ExclusiveNearly destroyed during World War II, Coventry and Dresden now celebrate peace

Welcome to Epoch Insights with Tiffany. My name is Tiffany Brannan. It seems that today our world is more torn apart by these differences than ever before, as some people are even bringing up hurts as old as the Civil War, if not earlier, to cause a rift between citizens, friends, and brothers. In contrast to this, however, there are still stories of reconciliation, forgiveness, and On the front cover of the Life and Tradition section of the latest issue of the Epoch Times, there's an article called A Tale of Two Cities. This reference to Dickens' famous book has nothing to do with that tale. It's a tale of two different cities, and a tale of hope and healing. These two cities are Dresden, Germany, and Coventry, England. Both suffered the ravages of World War II, but in the aftermath, both have become symbols of hope and healing. In November of 1940, Coventry, England, was badly damaged by German bombs during an air raid early on in the war. Near the end of the war, on February 13, 1945, Dresden was similarly bombed in the firebombing of that area, which was considered one of the most notorious attacks in military history. Both of these destructive raids demolished beautiful, beloved, and famous cathedrals. In Coventry, there was a 14th century Gothic church that was almost completely leveled. The morning after the air raid, one of the workers from the parish came out, and using a piece of char from the firestorm, wrote on a half-ruined wall, Father forgive. This inscription is still there to this day, but it is now embellished with a brass inlay. The cathedral ruins have been left intact as a powerful reminder of what happened. Since then, Coventry Cathedral has used these ruins as part of its important reconciliation ministry to this day. In Dresden, there was a famous 1726 Frauenkirche church, which was utterly destroyed. Reconstruction from a pile of only rubble began as recently as 1994, after the collapse of Eastern Germany, which was supported in large part by contributions from Coventry. The writer of this article, Eric Lucas, describes the pilgrimage he made to both of these locations. When he visited Frauenkirche, a docent toured it with him and told him, as you can imagine, these original stones are incredibly meaningful to us. That particular building is a beautiful structure that's airy and filled with light, with a Baroque exterior. It represents the 18th century Lutheran style of this building. These churches are official brethren in peace, as are many different areas which were damaged or destroyed by World War II. As they have rebuilt together, they're a reminder of the brotherhood which was not established after the war, but re-established. After all, England is a Germanic country originally, and the current British rulers are of Germanic descent, having come from Germany a few centuries ago. Harkening back to the earlier major World War conflict, at the time of World War I, the king and the Kaiser were actually cousins, showing just how close the bonds were between the two countries. The author himself is a descendant of World War II survivors, so he found this pilgrimage very meaningful. In fact, he says it remains one of the most meaningful journeys of his life. His tour guide at Dresden was a grandfatherly man with white hair, and he showed the pieces of the original altar, which they were able to rescue from the ruins. You can see them throughout, the charred stones which were a reminder of what happened. As much as possible, he said, we laid them back in their original spots. He also pointed out a cross of nails which Coventry sent to the church. It's from the ruins of their cathedral roof. And this artifact is an angular, unadorned crucifix, unlike any which the author has seen before. Although it seems so long ago, it's hard to believe that anyone is alive today who witnessed those events. This very curator who showed him around remembered that he in fact was there in Dresden in 1945 during the bombing. He was just a small boy, but he remembers. Even after all these years, it's painful for those people to talk about these things. We hear the word Nazi used so much these days about things which really aren't appropriate. If someone believes in good grammar, you're a grammar Nazi. If someone wants careful stitch work on a hand-sewn garment, you're a stitch Nazi. It's quite disrespectful in fact to those who suffered at the hands of this party and the devastation of that war, to use the term simply for someone who cares about accuracy. Yet if we become so repulsed by what the Nazi party represented that we refuse to even discuss it, and I don't just mean bandying about the word and applying it to current politicians, but truly studying the history, understanding what happened during that war, and knowing what impact that party and its followers had on the world, we won't be able to realize what impact it had on the world and avoid the same problems today. By erasing our history or sweeping it under the rug, we forget the importance of these events, the beauty of the things which they destroyed, and the divine beauty of the forgiveness which sprung up afterward. This article talking about these churches, particularly the devastation in England, reminded me of a classic film that was made during World War II, Mrs. Miniver from 1942, starring Greer Garson, who won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role. It was set a few years earlier, around the time of 1939, when England was just getting involved in the war before America had joined, and although there are soldiers in it, it truly is a battle of the home front, but unlike films about the American home front, the British home front was practically the front lines as bombs were being dropped and so many civilians lost their lives, such as in the case of Coventry. I remember that near the end of the film, there is a service in a church that has been so badly destroyed that it's an open-air service because the roof is gone, and there is a beautifully moving sermon near the end of the film, after a young woman, the wife of a soldier, died in an air raid, and they reference a choirboy who also was killed, and I remember that the minister said, in his prayer, are these your warriors? Our children and our women? But it ends with the inspiring message that we must all keep fighting, because we all are warriors in this battle against evil, and the daily battle that goes beyond war, to do the right thing and to believe in the powers of love, forgiveness, and honour, ethics, treating people with kindness and to do the right thing. Once a week, there's an English language service, which takes place at the Dresden Cathedral, and it includes a benediction written by a post-war clerical figure in Coventry. It's called Father Forgive, and it begins, The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class, Father Forgive, The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own, Father Forgive. Looking at this story, I think it can remind us of our own great strife which tore apart brotherhood, the Civil War, and how, like World War II, it shouldn't be erased from history and it shouldn't be forgotten. We shouldn't pull down the Confederate statues or call anyone who has a Confederate flag flying above his house a Nazi, or a slave owner, or something like that. The fact that we still are all one United States. But we can't be united if we don't remember that history and remember the pitfalls which we narrowly escaped. And I think that by reading books, visiting historic sites, and by travelling through time, by watching classic films made during these events, especially things like World War II, we can remember how people felt at the time and have a more unbiased look at events than any modern speculation can give us. Then perhaps we can remember the tale of these two cities and their important lesson of hope, healing, and reconciliation. Thank you for spending this time with me, talking about the history of these two important churches in Europe and the lesson which they continue to teach about reconciliation. If you enjoyed this video, I hope you'll like it, subscribe to the channel, share it with your friends, and let me know what you think about the important history of World War II and other world-changing events. Thank you for watching!