Voice 1
Hello. I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Elizabeth Lickiss. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live
Voice 1
On the 13th of February 1944, British and American airplanes bombed the beautiful city of Dresden in Germany. There was a terrible fire. Over thirty thousand [30,000] people were killed. They died in great pain - starved of air in rooms under the ground, burned to ashes by the fire, or overcome by the heat. There were many refugees in the city. They, too, were killed.
Voice 2
Why did it happen? People who survived asked this question many times. They did not know what to do. They were shocked. Their beautiful city did not deserve to be destroyed in this way. They were not ready for that. And they had not expected it.
People in England and America also asked this question. The pilot of one of the airplanes that took part in the bombing said: ‘I have asked God to forgive me several times’. But other people said that the bombing had to happen. They said it was needed to bring the war to an end.
Voice 1
After the war, people came from the church to help, to advise. They offered hope. They encouraged people in Dresden to help each other and to work hard. The Christian Bible would show them how to live. And people had to learn to live with little. And God would help them. But these people had much to think about. The fire had destroyed the most important Christian place in Dresden, the ‘Church of Our Lady’.
Voice 2
Five years earlier, bombs destroyed another important church. It happened in the city of Coventry, in England. German airplanes bombed Coventry in 1940. The bombs killed many people and destroyed the main church. People were shocked, and angry. They wanted to fight back.
But one man resisted the desire to fight back. He was Richard Howard. He was the chief priest of the ruined church in Coventry. He said:
Voice 3
‘Do not fight back. We must build a more simple, more kind, and more Christian world’.
Voice 1
This was not an easy message. Terrible things were happening in the war: people were being murdered in camps because of what they believed.
Voice 2
In the destroyed church in Coventry, people found some iron nails that had fallen from the burning roof. They made a cross from these nails. To Christians, the cross is a sign of pain and forgiveness. The people who made it said: ‘We want to forgive the people who hurt us’.
In 1959, the people of Coventry and the people of Dresden decided to reach out as friends to one another. It was a special time. Sixteen young Germans visited Coventry. They helped to build an International Centre for Reconciliation in the ruins of the old church. Reconciliation means working to return to peace and friendship. And so a church leader from Germany opened the International Centre in Coventry, England. Then some young British people went to Dresden. They helped to build a hospital there. They took with them the message of the Cross of Nails. This message was that we must forgive other people for the wrong things they do.
Voice 1
Music helps to bring people together. British people made music in Dresden, and German people made music in Coventry. British and Germans learned to become friends, where before they were enemies.
Voice 2
By the early 60’s, a wonderful new church had been built in Coventry, next to the ruins of the old one. However, in Dresden, the great Church of Our Lady was still in ruins. People there wanted it to remain in ruins as a memorial. For much of the city’s centre had stayed as it was, in ruins. There were many plans to build it again in a modern way. It would be completely different from the beautiful city it had been before the bombing. People could not agree how the city was to be built. But, little by little, some of the old buildings were built again.
Voice 1
And in 1990, the people decided to build the beautiful Church of Our Lady as it had been before the bombing. It would take a long time. They moved the stones of the old building from the ruins and kept them safe. They would use the stones again in the new building. Spotlight’s Shelagh Godwin is from England. She remembers visiting the city during that time. She said:
Voice 1
‘I saw the stones from the old church. I felt very emotional. The stones were ready to be used again. It was very moving’.
Voice 2
But a church is more than just stones. It is people. The church leaders from Coventry and Dresden decided to work together. One of them wrote: ‘I have been happy to use our experience of peace work in Coventry to help people working to breathe life into the new Church in Dresden. This church will become an international centre in its own right, worthy of its great past’.
Voice 1
Many people supported the re-building project by giving money - people from many countries, including Germany, Britain, and the United States. As the war separated people, this project has helped to bring people together.
Voice 2
For example, there was a gold cross on top of the old Church of Our Lady in Dresden. It stood on a golden orb, or ball. In 1994, people found the damaged remains of the ‘orb and cross’ in the ruins of the bombed church. In Britain, people and companies formed a group called ‘the Dresden Trust’. The group made a new Orb and Cross for the top of the new church. Again, people said:
Voice 3
‘We must apologise for what we did and we must forgive you for what you did to us. And we must become friends and stay friends’.
Voice 2
Now the great new Church of Our Lady is complete. It has taken fifteen years to rebuild. Now people can worship in it again. People can play and sing music in it again. The re-opening of this church truly is a cause for celebration for the people of Dresden, and for their friends in Britain and in many other places.
Voice 2
But the story does not end there. There are plans to raise money so that young Germans could go to England to study. In the same way, young British people could go to Dresden to study. These young people will make friends with one another. They will forgive and forget what their parents did to each other. They will learn to live again in peace and friendship.
Voice 1
The writer of today’s programme was Shelagh Godwin. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom. Computer users can hear our programmes, read our scripts and see our wordbook on our website at . This programme is called ‘City Destroyed’.
Voice 2
We love to hear comments and questions from our listeners. You can reach us by e-mail. Our address is radio @ English . net. Thank you for joining us in today’s Spotlight programme. Goodbye.
To see pictures and learn more about The Church of Our Lady, please visit its website. |