Neo-Nazis march as Dresden remembers WWII bombing

Feb 13, 2012, 20:51 GMT

Dresden, Germany - Around 1,600 neo-Nazis participated in a torch-lit march in the eastern German city of Dresden on Monday, on the anniversary of the city's World War II bombardment by Allied forces.

But their march was cut short by more than 13,000 people who surrounded the city centre and formed a 3.6-kilometre human chain to prevent them from reaching the city core.

On February 13 and 14, 1945, months before the end of the war, British and US bombers launched a huge assault on Dresden, killing an estimated 25,000 and flattening large parts of the city.

For years, right-wing groups have used the day to rally and deny Germany's responsibility for the atrocities of the war. The police sent 5,800 officers to the city on Monday, in anticipation of possible clashes between right and left-wing activists. Last year, 100 police officers were injured in the protests.

Throughout the day Monday, religious and commemorative sermons were held in honour of the many millions who suffered at the hands of Nazi Germany. White roses were laid on the cemetery where many of the Dresden victims were buried.

Around 1,000 people followed a 'trail of Nazi perpetrators' through the city, to remind that Dresden had been a Nazi stronghold, and was not blameless for its destruction, as neo-Nazis contend.