1945: Dessau

546 British bombers destroyed the city of Dessau on March 7, 1945, two months before Germany’s capitulation.

Dessau, in Eastern Germany, had remained untouched by Allied bombers until the war’s final weeks.

The destruction of Dessau was purposeless, as the advancing Soviet Army was nearby—and quickly closing in on the city.

Official death tolls for Dessau were never determined—in part because Soviet troops were soon to swarm into the city and wreak additional havoc.

In the war’s final days, it became impossible for officials—all over Germany—to arrive at reasonably-accurate death tolls.