How does an event with a documented death toll of around 25,000 come to be remembered for decades as killing hundreds of thousands? This episode examines the Allied bombing of Dresden in February 1945, beginning with the anxious mindset of Allied commanders who feared a prolonged war and a mythical National Redoubt in the Alps. It explains Operation Thunderclap, the strategy of paralyzing eastern German cities to aid the Soviet advance, and why Dresden, Germany's seventh largest city and a vital rail hub linking Berlin, Prague and Vienna, became the target.

The episode addresses the defenseless city debate, citing U.S. Air Force Historical Division reports listing 110 factories and 50,000 workers, and explains why the raid targeted the administrative hub rather than the industrial suburbs. It then walks through the mechanics of the RAF doub ...