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The Ordeal
The ruins of the St. Nikolai Church at the city of Hamburg are an impressive warning and memorial to World War II.
During July 1943 the allied Royal Air Force and US Air Forces bombed Hamburg. The attack that was called Operation Gomorrah, caused a horrible firestorm and killed about 37,000 civilians. One of the aiming points were the dense housing of the working-class districts.
The unusually dry and warm weather and the concentration of the bombing in one area culminated in a firestorm. The tornadic fire created an inferno with winds of up to 240 km/h reaching temperatures of 800 °C and altitudes in excess of 300 m.
A large number of the killed people were seeking safety in air raid shelters and cellars. But the firestorm consumed the oxygen in the burning city above and the carbon monoxide poisoned those sheltering below. Asphalt streets burst into flame, and fuel oil from damaged and destroyed ships and storage tanks spilled into the water of the canals and the harbour, causing them to ignite as well.
The Ordeal
The ruins of the St. Nikolai Church at the city of Hamburg are an impressive warning and memorial to World War II.
During July 1943 the allied Royal Air Force and US Air Forces bombed Hamburg. The attack that was called Operation Gomorrah, caused a horrible firestorm and killed about 37,000 civilians. One of the aiming points were the dense housing of the working-class districts.
The unusually dry and warm weather and the concentration of the bombing in one area culminated in a firestorm. The tornadic fire created an inferno with winds of up to 240 km/h reaching temperatures of 800 °C and altitudes in excess of 300 m.
A large number of the killed people were seeking safety in air raid shelters and cellars. But the firestorm consumed the oxygen in the burning city above and the carbon monoxide poisoned those sheltering below. Asphalt streets burst into flame, and fuel oil from damaged and destroyed ships and storage tanks spilled into the water of the canals and the harbour, causing them to ignite as well.