Britain apologizes for bombing Nazi Germany. (Hat tip: Geepers.)

The Queen will host a concert in Berlin in November to raise money for the final restoration of Dresden’s Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), destroyed in an Allied bombing raid in February 1945.

Another raid was recalled in a moving ceremony in a cathedral in the north German city of Brunswick. Britain’s ambassador to Berlin, Peter Torrey, paid tribute to the 560 victims of the RAF’s raid, exactly 60 years ago, on Brunswick.

“It was a bleak and terrifying moment in the modern history of Brunswick,” said Sir Peter in the nave of the cathedral. “How can we explain to our children the madness that was unleashed in those days? How can we explain that such a beautiful and historical city as Brunswick became the target of attacks from the air?”

Tears ran down the cheeks of survivors of the attack in the congregation. Never before has a representative of the British Government given voice to their suffering.

UPDATE at 10/16/04 8:29:36 am:

In fairness, the British ambassador did say that his apology was not really intended as an apology:

However the British have not gone so far as to apologise for the raids. Sir Peter offered no apology and stressed Brunswick had military targets including a tank factory, an aircraft repair works and a railway junction. Moreover, British cities were also under heavy bombardment.

But according to the writer of this piece, the Germans seem to feel they deserve one:

The new mood in the British-German relationship stems from two facts. The first is a British recognition that the partnership is still mired in World War II. The second element is that Germans feel they should no longer be judged against the yardstick of Hitler’s crimes.