The Quote below is about Dresden, the most beautiful part of the city first of all, destroyed by joint British-American airforces at the end of WW2. And who should be punished for that.
Noch heute streiten sich die Regierungen der Großmächte, wer Dresden ermordet hat. Noch heute streitet man sich, ob unter dem Garnichts fünfzigtausend, hunderttausend oder zweihunderttausend Tote liegen. Und niemand will es gewesen sein. Jeder sagt, die anderen seien dran schuld. Ach, was soll der Streit? Damit macht ihr Dresden nicht wieder lebendig! Nicht die Schönheit und nicht die Toten! Bestraft künftig die Regierungen, und nicht die Völker! Und bestraft sie nicht erst hinterher, sondern sofort! Das klingt einfacher, als es ist? Nein. Das ist einfacher, als es klingt.
Erich Kästner
While I do agree that governments should be punished, I cannot agree about not punishing people. Not peoples but the people executing orders. I doubt the pilots of the bombers sent to bomb Dresden (a stupid order and a totally unnecessary thing to do, at that point) had been told, explicitly, to bomb the beautiful Old City rather than targets strategically more important. And it certainly was abhorrent. I suspect they did that out of sheer spite. Some folks just love destroying beautiful things.
Have you ever seen little children at seaside, patiently building intricate sandcastles? And when the thing has been already created, another child would run rush up and trample it all, laughing gleefully? As a rule, grownups won`t discipline the spiteful baby... And when the baby has grown up, there are lots of wonders for it to cheerfully destroy.
It`s also sheer spite that makes Russians wreak destruction and vengeance all around Ukraine. Killing people and animals is not enough. Bombing strategically important objects is not enough. They must needs destroy beautiful buildings that cannot be properly rebuilt. It`s not any strategic need, it is Spite! Nothing heroic about it, it is abhorrent.
Had the gleefully destructive babies been spanked...
There`s also this to it... When asked about masses of soldiers being sent to certain death, Russian generals shrug off: "Бабы новых нарожают!"
Know what? I think the generals are right!
Out of sheer spite, I would like to see that kind of soldiers let loose upon the palaces belonging to the generals. A pity their mansions are easier to rebuild than centuries-old churches and castles and such...