Charles “will be a silent gesture, a brief bow, a silent prayer. But that will say more than any speech”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue of German suffering in World War II is historically and politically explosive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wracked with guilt over the murder of six million Jews, mainstream Germany shies away from discussing suffering by Germans during the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air raids, which were among the most controversial actions taken by the Allies, were designed to terrorise the population and force a surrender. But they killed tens of thousands of civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The far-right often cites the memory of the bombings to measure German suffering against Nazi guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamburg and Dresden were among the most heavily bombed cities in Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 24, 1943, Britain and the United States began raiding Hamburg in what was described as a “Blitz week”, with the Royal Air Force striking by night and the US forces bombing by day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Codenamed Operation Gomorrah, some 9,000 tonnes of explosives were unleashed, killing more than 30,000 people and leaving the port city in rubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the raids, the St Nikolai church tower was used as a landmark by bomber pilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally designed by English architect George Gilbert Scott, who restored London’s Westminster Abbey, St Nikolai has been left in its ruined state and now houses a WWII memorial and museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The themes of reconciliation and a future forged by common values have featured prominently during Charles’ three-day visit, widely interpreted as a bid to build bridges after Brexit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles, who has blood ties to Germany, has visited the European giant more than 40 times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But during his trip as king, he managed to score several firsts, including becoming the only monarch to address the German parliament. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BERLIN, March 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain’s King Charles III will commemorate German victims of World War II Allied air raids on Friday, a gesture carrying great significance for both countries. On the third and final day of his first state visit since ascending the throne, the monarch, accompanied by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will visit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":216786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216785"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=216785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216787,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216785\/revisions\/216787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/216786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=216785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=216785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=216785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}