WORLD DRESDEN — Since February 13 this lovely city on the Elbe River has been the center of Europe’s cultural life as it cele- brated the reopening and the indescrib- able splendor of the reconstructed Semper Opera House. _ At the same time, the whole city, Joined by political leaders and famous artists from Moscow and Coventry, Marked the 40th anniversary of the Anglo-American bombings in Feb. 1945 that destroyed most of the city and killed at least 35,000 people. The bombings, Which also demolished the Semper Opera House, were admittedly pointless from a Military standpoint since the Soviet ar- Mies, the allies had agreed, were to enter the city in a matter of days. The 200,000 Dresden citizens who filled the famous Theaterplatz on the first day of the events inaugurated by the _ Semper reopening gave thunderous ap- Proval to an appeal to the world to pre- Vent the repetition of massacres like those at Dresden, Coventry, Warsaw, Rotterdam, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and in the nazi concentration camps. The peace demonstration was pre- ceded by the laying of flowers at a Monument in memory of those killed in the 1945 bombing. In the late afternoon the city’s churchbells rang for 15 minutes In remembrance. Then, in the evening, the reconstructed Semper Opera House Opened its doors for the first time for the Staging of Weber’s ‘“Der Freischuetz’’. The performance, opening the Sem- per’s 37th season, won-enthusiastic ac- Claim from an international audience. It Risen phoenix-like out of the ashes From Dresden had a deeply symbolic significance for Dresdeners as it was the last opera per- formed in the Semper house in 1945 be- fore the Anglo-American bombings left it a heap of ruins. Present at the performance were State Council Chairman Erich Honecker and other GDR government and party lead- ers, former FRG Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and other political representa- tives from the FRG, Britain, Poland, Ita- ly, Czechoslovakia, the USSR and other countries. Internationally famous musi- cians in attendance included Svyatoslav Richter from the Soviet. Union, Wolf- gang Wagner, a grandson of the com- poser Richard Wagner and director of -the Bayreuth Wagner Festival, Hans- Juergen Von Weber, a descendant of the composer of Der Freischuetz, and others. Elizabeth Reichelt, a great sop- rano in her day and also among the Semper reopening guests, told me that she had sung in the last Semper perform- ance before the house was bombed out of existence. The reopening of the Semper Opera House symbolized for everyone in Dres- den these past 10 days the manner in which the city has risen again, phoenix- like, out of the ashes, rebuilt with the hard labors of its working people and Rebuilt baroque style, Dresden rediscovers.its beauty 40 years after destruction. Photo: 1975 performance marking 30 years since the bombing. with the generous assistance of the socialist state. The opera house itself, in its spectacular reappearance, cost rough- ly $100-million. It took seven years to complete. To carry out the decision to reconstitute it in its original form, to the extent technically possible, required the work of 377 artists and 56 sculptors. The stage area was tripled. The accoustics were improved with modern methods so that a performer on stage can be clearly heard in the most remote seats. The interior has a splendor derived from black marble columns in the foyer, literally hundreds of paintings on the walls and ceilings in the house’s original style, breathtaking, sweeping lines in the four balconies, and surfaces of gold on white in exquisite taste. All those who have seen it agree it is one of the most magnificent opera houses in’the world. _ What about the quality of the perform- ances? The opening week brought *‘Der Freischuetz’’, Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier’’ and two new works of GDR composers. These require separate treatment, if only for the kind of work being done here by the Semper’s chief director, Joachim Herz, which makes opera into something that is living and vibrant on a level unknown in the west- ern world. The international Herald Tribune, the inernational daily produced by the New York Times and the Washington Post, paid its respects to this city and its new- old treasure in these words: ‘*‘The re- building of the opera house is an im- portant symbolic step in the reconstruc- tion and artistic rebirth of Dresden.”’ International Focus Tom Morris words could have been nazis Josef Mengele or Klaus Bar- week’s Cruise flight over Canada. When the Major finds Formula enemy No mercy was for ‘ {5 shown to prisoners ... Re- or success wards were offered for the This chilling advice ap- peared in a column in the Feb. 18 Toronto Sun _ titled, “Guatemala saves itself’. “The Marxist uprising al- most succeeded in overthrow- Ing a series of military juntas that ruled Guatemala .. . What the Guatemalan army did was Organize special commando units that staged ‘‘counter- terror’’ operations against In- dian villages ... entire com- munities were razed and tens of thousands of civilians killed. “‘These teams’ were sent to hunt down communist rebels, Cut supplies, destroy crops and kill anyone who aided the Half a million peasants killed is a fair price to pay to keep heads of communist rebels; some villages were given a monthly quota. ‘*By 1984 the Marxist rebels had been ground down ... In the process half a million peas- ants are said to have died.” Revelling in this bloodbath, the writer points out that by not doing the same, by fighting a U.S.-style ‘thigh-tech’’ war, El Salvador is ‘‘slowly losing its war against communist rebels.”’ ‘Victory in our 20-century guerrilla struggles,’ he crows, “never goes to the faint of heart or clean of hands.”’ Well, the author of these Guatemala “safe” for democracy, says this Canadian military Strategist. Photo: Guatemalan soldier and Indian peasants. bie. It could have been the Khmer Rouge butcher Pol Pot or former U.S. Air Force Gen- eral Curtis Lemay who wanted to ‘‘bomb North Vietnam into the stone age’’. But it isn’t. It’s Eric Margolis, a member of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies. Like Hitler, he probably also likes animals and children. Little Boy _in big league Brian Mulroney received a pat on the head last week for his stand on cleaning up acid rain. The Prime Minister, Feb. 1, asked Canadians to stop complaining to the Americans and get our part of the job ‘done. This, he argued, would put Canada in a strong position when dealing with the big pol- luters south of the border. Three months earlier the To- ries had cut $33.6-million from the 1985-86 environmental pro- tection budget —a nice start — drawing fire from Canadian groups. : The pat on Mulroney’s head came in a letter Feb. 5 from Carl Bagge, president of the U.S. National Coal Associa- tion, a Washington-based outfit that lobbies against U.S. acid rain laws. ‘‘(Your) de- - cision to restrain criticism of THE “SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP the United States regarding acid rain is amomentous one,” Bagge wrote. Our little truck driver from Baie Comeau just met the Yankee trader. * * * “Tm sure we’re planning more tests for next year, how many I don’t know,”’ U.S. Air Force Major David Mac- Namee told reporters after last PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 27, 1985 e 9 out, we trust he’ll inform this ’ country’s Prime Minister. Elections Zia-style Pakistan, Reagan’s client state, is giving a lesson to other states in the region on how democracy works. In preparation for its Feb. 25th parliamentary vote and those of four provincial elec- tions on Feb. 28, the military regime has arrested all opposi- tion leaders and banned poli- tical parties. The opposition leaders, says the country’s president, General Mo- hammed Zia ul-Hagq, will be re- leased after the vote. The national assembly will be the first since Zia disbanded the former in 1977. Zia himself ‘‘won’’ 97 per cent of a referendum vote last December which approved his program and ensured him power for another five years. With this sure-fire formula and the assurance of a ‘“‘demo- cratically-elected”’ parliament, Zia will be able to press Wash- ington for increased military aid. He will also, no doubt, renew his committment to Af- ghan terrorists operating from Pakistani territory. Let’s hear a cheer for our democratic ally.