interventions: Dresden
A piece of fake news by Nazi Germany generated during the Dresden bombing tarnished the RAF Bomber Command’s image.The US Army Air force and Churchill distanced themselves from the bombing raid, and the scapegoat was Harris. Goebbels used Dresden as an example of Allied brutality in his efforts to keep the German public fighting. When Sir Winston S. Churchill delivered the victory speech after Britain won World War II. He thanked every branch of the British armed forces except for one unit. It was the Bomber Command of the Royal Air Force (RAF). Churchill excluded Bomber Command on purpose because of the negative publicity it received. Though Bomber Command was instrumental in Allied victory, it faced backlash due to a piece of big fake news generated by Nazi propagandists.Goebbels asked them to fight until last breath, or else Germany will face complete annihilation. Goebbels’s fake news was a huge success as the RAF stopped civilian bombing.Bomber Command’s contribution to the Allied war effort went unnoticed for many decades. After 75 years, the Bomber Command finally got a memorial in the United Kingdom.Debate still rages on regarding the Dresden bombing. It is seen as a moral conundrum for leaders and how they can justify killing civilians. It remains the most important fake news of World War II.
unsanctioned intervention, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 2021
materials: acrylic paint, acid-free ink, arches paper (19 X 26 inches)
